Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Melt Down on Two Levels

I don't usually post a lot of personal stuff on this blog, but today is the exception. First I'll start with an apology to all my blogger friends I haven't visited yesterday or today or probably tomorrow.  I'm working from my ancient desktop Dell computer and for some reason every time I try to post a comment on a blog it asks me to sign in again and again and again. I can't figure it out unless it's blogger going berserk and if it is, it just tops off the last two days.

Yesterday I went about my morning chores while all kinds of plans lined up in my head.  First thing on the list was a visit to Barnes and Noble with my daughter.  The B&N isn't far away but it's on the other side of the city so it means dealing with a lot of traffic including a major road construction project near the store.  Usually we only visit there on weekends when hopefully the roads resemble a path to somewhere more than a parking lot.  But I am a school teacher which means I'm off for the summer and can go in the middle of a week day. Can't be too much traffic, right? People are at work.  So I started a load of laundry and we set off for the bookstore armed with over $50 in gift cards.  Apparently everyone working had a travel day because they were all on the road but we made it to the store with only a few frustrations.

We spent a lovely hour with our coffees and teas, found some books by authors new to me.  Fun times.  We fought the traffic home again. I intended to finish the laundry but when I opened the lid I found it still full of water.  No agitating, no, spinning and no pumping the water out.  Some of you offered your sympathy when I had trouble with my dryer over the winter so feel free to give a little more.  Called the repairman and tried not to think of how much this would cost. 

Actually I felt a little freedom, knowing I couldn't do any laundry. So I sat down to work on that WIP.  Turned on the old(seriously old) laptop and it appeared to be starting up. But no, it gave me a black screen.  What the heck?  Restarted.  Black screen.  Restarted in safe mode.  Black screen.  Black to match my mood.  Of course I had all my documents backed up except the one I was working on.  Grrrr.....

So the two most used machines in our house, my laptop and the washer, took the crash and burn route today. I'm going to try to keep up on my blog and visit my friends but difficulties may arise.  My washer and dryer are on the second floor, right outside the bedroom, and my laptop lives on the first floor.  Somehow the combined catastrophes didn't melt down the house though my temper nearly created some flames. 

What was your worse computer quirk?  What machine can't you do without in your house? Do you work from more than one computer?

8 comments:

Maria Zannini said...

That's awful. A double whammy on the same day.

Having lived without power for weeks, the only machine I don't want to live without is my cell phone. Communication is critical.

Good luck. Hope it won't be too expensive.

M.J. Fifield said...

I have a desktop and a laptop but, for a while, all my work was solely on the desktop. There were backups but the only computer with a current copy of everything was the desktop. It was fine until the desktop contracted a virus and went into meltdown mode. It was a very long few days while my poor beleaguered other half tried to save what he could.

My dryer stopped working this weekend. As I had two loads of wet laundry, I was not amused.

Miss Good on Paper said...

I had this problem with a laptop before and I feel your pain. Best of luck at getting it restored. Maybe you can start something new or work from memory until you get the WIP up and running again?

-Miss GOP
www.thewritingapprentice.com

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Sorry about the dying machines! Although clean laundry is overrated. I'm fortunate to have a computer, a laptop, and my iPad. Couldn't live without the iPad though!

Jamie Gibbs said...

I'm most definitely feeling for you. My laptop has on a number of occasions died a horrible horrible death with all my data gone with it. My current laptop only boots up about once a month, and if I shut it down it stops working for another month, so I'm having to steal my fiancees macbook to do my blogging duties. When computer implants become a possibilty, I'm at the front of the queue.

I hope both the laptop and the washer are fixed soon :D On the plus side, you got yourself some new books!

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I miss my laptop and feel empty handed without it. I wish I had an iPad to fill in.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I've been stuck with a washer full of water and dirty clothes!

I have two computers on my desk. Sometimes when researching I multi-task, but the older one is mostly for backup. Because if my new one died, I would be lost.

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Yikes! I can't live without either, really! But if I had a choice, it would be my washing machine. *gulp*

I'm sorry that happened to you...

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