Five O'Clock Somewhere

Welcome to Five O'Clock Somewhere, where it doesn't matter what time zone you're in; it's five o'clock somewhere. We'll look at rural life, especially as it happens in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, cats, sailing (particularly Etchells racing yachts), and bits of grammar and Victorian poetry.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Yes, I’m still alive

But not very …

Some of you may have been wondering why I seem to have disappeared off the face of the Earth. I've missed two important holidays, National Punctuation Day and World Rivers Day. I also had a day of racing with Zorro (good) in very light air (not so good), that I want to report on.

Meanwhile, my Internet access has been limited. Something seems to be wrong with the wireless connection in my laptop, so it will no longer communicate with wi-fi or Bluetooth – it used to be great friends with my mobile phone, but now the two are not talking to each other. My wireless switch is on, but the computer acts as if it is off. So I don't have access at work except through computers owned by my employer, and those are limited to academic purposes only.

Then over the weekend, we were staying at a place that usually has high-speed Internet but didn't this weekend. I had been hoping to get a post up about World Rivers Day on the day itself, but that was not to happen.

It looks like I'm going to have to take my beloved laptop to the shop for repairs. I hope it's just something simple like a loose connection, because Pat and I don't have money to pay for any really serious repairs. If I'm lucky, the college can lend me a laptop to cover for while mine is in the shop – since the college has gone paperless, I need a computer in the classroom to take roll, record homework completion, and make on-the-spot updates to the class websites.

Meanwhile, the past couple of days have been very windy in Albuquerque, and the pollen counts for ragweed and sagebrush are way up. My sinuses have been making sure that I'm not having fun. On the bright side, the powers-that-be at the college have decided, as part of the effort to minimize the effects of an H1N1 flu outbreak, to issue all instructors with a box of tissues and a bottle of hand sanitizer to be taken to all classes so students can use them as necessary. The tissues are not going to waste. I'm not the only allergy sufferer around; several of my students have allergies as well. It's a small box of tissues, and it's going to run out quickly; I hope the powers-that-be will be willing to issue a new box when this one runs out.

Anyhow, I am still here … just not as often.

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8 Comments:

Blogger Tillerman said...

We missed you. Hope you - and your laptop - feel better soon.

Wed Sep 30, 06:21:00 AM MDT  
Blogger JP said...

Good luck with laptop - I had a similar problem earlier this year and tried a number of things none of which worked.

In the end it had to go back to HP to be repaired.

Wed Sep 30, 08:47:00 AM MDT  
Blogger Pat said...

Happy Anniversary in spite of all the hassles.

Thu Oct 01, 06:17:00 PM MDT  
Blogger Carol Anne said...

Now, THIS is interesting ... This evening one of my students brought her laptop to class, and she was having exactly the same problems that I had. Her computer, like mine, was an HP, and it was exactly the same model as mine. JP, is yours also model dv9500?

Fri Oct 02, 02:39:00 AM MDT  
Anonymous Cyndi Clayton said...

Everyone needs to sail their parrot heads to Rockport Maine for May first! Penobscot Bay is a gorgeous part of Paradise and the Samoset Resort is the ultimate place to stay or party! Pen Bay Healthcare will be celebrating their 5th annual fundraising gala with "It's Six O'Clock Somewhere". Cocktails and steel drum band in the cabana facing the bay from 6 to 7 PM followed by 4 hours of non stop fun with Jerry Bazata and his light shows & video shows! Enter the limbo contest and watch spectacular performances by US dance champions and choreographed group performances inspired by Margaritaville! Life is too short to wear long pants so come in your favorite tropical attire. Contest for best outfit and there will be a dance contest you won't want to miss. Email shallwedance@penbayhealthcare.org to be part of the information highway.

Mon Oct 05, 01:44:00 PM MDT  
Blogger Carol Anne said...

Update: Over the slow dial-up connection at home, I have been informed that there is a software update to the driver for my computer's wireless card ... it may take a couple of hours to download, but maybe it will fix the problem.

Update 2: Had some awesome peak experiences this weekend and hope to get synopses online soon. Been humming "Slow Boat to China" ever since Friday night.

Tue Oct 06, 12:08:00 AM MDT  
Blogger Carol Anne said...

Update update: The update seems to have worked. Interesting thought: How do people who don't have a dial-up or hard-wired connection get the update to the wireless software if their wireless connection is on the blink?

Tue Oct 06, 05:08:00 PM MDT  
Blogger Unknown said...

I'm happy with Apple. They paid for a repair that could've cost me $800 on my machine that's way beyond warranty coverage.

Thu Oct 15, 04:28:00 AM MDT  

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