Shoutout to the senior tech who told me to always test the power supply first

When I started at the shop in Austin, this older guy named Carl gave me that advice. I thought it was basic and ignored it for a while, focusing on software and drivers first. Last week, a customer brought in a gaming rig that wouldn't boot, and I spent like two hours reinstalling Windows and swapping RAM. Nothing worked. I finally listened and hooked up a spare PSU tester. The 12V rail was completely dead. If I had just tested that first, I would have saved so much time. Now I keep a tester right on my bench and use it on every single no-power job. Has anyone else had a simple tip they ignored that came back to bite them?

4 comments

4 Comments

karenb972mo ago

Classic case of learning the hard way.

susansingh2mo ago

Tell me about it. My entire twenties were basically one long series of expensive mistakes. Paid a fortune for a useless degree, then had to start over in a totally different field. The tuition for that life lesson was brutal, but you're right, you never forget it.

shane_hayes12d ago

Right? "Tuition for that life lesson" is a great way to put it, but man, it's the most expensive class you'll ever take and they don't even give you a diploma. I paid for a graphic design degree right before AI art generators took over, so now my "valuable skill" is something a robot does in ten seconds. What's the point of a student loan if it just buys you a front row seat to watching your field get demolished? What field did you end up switching to, or are you still figuring that out too?

jana8812mo ago

Yeah it really sucks when that happens. Feels like you get hit with the full cost of a lesson all at once. Wish there was an easier way to figure some things out without the pain. But I guess that's just how life works sometimes. You just gotta hope it sticks with you for next time.