computer problems and hair problems
Once again, my laptop is dead due to power problems. It's under warranty, so IBM is sending me a new power adapter to try that out, and then they will take my laptop and try to fix it if that doesn't work (which I suspect it won't, based on the complete weirdness of some of the symptoms involved). Conversation with IBM support included them telling me that some of the things my laptop was doing were not possible. Fun conversation. Anyway, while I get all this straightened out, folks should once again contact me via other means, or expect possible delays in response time.
My life has become so tied to my computer -- in terms of my work, my hobbies (writing, reading, art, photography), my multimedia entertainment (music, movies, radio programs, TV programs), my news sources, my communications, and of course my general goofing off on the Web material -- that it's quite scary. I do think I should probably cut back on my "faffing on the Web" time, but even beyond that, I just can't do a lot of important things without Dapper Dan.
I will attempt to resurrect Lebowski (my big, old desktop) soon, though Lebowski lacks my music library, DVD drive, and isn't set up properly for me to do work stuff, and he was malfunctioning slightly last time I tried to boot him up. But at least he's functional in other important ways, or hopefully still is.
As for the hair problems, they're minor (and unrelated), but I might have essentially wasted $30 on a haircut today. My hair is getting quite shaggy at this point, and I happened to be walking past the place that gave me my new haircut today and decided to go back, since they'd done such a good job. I should have taken a picture with me of what I wanted (though I couldn't have printed one at home, what with both Dapper Dan and the printer being defunct right now), because the lady who gave me the haircut in the first place wasn't there. And apparently, "I want it just the same but an inch and a half shorter" is not sufficient information. I'm not sure why, but I've never tried to cut hair, so maybe those instructions are less clear than I think.
The hairdresser cut off some amount that I think was more like half an inch, and then asked me if it was good. I couldn't tell, because my hair wet is nothing like my hair dry. I told her so, so she dried it. I had my hair in my face and my glasses off as she dried it, so it took me a long time to realize what she was doing. But what she was doing was combing as she dried in such a way as to straighten out my hair completely (I didn't even know that was possible). Once I realized it, I said "Don't do that!" We proceeded to have an argument in which she told me that I had too much hair and couldn't possibly wear it curly, and I should let her show me how nice my hair would look this way. I said no, I love the curls and I would never put time into straightening it anyway, but I finally acquiesced into letting her finish one side because at that point I was curious.
My hair straight is... interesting. I thought it looked completely awful, and it definitely seemed like a wig and Not My Hair. I don't remember if I've explained my hair problem here before, but I often can't recognize people at all when they change hairstyles (or facial hair, for that matter). Cutting my hair last time didn't bother me too much. But straightening it caused major trauma (in a temporary, undramatic kind of way). To be cliche -- I looked in the mirror and saw a stranger staring out at me. Which is really disturbing. As soon as the hairdresser saw my expression, she hastily apologized and promised to fix it for me. I told her to get it wet and just let it air dry, since at that point I was in a bit of a hurry. And then of course, once it finally dried a while later, I realized it's still too long. Oh well. It's not a major disaster. And seeing it straight was definitely an intriguing experience.
My life has become so tied to my computer -- in terms of my work, my hobbies (writing, reading, art, photography), my multimedia entertainment (music, movies, radio programs, TV programs), my news sources, my communications, and of course my general goofing off on the Web material -- that it's quite scary. I do think I should probably cut back on my "faffing on the Web" time, but even beyond that, I just can't do a lot of important things without Dapper Dan.
I will attempt to resurrect Lebowski (my big, old desktop) soon, though Lebowski lacks my music library, DVD drive, and isn't set up properly for me to do work stuff, and he was malfunctioning slightly last time I tried to boot him up. But at least he's functional in other important ways, or hopefully still is.
As for the hair problems, they're minor (and unrelated), but I might have essentially wasted $30 on a haircut today. My hair is getting quite shaggy at this point, and I happened to be walking past the place that gave me my new haircut today and decided to go back, since they'd done such a good job. I should have taken a picture with me of what I wanted (though I couldn't have printed one at home, what with both Dapper Dan and the printer being defunct right now), because the lady who gave me the haircut in the first place wasn't there. And apparently, "I want it just the same but an inch and a half shorter" is not sufficient information. I'm not sure why, but I've never tried to cut hair, so maybe those instructions are less clear than I think.
The hairdresser cut off some amount that I think was more like half an inch, and then asked me if it was good. I couldn't tell, because my hair wet is nothing like my hair dry. I told her so, so she dried it. I had my hair in my face and my glasses off as she dried it, so it took me a long time to realize what she was doing. But what she was doing was combing as she dried in such a way as to straighten out my hair completely (I didn't even know that was possible). Once I realized it, I said "Don't do that!" We proceeded to have an argument in which she told me that I had too much hair and couldn't possibly wear it curly, and I should let her show me how nice my hair would look this way. I said no, I love the curls and I would never put time into straightening it anyway, but I finally acquiesced into letting her finish one side because at that point I was curious.
My hair straight is... interesting. I thought it looked completely awful, and it definitely seemed like a wig and Not My Hair. I don't remember if I've explained my hair problem here before, but I often can't recognize people at all when they change hairstyles (or facial hair, for that matter). Cutting my hair last time didn't bother me too much. But straightening it caused major trauma (in a temporary, undramatic kind of way). To be cliche -- I looked in the mirror and saw a stranger staring out at me. Which is really disturbing. As soon as the hairdresser saw my expression, she hastily apologized and promised to fix it for me. I told her to get it wet and just let it air dry, since at that point I was in a bit of a hurry. And then of course, once it finally dried a while later, I realized it's still too long. Oh well. It's not a major disaster. And seeing it straight was definitely an intriguing experience.