my sometimes-skeptical social commentary

Archive for the ‘blogging’ Category

I have a 2.5-year-old notebook computer, and the cord on the power supply recently went from what looked like perfectly good to frayed and short-circuited in about a second flat. Bzzzt! and a little puff of smoke, and the next thing I know, I’ve got not only a fire hazard, but a notebook computer that wants some power and can’t get any.

A replacement power supply from the manufacturer of my notebook computer was going to cost me $80 plus tax and shipping, so I started Googling for a better price. I found one on some weird web site that was used and refurbished for about half that price, but I had no idea how good the quality would be (although it said it had a 90-day warranty). I kept searching and searching, and eventually I found a blog entry that referred to a FREE replacement program from the manufacturer, because apparently they were quietly acknowleging that there was a design flaw.

I made a request through the manufacturer’s web site, but they don’t ship them out, their customers have to go to a retail store to pick one up. I went in yesterday after work, and the store employee told me that the replacement program was not automatically FREE, that the store employees were making case-by-case judgments to determine which power supplies were damaged due to customer misuse, and which seemed to be broken due to manufacturing defects.

When I took my damaged power supply out of my backpack and handed it to the store employee, he noted right away that the way I had correctly wrapped the cord around the cordwrap built in to the power brick. I am always careful not to put too much strain on the ends of any kind of wire, because when a wire is bent tightly like that, it can wear out the insulation, crack the conductors inside, or both. And then it’s not a good wire anymore.

Because he could tell I was taking proper care of my power supply wire, he determined that I was eligible for the free replacement power supply. So, my advice to you, if you have the same problem with your wire, is to make sure you wrap it properly before you present it to the store employee. If I had had to buy the part in the store last night, it would have cost me $61 (still a bargain compared to the $80+ online, but who wants to pay $61 when free is a possibility?).

Over the weekend, the Jolly Ranchers on my desk were not stolen.

Nor were they eaten by the people who work in my building.

I guess Jolly Ranchers aren’t the favored candy of thieves or moochers.

I wish I could say the same for the iMac.

This wall of cloud was hanging over the east side of downtown last night. Just before I snapped this shot with my camera phone, a bolt of lightning lit up the right corner (just above the peak of the Hampton Inn roof).

The actual cloud looked more colorful than this photo–it was an orange-pink, with a lot of variation from one part of the cloud to the next.

Thursday at the Square was fairly quiet, even though it was a band that most people know (Gin Blossoms). The early afternoon rain probably made people think that they would get soaked at the show, but only a few drops of rain hit all evening.