I'm Baaaaccckkk!!!

I am very grateful for the generosity of family and friends.

Two weeks ago, I read a piece by James Sturm about how he was giving up the internet for a while. I was inspired to try my own modified version of internet cut-down. Knowing that I couldn't give it up entirely, I was going to give up in-home internet access. Then fate stepped in and said, "Oh, really?" And right then, my computer died.

So I have been two weeks without a computer, without my internet friends. And I learned two important things:

1) I get a lot more done without the internet.

and

2) My internet friends are real friends. I don't want to let them go.

What happens next is anyone's guess! For now, it's good to be back.

I'm Back!

the flu
pencil on paper, 6x5 inches

I've been gone for a week. And now, just like that, I'm back. All hail mighty electricity.

My old computer cord could not be coaxed into working any longer so I shut the machine down and contemplated my fate. The girls like me better when I have no computer access at home. My books and newspapers like me better, too.

In the mix of contemplation was a household full of flu. In all its swiney-ness, it was mostly just fever and cough. The girls are both better and were back to school today, so I decided it was time to fix the computer.

I had gone to the computer store downtown last Saturday. I had heard they were a bad store, but I decided to try anyway. They had a cord for $70, but if I took it home and it didn't work, they'd charge me a 15% restocking fee to return it. Factor in their less-than-helpful attitude and I left the store empty handed.

This morning, I looked in the phone book for other computer stores. I can't believe, in our hippy groovy town, there isn't a friendly mac store. Perhaps there's one in Amherst. Anyway, I found a listing for a store over the bridge. So there I went. It turned out to be a repair shop (Yeah, I could've called first, but I had other errands I needed to do over the bridge anyway). However unlike the computer store in my town, these folks were very friendly. They suggested I go to the Apple store in the mall (even though I never go to the mall). They assured me the folks there were also very friendly.

Sure enough, they were. At the Apple store, they let me plug in my computer using one of their cords to determine if that was indeed my problem. How delighted I was when the machine came to life, and there I was, still online at my blog (where I had been when it crashed)! I had 205 new emails! My virtual world was still alive!

I bought a new cord, then moseyed down to eyeball all the fancy new machines. I started talking to one of the salespeople and he surprised me by suggesting I keep my old machine, just get out of Panther. He said he would need to know how much memory I had, to see if I could go to Leopard. I asked if we could plug in my machine with my new plug and take a look. We did (I need more memory). He searched online for a place that still sells memory for my machine. He also searched for the (high) cost of Leopard (which we added to my wishlist). The whole time he was talking to me and searching online, he was also using his computer cleaner to clean my machine! It's never had a bath before (don't tell my dad), and gosh, it looks as good as new now.

[Full disclosure: the cord actually cost $79 at the mall, but it was an Apple cord rather than the generic one at the store downtown, if that means anything. I asked if they would charge me a restocking fee if I returned it, and they said they only charge restocking fees for things with serial numbers, like computers, not for cords. Of course, I won't need to return it because they let me try their cord before I bought one to make sure that was my problem!]

It's good to be back. Though I feel guilty that the girls are in the kitchen building a cardboard city and I'm in here reading and writing. Hmm... And contemplating.

My Broken Cord

This is the angle at which it has often sat, and now that it's broken, this is where it's happiest (ie, working). The bendy part of the casing cracked and slipped down without my noticing. I scooched it back up.

Thanks for all the advice at the crack den. I guess I should shut down and unplug until I can fix it. But will I?