Psuedo Guru Blog by a wannabe guru with spelling issues.

USB-SATA Bridge problem

Just bought a new Buffalo MiniStation 250 GB USB drive. It worked like a charm on my laptop, but on my desktop machine I could not get it to show up. Instead, the add hardware wizard kept popping up asking to install "BUFFALO INC. USB-SATA Bridge". I tried all the usual suspects, windows update, searching the install CD, searching www.buffalotech.com for any kernels of knowledgebase, etc. But no help for the specific problem.

I finally found something mentioning usbstore.inf and usbstore.pnf as the files where all the USB storage stuff is kept (found in C:/Windows/INF). I looked in my Windows/INF folder and guess what, the files were missing on my desktop, but present on my laptop. Not sure how or when that happened, but it seemed to be the cause of the problem. I was running Windows XP Pro on both machines, so I just copied the files over from my laptop and put them in Windows/INF, and viola, my buffalo mounted next time I plugged it in.

Head rush disorder help

My wife has been suffering from "head rushes" for quite some time now. They happen when she stands up rapidly, and usually end up with a pounding migraine that can put her out of comission for hours at a time.

After hearing about orthostatic intolerance from the case of Greg the Yellow Wiggle, she decided to talk to her doctor about it. Her doctor said it was very likely that she suffers from this too, but said their is no real cure or treatment, and sent her on her way.

In the mean time, things got progressively worse, to the point where she was suffering daily.

After doing much digging on the internet, we did find some things that helped her. Disclaimer: neither of us are medical professionals and what is listed below has worked for her, but may not work for other people.

• Stay well hydrated. One of the potential causes seems to be low blood volume, that can result from dehydration. The recent heat wave in Japan may have added to her problem, so she has been trying to manage this by drinking lots of water.
• Raise your legs before standing. In the morning, my wife now lifts her legs up for a minute or so before trying to stand. This seems to help bring the blood from her legs to her upper body.
• Tighen your abdominals before standing up (and keep them tightened for a minute or so after). I read this and it made a lot of sense. The Blue Angels use this technique to keep from passing out in high G manuevers, allowing them to work without pressure suits. The tightening seems to prevent blood from flowing to the lower body, keeping it in the head and torso.

I hope that this information is useful to others suffering from this condition. These little tips, while no cure, have allowed my wife function relatively normally since she started practicing them.