Friday, November 11, 2011

Back in action

My laptop died last week, which particularly upset me, since I've had all the squillions of euros of expenses moving to the new place, then my ipod died a few months back, and then the laptop. Then I was in turn upset with myself for being upset because I like to imagine I'm above being attached to material possessions and money worries, even though it's a) clearly not true and b) kind of part of being a grown-up to stop being all starry-eyed and idealistic about not being driven by money. Sure, I don't have to think that money and possessions are the most important things in life, but I probably don't have to feel like some sort of capitalist stooge for acknowledging that they do matter.

Anyway, I put off taking it in to get fixed because a) I hoped if I unplugged it for a couple of days it might magically forget it was broken (didn't work) and b) asking "do you do repairs?" in French - "faites-vous les reparations?" - makes me feel like I'm a French interrogator in Weimar Germany. (Yeah, all that for a dumb history joke!) When I did take it in, I was amazed when the guy gave me a quote (40 euro) - I'm used to repair people being magically totally unable to give you the vaguest idea of what something might cost. He seemed to think it would be easy to fix, so I got my hopes all up only for them to be dashed when I went back the next day and he said he'd need to wipe the hard drive and it might be corrupted :( I was, of course, convinced that it WOULD be corrupted and I'd have to get a new one. But "good news everybody!", it is fixed and for the original price, yay! Luckily, since losing all my photos when my last laptop died, I've been a good little backing-up bunny, so I've spent the last couple of hours putting all my files back on the laptop and downloading stuff like iTunes.

It is soooo good to have it back. It seems kind of incredible now that I didn't bring a laptop when I was in Europe from 2006-07, and even as recently as 2008 we didn't have internet in our flat in Wellington. (Well, we did briefly, until the guy who was meant to be in charge of these things didn't pay the bills and it got cut off. Electricity almost got cut off too! Students, eh?) It seems like a totally different universe almost. Sometimes when I think about doing a PhD I seriously wonder if I would have the attention span for that these days, or if it would be just too tempting to check my emails or Facebook etc. all day long... I suppose in a few years I'll feel the same way about a smart phone (yeah, I still don't have one).

ANYWAY, I'm sure that is all very boring to everyone who's not me, so I'll just add (lots of) pretty autumn pictures I took on a lovely sunny day in the park. Stay tuned for news of wild partying with Ksam!



Bob rocks out with his... tongue out


I found it funny that the bake-it-yourself bread I bought "fears damp"


I made cream of cauliflower soup! Here, it is shown as part of a balanced meal :)


Ze moon, on the street where I used to live

If you don't like trees, or autumn, or parks, look away now...






























4 comments:

  1. Gorgeous colours!

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  2. Gorgeous photos and I feel you...I absolutely HATE replacing anything electronic...especially pricey laptops! I hope your wallet recovers!

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  3. I love bob!

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