Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Where's the beep?
I have a morning routine. Probably so do you. It's the sort of thing you develop over time. I'm not sure exactly how long it takes to form one.
Mine has been relatively consistent since classes ended in December. I can't be certain how it will change when they start up again next week.
I set my alarm for 8 in the morning. The other two people in the Invisible Commune are done showering and such by then, so I'm certain that I can go downstairs and shower.
Normally I turn on my computer beforehand so that when I come back I can eat breakfast, check my e-mail, etc. before leaving for the library at 9, working from about 9:15 until...whenever I finish, normally around 8-8:30 and then come home for dinner.
It's not glamorous, but I never signed up for that sort of thing. I'm a grad student, remember?
The routine isn't perfect...but it works. Normally. Today it did not. After I turned on the computer, I heard a strange CLICK-CLICK noise but no beep indicating that the BIOS had been turned on and the computer was booting. Just the whirring of the CD drives and that odd click click noise. No beep.
Where's the beep?
This was not a good thing. I fiddled with the computer for a little bit.
I reset it. No beep.
I unplugged everything and replugged it back in. No beep.
I opened up the case, checked the fan, tried again. No beep.
I unplugged the power cables to the CD drive. No strange clicking noise...still no beep.
I called the Invisible Dad for advice since he can make machines behave just by talking to them over a phone. No beep.
In short, my loyal desktop computer, which had been working fine when I went to be the previous night was dead.
Well, beep!
My morning routine was shot to hell and gone. I ended up taking the computer to the local shopping center where I got to fight crazy Vista-hungry businessmen for support from the techies behind the counter. Of course, they wouldn't tell me what was wrong then. No. I would have to leave my computer for up to 72 hours while they tinkered with it. And oh yeah, it costs about $100 just to diagnose the problem. Not necessarily to fix it. Just to diagnose it!
By the time I got back and walked to the library, it was noon. I hadn't eaten breakfast. I had an orange for lunch. My current paper is driving me insane. People keep telling me that I am capable of writing this thing, but I hit a mental block around 8 PM this evening and just stopped. It looks like I'm not going to be able to finish a draft before classes start next week, which leaves me in a bad spot.
And my computer is dead. And I don't want to invest in Vista if I can avoid it because you know it's probably full of security problems and buggy programming...not to mention it's function as Microsoft's latest attempt to rule the world.
So for now I'm making due on my little laptop computer. And you'd best believe my current outline/rough draft is handwritten. I'm not taking any more chances, thank you very much.
Of course tomorrow my routine is going to be all thrown off. I guess I'll have to cope.
Beep.
I have a morning routine. Probably so do you. It's the sort of thing you develop over time. I'm not sure exactly how long it takes to form one.
Mine has been relatively consistent since classes ended in December. I can't be certain how it will change when they start up again next week.
I set my alarm for 8 in the morning. The other two people in the Invisible Commune are done showering and such by then, so I'm certain that I can go downstairs and shower.
Normally I turn on my computer beforehand so that when I come back I can eat breakfast, check my e-mail, etc. before leaving for the library at 9, working from about 9:15 until...whenever I finish, normally around 8-8:30 and then come home for dinner.
It's not glamorous, but I never signed up for that sort of thing. I'm a grad student, remember?
The routine isn't perfect...but it works. Normally. Today it did not. After I turned on the computer, I heard a strange CLICK-CLICK noise but no beep indicating that the BIOS had been turned on and the computer was booting. Just the whirring of the CD drives and that odd click click noise. No beep.
Where's the beep?
This was not a good thing. I fiddled with the computer for a little bit.
I reset it. No beep.
I unplugged everything and replugged it back in. No beep.
I opened up the case, checked the fan, tried again. No beep.
I unplugged the power cables to the CD drive. No strange clicking noise...still no beep.
I called the Invisible Dad for advice since he can make machines behave just by talking to them over a phone. No beep.
In short, my loyal desktop computer, which had been working fine when I went to be the previous night was dead.
Well, beep!
My morning routine was shot to hell and gone. I ended up taking the computer to the local shopping center where I got to fight crazy Vista-hungry businessmen for support from the techies behind the counter. Of course, they wouldn't tell me what was wrong then. No. I would have to leave my computer for up to 72 hours while they tinkered with it. And oh yeah, it costs about $100 just to diagnose the problem. Not necessarily to fix it. Just to diagnose it!
By the time I got back and walked to the library, it was noon. I hadn't eaten breakfast. I had an orange for lunch. My current paper is driving me insane. People keep telling me that I am capable of writing this thing, but I hit a mental block around 8 PM this evening and just stopped. It looks like I'm not going to be able to finish a draft before classes start next week, which leaves me in a bad spot.
And my computer is dead. And I don't want to invest in Vista if I can avoid it because you know it's probably full of security problems and buggy programming...not to mention it's function as Microsoft's latest attempt to rule the world.
So for now I'm making due on my little laptop computer. And you'd best believe my current outline/rough draft is handwritten. I'm not taking any more chances, thank you very much.
Of course tomorrow my routine is going to be all thrown off. I guess I'll have to cope.
Beep.
