Well that was fun. I drove over to the grocery store earlier this evening. When I got through shopping I went to start the car, and it was completely dead. It was as if I was trying to start a rock, or a bookcase. I hadn’t noticed the way the inside light didn’t go on until then… When I opened the hood I discovered that corrosion had eaten through one of the battery cables where it connected to the terminal.
Fortunately all turned out well. The auto parts store was only a block away, so I bought a new battery terminal connector thing. Then things got complicated. I couldn’t get a grip with the pliers on the screw on the worn-out terminal connector. Then a mechanic who came to do some food shopping saw my distress and helped me out. I took his card — the other terminal connector wasn’t looking so good, so I want to get that replaced ASAP. It will have to make it for a couple of weeks, though — I spent all my money on this one.
12 Responses to “I should never complain about being bored”
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December 17th, 2008 at 6:21 am
Indeed yes, complaining about boredom is like complaining about health and regularity– the body’s always ready to throw something at us with even the slightest provocation. I hate cars.
December 17th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Hmmm. Well, worst-case scenario, what’s the absolute earliest you absolutely have to have a replacement laptop? π
December 17th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I tell you what, I’d like to unload this desktop by the New Year. I have the feeling it’s going to be as useful as a paperweight what with me not being able to pay the cable or electric. If I had a laptop with wireless I could go to Panera and sit there all day.
By the way, what happened to the nice new ice age we were having? It’s 77 degrees right now, and we’re going to have highs in the low 80s until next week. No wonder my Christmas spirit has disappeared like all my money. π
December 17th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
“Itβs 77 degrees right now, and weβre going to have highs in the low 80s until next week.”
If you’re looking for an Ice Age, come on up to Minnesota. It’s 8 degrees with a wind chill factor of minus 6 degrees. But that’s a warmup from yesterday. Yesterday morning it was 5 below with a WCF of minus 22.
December 17th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Yeah, I know, I read Lileks’ Bleat. Speaking of which, or whom, am I the only person who is wishing he would just buy a vacation home someplace warm? Or a timeshare or something, at least. The Minnesota winters really do seem to make him miserable. But he should count his blessings: at least you can bundle up for cold weather. When it’s scalding hot outside, what are you going to do? We aren’t allowed to go outside naked, even in Florida where we have to put “no shirt, no shoes, no service” signs everywhere. And then there is the humidity, which makes you want to take off your skin. Feh. Weather sucks.
December 17th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Yes, I’d rather be cold than hot. I’m miserable in very hot weather. And humidity makes my hair crazy.
I think Lileks is probably like many midwesterners. We want the change of seasons (which are beautiful), but we’re giant babies about the inevitable extremes.
It’s easier in places like MN if you’re one of those insane outdoor people. Me, I have zero interest in winter sports. I would no more go skiing or snowmobiling than I would run with the bulls. So I dread the coming of winter and spend most of January and February whimpering about how terrible it is and why don’t I live somewhere else. But come the first whiff of spring, I’m happy again.
December 17th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
The WiFi adapter in this laptop was nearly toast for some time before the hard drive got corrupted, and I’ve never been able to make it work since installing Ubuntu. I’ve been using a USB WiFi adapter when I have it away from an Ethernet cable.
Those at least should be somewhat less expensive than a new laptop.
I’ll investigate shipping options and see if I can’t come up with some idea how much of that money you don’t have, that you’ll need to send me.
And with PayPal, do you only need an e-mail address to make a payment? Even so I’ll need to make sure I know which one is on my wife’s account.
December 17th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
As for seasons, my favorite one when I lived in Fairbanks was autumn. Best week-and-a-half of the whole year.
December 17th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
I think an email address is all you need. You don’t even need your own Paypal account. I’ve had a Paypal account for so long I’ve forgotten what it’s like to not have one, and their help menu is kind of ambiguous, but there are a lot of topics that refer to people using Paypal to buy things on Ebay and such who don’t have their own Paypal accounts.
Autumn is my favorite season too. In Miami we really don’t have one — we have two seasons, hot and humid, and warm and less humid. We get a “cold snap” for a couple of days or as much as a week or two some time in the “winter months.” When that happens the news crews go out to some home where the people don’t have central heat and film the family huddled on the sofa in blankets. The year after I moved up to Orlando I found out that this part of Florida does have autumn — it just doesn’t have winter, only a sort of transition from autumn into spring/summer. Still, if it gets cold enough early enough, some of the trees here turn pretty colors. I can’t wait until I move up north where I can have a real autumn at last.
December 17th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Oh hey, one more question — does the laptop recognize PC cards? I have a wireless card, that’s what I used with my laptop.
December 17th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
I’d have to take another look at the slot to be sure, but I think it’s a PC Card slot. Whether it will still work is another question.
December 17th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Well, as long as the USB port works… I checked and USB wireless adapters aren’t that expensive.