Sputter
OK, so i get up this morning. The laptop had been running all night, albeit with the lid closed so the screen was off. When i got up this morning, i popped it open, it came to life and i checked my email and a little LJ action before lumbering off to the tub. i did a little more while getting dressed and listening to NPR; my morning ritual. Then i shut it down (full shutdown, not just a close the lid and open it when i get to work thing), slid it into it's padded sleeve in my rucksack, and headed off to work. It was raining this morning, so traffic was hosed and it took me almost a half-hour to get to work (with 5-min to hit the BK drive-thru). So i get to my desk and start pulling the laptop and all my cords and the files that i'd worked on at the house last night out of my bag to get started. i popped the top and pushed the button and proceeded to get the network and power cords and stuff plugged in while it was booting. i was in my bag again and looked over to check and saw that the computer wasn't on. Well, maybe i didn't push the button; that's been known to happen. So i push it. A flicker from the power light...then nothing. Again. i hear a little sputter...like when you pull the cord on the lawnmower and it doesn't quite catch and it sputters to a halt...only a lot quieter. i do this several times. Everything is plugged in, isn't it? Maybe it's the battery...i pull it out. Same thing. i unplug the power cord thinking some internal thing needs to reset. Logic at this point gets replaced by panic. All of my files!! All of my work!! All the naked pictures...including a good number of me!!!! Yes, i'd been meaning to back this thing up. i've got an 80-gig HD on BigBoy, my 10-year-old PII-266 Dell tower that we're using as a file server and could just set it up to copy it all overnight...easy!! Have i done it? Well, if the road to hell is paved with good intentions then i've definitely done my time on the maintenance chain-gang and that's one smoooooooth-ass stretch of highway...the highway to hell. So i went and consulted with my boss and another girl who are, quite coincidentally, consultants, to see what to do next. They were trying to find the number to the tech department and i went back and tried rejiggering the cords. i unplugged all the parts of the power converter and then plugged everything back in and pushed the button. Nothing. Then a brighter flicker from the little power light...WHIRRRRRRR...splash screen...EUREKA!!!! Back in business. A little dose of reality on a Tuesday morning. Guess what ol' wooferpup is gonna do this weekend? Yer damn right i am!!!"...and the perverted fear of violence, Chokes the smile on every face
And common sense is ringing out the bell
This ain’t no technological breakdown
Oh no, this is the road to hell..."