Battery Critical?
I get a feeling something’s wrong…
Once again, I just fired up the computer after it was on it docking station, and again I’m getting the warning that the battery is critically low. So I’ll just keep typing, save often, and see whether the battery is really low, or whether the software is confused and just thinks the battery is low even when it isn’t. Or maybe the battery is kaput – but that seems weird to me, since it’s only a bit over a year old. Or maybe the good battery got swapped with the old one, which really was kaput.
Meanwhile, I’m in Elephant Butte, parked outside the Strasias’ house, where I’m planning to spend the night. The problem is, I don’t know when they’re supposed to get here. I had meant to check my email before leaving Albuquerque, but it slipped my mind. Actually, though, I would have expected the Strasias to telephone, as both of their computers are out of order at the moment. But then, maybe someone else emailed. I got here a little after five, and no one was home, so I went into town and got some groceries. When I came back about quarter of six, there still wasn’t anyone around, so I went back to town and got some fast food for supper. Now it’s quarter of seven, and there still isn’t any sign of life. I think I will wait around until seven, and then maybe go off in search of other people who might be around. Or I might head to one of the restaurants that has Internet access, to see if there was an important email I missed.
So far, so good on the battery. It’s looking more and more like a software problem now – the computer needs to calibrate its battery-management programming once in a while, or it loses track of exactly how much battery life it has. The problem now is that, if the battery does still have its full charge, it will take more than four hours to discharge. Well, I guess I could spend a long time at the Internet place, or I could spend a long time parked in front of the house. Now I’m beginning to wish I hadn’t gone for the fast food. I don’t want to use a café’s Wi-Fi, unless I’m buying something there. Maybe dessert will count.
Later … Enjoying coffee, key lime pie, and old-time blues at the Big Food Express. I’m still getting the battery alert, but the computer just keeps on going. Just in case, however, there’s an electric outlet right under this table. I have everything right now: good coffee, excellent pie, great music (it’s on video rather than live, circa 1950), and a very strong Internet connection. The computer is now telling me that the battery has a 0% charge, which is clearly not the case. I’ll keep working here for a while, and then I’ll make another search for my hosts. If they still haven’t appeared, I’ll be hunting for a motel to stay at. Oh, well.
Once again, I just fired up the computer after it was on it docking station, and again I’m getting the warning that the battery is critically low. So I’ll just keep typing, save often, and see whether the battery is really low, or whether the software is confused and just thinks the battery is low even when it isn’t. Or maybe the battery is kaput – but that seems weird to me, since it’s only a bit over a year old. Or maybe the good battery got swapped with the old one, which really was kaput.
Meanwhile, I’m in Elephant Butte, parked outside the Strasias’ house, where I’m planning to spend the night. The problem is, I don’t know when they’re supposed to get here. I had meant to check my email before leaving Albuquerque, but it slipped my mind. Actually, though, I would have expected the Strasias to telephone, as both of their computers are out of order at the moment. But then, maybe someone else emailed. I got here a little after five, and no one was home, so I went into town and got some groceries. When I came back about quarter of six, there still wasn’t anyone around, so I went back to town and got some fast food for supper. Now it’s quarter of seven, and there still isn’t any sign of life. I think I will wait around until seven, and then maybe go off in search of other people who might be around. Or I might head to one of the restaurants that has Internet access, to see if there was an important email I missed.
So far, so good on the battery. It’s looking more and more like a software problem now – the computer needs to calibrate its battery-management programming once in a while, or it loses track of exactly how much battery life it has. The problem now is that, if the battery does still have its full charge, it will take more than four hours to discharge. Well, I guess I could spend a long time at the Internet place, or I could spend a long time parked in front of the house. Now I’m beginning to wish I hadn’t gone for the fast food. I don’t want to use a café’s Wi-Fi, unless I’m buying something there. Maybe dessert will count.
Later … Enjoying coffee, key lime pie, and old-time blues at the Big Food Express. I’m still getting the battery alert, but the computer just keeps on going. Just in case, however, there’s an electric outlet right under this table. I have everything right now: good coffee, excellent pie, great music (it’s on video rather than live, circa 1950), and a very strong Internet connection. The computer is now telling me that the battery has a 0% charge, which is clearly not the case. I’ll keep working here for a while, and then I’ll make another search for my hosts. If they still haven’t appeared, I’ll be hunting for a motel to stay at. Oh, well.
posted by Carol Anne | 8:08 PM
3 Comments:
Well, I ended up at one of the most expensive motels in the area, but at least it advertised free wi-fi. There was, however, a hitch -- the wi-fi requires a password, and even though the front desk was supposed to be open, it wasn't, so I couldn't get the password. Oh, well, at least the telephone has a data port, so I can get online via dialup.
Hope nothing happened to your friends... Being on dialup is workable, but not much fun if you're used to a fast connection. I recently got Verizon's FiOS service...and I've been spoiled... makes using my friend's DSL connection seem slow. :D
Well, all I have at home is dialup, and up at Five O'Clock Somewhere, it's rural dialup, which is even slower. But I really like wi-fi when I can get it!
I'm guessing that probably there was some missed communication and my hosts thought I wasn't coming down to the lake until tomorrow. In fact, they may have been at the meeting in Santa Fe that Pat went to.
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