chem_nerd, posts by tag: computer - LiveJournal

"Peace of mind is singing along way off key to a CD and drumming on the table with ballpoint pens in the computer lab late at night, and knowing that there's no one around to watch you make an idiot of yourself."
-Me

Life progresses. Comps talk approaches: Thursday at 7. Any of you Carleton people coming? *hides from Comps talk* I think it'll go really well, it's just...*goes back into hiding* I've been living in Mudd, more or less literally. Sleep? What's that? Sleep is for the weak. I'll sleep next week.

Computer's still dead. Bah.

In other news, I have the most awesome boss ever. She knows I'm applying for one of the graduate positions in the library; she also knows that I'm Aspie. Because of my shift patterns over the years (mostly evening and late night), she hasn't had much chance to watch me work, so she doesn't know where my strengths and weaknesses are. So, instead of assuming, she actually sat me down one day when I came back up with a cart, and ASKED. I wish more people would do that. She was sensitive about it, and honest, and generally awesome. Lois rocks.

And I've now gotten a hold of all of the profses about accomodations; they rock too. The theater prof is willing to work with me on an assignment which I probably can't really do, and also had some good advice for dealing with ill-behaved joints. The art history prof said "no problem" and was also willing to let me out of class for Comps--she's a stickler for attendence. And the psych prof (someone I vaguely know from church) is really nice, and friendly, and also willing to work with me on stuff. Profs rock.

And now for something completely different:
Orthotics are the best thing ever. I haven't walked this comfortably in years. I was only supposed to wear them for an hour yesterday until I break them in, but I never got back to my room to put the insoles back in my running shoes, and at this point, I'd sooner keep the orthotics in. They aren't bothering me, and they're keeping other crap from bothering me. Infinite awesomeness. And, on that note, my insurance company also rocks--as long as they've got scripts, they'll cover this stuffif it's medically necessary. And it most definitely is.

Grrr. We were told that there would be electrical maintenance work done over break, which would include various dorms, including Watson, the one they've got all of us staying in. I do not recall being told that this also includes all of the campus sidewalk lights between Evans and the M&D. This means that with the exceptions of the lights on in LDC and the Mudd stairwells, there is no light whatsoever between Watson and Mudd. Since my laptop died over break, Mudd is the only place I can check my email aftert the library closes, as it is the only academic building I have keys to. And the sidewalk is completelyu dark between Watson and Mudd. It's really kinda creepy.

Yay, my knees are re-taped. It really does make a difference, especially at work. It's been a good year since I've done any real shelving, and it's showing me just how bad the problem has gotten. The book carts way 30-60 lbs empty, full they probably way a good 200, assuming nobody's loaded up a cart with bound journals and folios. And those things steer like 18-wheel trucks. Coming around corners, I can feel my knees bending in; even walking in a straight line, it's shoving things out of alignment. Jeremy and I agree that this is bad and I need to limit myself to less-than-full carts. Luckily, my supervisor doesn't have a problem with this. The tape does make it hard to get to the lower shelves, though. Getting down that low is a 3-step process, unless you're willing to put up with a rather hard landing; getting back up is a 4-step process.

I am going to strangle my laptop. It's decided it does not wish to run--during Finals week when I have two papers to write. Why me?

In other news tonight was the last day of dead days, the two days before the beginning of finals where we do all the reading that we were supposed to do earlier in the term. One of the rights of passage of dead days is primal scream--10:00 pm on the last reading day, (almost) everyone on campus screams--preferably outside, as dead days are 24hour quiet hours. Well, I heard a ruckus out in the hall. I checked my watch--Primal Scream wasn't due for another 45 minutes. "Excuse me," I said to my roommate, "I'm going to go tell some folks to shut up." What follows is essentially her description of events.

"There you opened the door. There was a pause. The door closed. You came back in with the weirdest look on your face."

You see, there was a streaker in the hall. Streaking is a time-honored tradition at Carelton, though not one I'm overly fond of, but usually, it's predictable events that get streaked, not the residence halls. Cally and I both went beet red laughing over it; her general conclusion was "glad it was you and not me." Meep.

EDIT: All fear my google-fu:
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Hey folks. I'm back. Computer problems and general lack of time kept me off LJ the latter half of break, and I returned to my dorm, to find that my keyboard was being upity. The laptop is about 4 years old, and I'm an inveterate key-pounder, so my roommae and I think I simply wore out the previous keyboard. HP technical support was no help; my computer is long since out of warranty, so they wanted to charge me 30 bucks for a new keyboard I'd have to install myself, 45 bucks to tell me how to fix it over the phone, or 280 bucks to pick it up, fix it, and bring it back. I didn't find that prospect especially appealing, so, after plugging Cally's USB keyboard into mylaptop and verrifying that it worked, I went to Target nd bought one of my own. It's a wireless, which I don't really need, but it was the only one they had tht would connect via a USB port, rather than a PS/2 port, which I don't have. At this point, I've got so many Discworld-named devices on my desktop that I may as well rename it the Unseen University and be done ith it. Current tally:

Rincewind-the laptop
The Luggage-my PDA (its hotsych cradle is the Counterweight Continent)
The Death of Rats-my mouse
Cohen the Barbarian-my external floppy drive
The Octavio-my USB flash drive
The Librarian-my hard drive
Twoflower-my CD-ROM drive
Ponder Stibbons-the keyboard

Yay! I am not currently typing in the computer lab! I plugged my mom's AC adapter into my laptop, and, lo, it did work. So we drove out to Best Buy, and I bought a universal adapter. It'll work in my room, at home, and at 50,000 feet in between. Coolness. In the hope of discouraging further such problems, the laptop is being renamed. It is now known as Rincewind, and its PDA sidekick is the Luggage. Have to keep an eye on the Luggage, though--it tends to eat batteries something awful. I even bought Rincewind a desk-warming present--a USB memory key so that next time this sort of thing happens, I don't have to wonder if all my files are backed up.

Cally and I went swimming last night over in Cowling. It's nice, because swimming is about the only form of aerobic exercise that doesn't aggravate either my knees or my lungs. I still smell like chlorine, though, even though I've taken a shower. We've also discovered some more of her sheet music which works for both harp and recorder. I expect my family will be very grateful to have me playing Christmas carols over Winter Break, rather than trying to sing them.

Unfortunately, I'm currently typing in the library computer lab, as I'm suffering the consequences of naming my laptop "Morgoth." For a while, I was fearing the Dagor Dagorath, but it's probably just a dying/dead power supply, much easier to fix. Still annoying, though. In an attempt to discourage such behavior, I've decided to rename the electronics.

So, I have a lovely new techie toy, a PDA (a Handspring Visor, if you're curious), and, as part of my ever persistant ascent to the heights of geekyness, I've decided to name it, and retroactively name the laptop as well. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to help determine the nomenclature of my precioussss(es).

Possibilities I've come up with so far:

Hitchhiker's Guide and Encyclopedia Galactica
Data and the Enterprise
The Luggage and Rincewind
Aragorn and Gandalf
Sauron and Morgoth
Einstein and Avagadro

Any other suggestions are also welcome:-)