Complacency--the Faith of Fools

My netbook is powered again. For the moment.

This morning after I had to turn Ed's laptop back over to him I spent another hour fiddling with the cord trying to reenact the accident that made it work before. Then I decided to get out the universal adapter cord we got for my laptop after its power cord had failed. I remembered the day I got the netbook having tried the connector piece for that cord that looked the most like the one accompanying the netbook and that it hadn't worked.

I wanted to get it out in order to refresh my memory of the product's name so maybe I could search online or in stores for a connector piece that would marry it to my netbook. As soon as I pulled it out of the box it was stored in and saw the connector my heart skipped a beat because it looked so very much like the one I'd been eyeballing since the previous afternoon.

I pulled the one out of the netbook and held them side by side and could see no difference in the size or shape of the hole. Possibly the tube wall surrounding the hole was thicker on the universal which might be why it hadn't worked. I tried plugging it into the netbook and though it was a snug fit it seemed to go in and sit flush.

So I unplugged the defunct cord and plugged in the universal cord which was a several step procedure requiring plugging the two cords into the adapter box and then one end into the power strip and the other into the netbook.

No joy.

At first.

No light on the rim of the netbook indicating it was receiving power. I pulled the cord out of the netbook and pushed it back in and thought I saw a flicker so I jiggled it and there was a solid light. But the moment I set the netbook down so I could go tell Ed, the light went out again. I gave it another push, tug, jiggle and the light was back. After that I was afraid to touch it or move the netbook. I figured if nothing else I could charge the battery back up to 3+ hours which might give me the opportunity to get more files off.

So I decided not to touch it until the red light turned green indicating a full charge. I picked up a book to read while I waited. It took an hour and by then I was exhausted from the emotional roller coaster I'd been on since 4:30 Wednesday afternoon and I had a Doctor appointment to prepare for this afternoon. I'd planned to stay up for it and sleep after but suddenly I couldn't keep my eyes open. So I told Ed I was going to take a nap.

I didn't get to power up the netbook and get back onto my desktop until after returning from our excursions to the doctor in Ashland and the library in Phoenix. This was my first library visit since returning from Longview and many of the items I'd got in queue for in the last month, setting activation for August 8, had come in. 9 of them were waiting for me and then I pulled six more off the shelves.

So I am for the moment back on my netbook with all my files and aps and favorites and preferences intact.

Funny thing is that after getting home this afternoon and finding the green light still glowing I wasn't as eager as I thought I would be to open up the netbook and get back into the routines of checking email and fb and fiddling with Whiz notes and...and..and...

Partly it was anxiety about the stability of the power connection. Would handling the netbook cause the connection to go in and out?. So at first I didn't pick it up. I powered up, reached my desktop, opened Chrome and checked first gmail then fb. All without picking up the netbook. Then I closed the lid. I had over a dozen books to browse in and find homes for in the room. Also I had the novel I'd started this morning while waiting for the battery to charge: A Partisan's Daughter by Louis de Bernieres--author of Captain Correlli's Mandolin.

It was going to be time for dinner soon anyway.

After dinner I was once again exhausted from the whole ordeal of the power cord, the sleep deprivation, the doctor visit and the library visit. All that and the heat took me out. I napped again from 7 to 9 waking only because Ed came to bed and I'd left a bunch of stuff on his side.

I wonder now if this has given me enough of a kick in the unowut to finally get my files in order and backed up!!!! Or will I get complacent again until the next time I'm about to loose them all.

I wonder too if having just about lost the tool with which I can write at will 24/7, will I start applying my will to using if for writing beyond these blog entries?