Fried?

07.30.2007

I have a 5+ year old laptop that I use when traveling (for checking the electronic email on the interweb) along with some web development. The laptop originally came from Spiritus, and it was refurbished from Dell when we originally got it. There have been a couple of recalls for laptop power supplies, something about them bursting into flames, but each time I've checked the model numbers that are being recalled and I'm never in the lists mentioned.

About a month ago I was using the laptop and it suddenly went into hibernate mode. I didn't understand, as it was plugged in. After looking at the power supply, the transformer, actually, I saw that the little green LED was not lit. I unplugged the plug, then plugged it back in, and the light came on. I powered up the laptop and the battery started charging. Since then I've noticed a few times that the LED doesn't light, and I try unplugging/plugging back in until the LED lights, and then everything is copacetic.

Sometimes I use the laptop at work, and I've noticed that after I've plugged the cord in, there's an odd sound if I get the transformer near the PC. I'm not sure how to describe the sound, other than as a faint crackle.

Saturday I went to plug in the notebook at home. I plugged the cord into the wall. No green LED on the transformer. I tried again. Nothing. 5 times I tried before the LED came on. Along with that came another crackle, along with a spark from the transformer to part of the power cable. The spark managed to open up the plastic cable insulation, exposing the silver wire underneath. Then little tiny sparks traveled intermittently up and down the cable.

Normal people, I think, would gasp "oh no!" and unplug the cable. I, slightly less normal, looked closer and turned the cord to get a better look while saying "what the... cool". Then I realized the cable made my fingers tingle. "Uh oh, that can't be good." I looked at the laptop (not plugged in, by the way). Then I realized I should unplug the cord.

So I don't think it's safe to use this power supply any longer. Yes, I can hear the collective "duh" from the populace of the interweb even now. But there's nothing else wrong with my 5 year old laptop. I just put a new hard drive in it, upgrading the 30 Gig drive to 120 Gig. For what I use it for, it runs fine. So I guess it's off to CompUSA Monday afternoon to see what I can round up in the replacement power supply department.

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$1564.37 Keyboard

07.27.2007

It's a keyboard that plugs into your PC, where each key is a tiny LED, so that you can program/change the image of the actual keys you're typing on.

For $1500.

For a keyboard. That you pound on with your fingers.

I've bought some stupid gadgets, but this one is still too far out there. So until they make a 90% price cut, I'll just have to be envious of those elite typists that get one.

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Retrospecting

07.24.2007

Went to a funeral for my uncle this past weekend who died after a long bout with cancer. One of those times that makes you reflect and think about life and how you're living it.

I think my primary motto in life is Don't regret anything twice. A silly way of saying I should learn from my mistakes, but that's the way I am. After 38 years, I don't regret where I am now: geographically, emotionally, spiritually, financially, even physically. Granted, I could be doing better in all those areas in one way or another, but I'm fine with how things are right now.

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Vista Mom

07.18.2007

Over this past weekend I gallivanted off to Lebanon (Tennessee) to see Mom. Somehow, Mom ended up getting a new laptop from Office Max, a Toshiba with a whopping 160 gig hard drive that's running Windows Vista. As I have zero experience with Vista, along with needing to leave within an hour and a half of getting the laptop to make it back home at a reasonable hour, I left Mom to fight with setup and installation of whatever else she needed or wanted on her own.

I know, tough love.

I left Mom with a little advice - read through the instruction book once before ever turning the computer on. Then turn the computer on and start going through the steps and reading again. That way you'll know what to expect. Mom has a history of frustration with computers and operating systems, so I was hoping that this time, starting from scratch, she'd be able to learn and get comfortable with the new computer from the get go.

Monday I got home and heard a message on my answering machine. "Guess what? I got Vista running and I'm hooked up to the internet!"

With that, Mom surpasses me as far has having the latest in technology and operating systems. She's also set up her first computer without me. My Mom is now a computer genius.

No no. Computer super genius!

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Not Quite A kd lang Song

07.10.2007

There are times when dieting that you find yourself prone to cravings. The key, I think, is knowing that it's ok to occasionally give in to those cravings.

Last year when I started my successful South Beach Diet, I was cursed on Day 2 by wanting a Zero candy bar and a Coke. I didn't cave in and had neither, and after Day 2 I didn't have a craving for either. Especially odd in retrospect since I liked the Coke. Over time there are a couple of things that I would crave off and on, but most of the times those cravings would be gone after a day.

But sometimes the cravings wouldn't go away. Sometimes they stay for days on end, always in your head, constantly (Constant Cravings - kd lang reference!). I read that if you have cravings like this it's best to succumb and get them out of your system, otherwise you'll do more small-step cheating for a longer period. The key here is to not overdo it. Don't give in to a daily craving - wanting ice cream every day isn't going to work. My first big craving was wanting a pizza. I still remember that pizza that I gave in to - thin crust, chock full of meat and sun dried tomatoes. And onceI had that pizza I was good and crave-free for a while.

My latest round of dieting hasn't been as fruitful as the last, and to be honest I haven't been 100% hardcore with it like I used to be - more 85-90%. But for the past 4 days I've been craving a chili dog with onions. I don't even like chili dogs with onions, but my brain was convinced it sounded good. So after 4 days I stopped at Sonic on the way home and ordered myself the craved chili dog with onions. Then I went home, watched an old Buck Rogers episode with Jamie Lee Curtis in it, and ate the craved chili dog with onions.

To never have really liked a chili dog with onions, that one last night was pretty good.

Today I am not craving a chili dog with onions. Today I am not craving anything. It looks like the cravings are once again out of my system. Wonder what I'll crave next? And when? Now I crave answers!

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