I mixed one drink, he's in memoriam

[sovay]

I aten't dead. The same cannot be said of my laptop; it went suddenly paralytic on Monday and by Tuesday could be neither revived nor shut down hard, which left me not at all pleased that this crash had occurred while I was in the middle of a new story and two extensive livejournal replies. (I have since recovered almost all relevant data, but it is currently consigned to the limbo of an external hard drive; I have at present nowhere to transfer any of it to. I find this immensely frustrating. Compared to a complete loss of mail, music, stories, etc., however, I'll take what I can get.) This is the machine I bought in January to replace the casualty of the unfortunate backpack incident—used, I knew, but I was still expecting more than eight months in its company. I am beginning to think I emit a kind of radiation fatal to the average Macintosh. Perhaps I should just go back to the typewriter under my desk. My mother wrote her dissertation on it; that should be worth something on the karma market.

I have also come to the conclusion that it is never a good sign to realize that you have just said something reminiscent of Sydney Carton in a context unrelated to self-sacrifice, Dickens, or eighteenth-century English law.

At least I have a pineapple.

Comments

[clarionj.livejournal.com]

Oh, so sorry to hear. I recently lost all my iTunes, photos, much writing as well (many songs that you'd given me too!). Is there something in the air? Don't you find that electronic equipment tends to go in batches--solar flare-ups, magnetic fields gone haywire? Who knows... but I wish you better luck with your next one!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

We need the son of the woman at the vegetable stand by my house. I broke my bike brake as I pulled in there (the cable came out of the squeezy part). I started trying to thread it back through, and she came over, and we worked on it together for a while, and eventually she told me I'd need a pair of pliers. We talked about people with a gift for fixing things, and she started talking about her son, now 18.

At two, he had taken apart and put together a radio. At five, he could wire VCRs and game systems. And just now, when the engine of his truck broke, and he was told it would cost $3,000 to rebuild, he fixed it himself for $200.

Imagine having a person like that around!

Although, there's something to be said about a typewriter and its instant backup. You write, and your words are automatically backed up! How cool is that? The online component is a problem, though.

I hope it's possible for you to get a replacement laptop soon.

[strange-selkie.livejournal.com]

Netbooks. Netbooks are your answer. Tiny, but hella cheap.

[schreibergasse.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. This is starting to sound like MY experience with laptops, only more severe and with a couple of years delay! Best of luck.

What are you going to do with the pineapple?

[cucumberseed.livejournal.com]

Pineapple is good. The rest ranges from worrisome to crap. I hope that only the pinapple remains, and that only long enough to be delicious.

[rax.livejournal.com]

I can also conjure computers if you need one (though the fact that you posted this suggests to me that you are probably OK). I could probably even get you a Mac laptop though it might take me a day or three.

[humglum.livejournal.com]

What's with the laptop death recently? Mine is still in the mystery land of repair. Motherboard fried 3 weeks after Hard Drive failure. This 9 year old iBook is sluggish, but I am so thankful it exists.

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

I'm very sorry to hear, but glad that you've recovered most all of the data. Also very glad for the aten't dead part.

I have also come to the conclusion that it is never a good sign to realize that you have just said something reminiscent of Sydney Carton in a context unrelated to self-sacrifice, Dickens, or eighteenth-century English law.

I will have to hold this in mind.

Glad you've a pineapple. I hope you enjoy it very much, and that things are better very soon.

[wakanomori.livejournal.com]

This may be way off, but from the symptoms (and assuming the machine is a recentish Mac) you might try resetting the Systems Management Controller (SMC). If you've not tried it, it's easy to do and the effects (if it's what is needed) seem miraculous.

See details here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1411

You can find lots of other how-to pages about doing it, too, with a google search.
asakiyume's new (refurbished) iMac needed this just a couple of days ago.