Sunday 25 July 2010

A placeholder ...

Until I manage to extract the blog notes I've entered all this week from my laptop, this minimal blog entry will suffice.

Why do I need to do this, you ask? Well, I blame The Mountain Bean - specifically, their electrical outlets. 

A few weeks ago, I was typing away at the Bean on my older laptop and after a while I decided to plug it back in to charge the battery up again, as it only holds a charge for about 30 mins or so now, being aged and all. Lo and behold, as soon as I did that, the screen began to flicker strangely and I heard the AC adapter making a buzzing sound. I quickly unplugged it and then fired off an email to the eBay seller I had purchased the adapter from asking for a replacement under their Lifetime Warranty, then thought no more of it.

On Saturday, I went over to the Mountain Bean on the first of my days off, thinking to spend some quality time relaxing, surfing and so forth to the accompaniment of hot tea and peanut butter cookies - was I ever wrong. I sat at my usual window spot, set the tea down and plugged in my laptop... only to smell something burning a minute later. Imagine my shock when I looked at the AC adapter to my left to discover wafts of white smoke pouring from it! I whipped the plug out of the wall socket and fearfully checked over my newer and much-more-irreplaceable Gateway FX laptop for damage. Thankfully, it seemed unharmed.

Unfortunately, that leaves me with two laptops without power and batteries that will soon run out - it will be a week or more before replacement AC adapters arrive from eBay, which thankfully are still available and don't cost too much overall. I'm quite miffed at The Bean and I'll be talking to their manager Monday, though in the main I'm just concerned that there's an electrical problem and that it doesn't happen to anyone else. If I have the replacement costs of the adapters covered along with a few free cookies, I'll be satisfied - though a LOT warier about plugging in my expensive and delicate machinery into any old strange socket.

12 comments:

Brian W said...

YEP!. You should always be careful not to plug yer expensive and delicate equipment into any old socket. Brings back memories of sex ed in high school!

Luke said...

Yah. I'm gonna go out on the limb and say: not the Coffee shop's issue.

Luke2 said...

PS: Social Netwooking sucks.

Whoring out your personal space is worse.

That's how you wind up with damage to your equipment from dirty sockets.

Brian w said...

I think the wiring is definitely installed wrong..so it is the coffee shops issue. I'm sure they are more than happy to have their crappy electrical contractor come back and do the job right the first time! :)

Brian W said...

this comment is a placeholder comment until i think of something better to say

Luke3 said...

Oh, I am also placing a placehold comment. Just in case.



Hey: How come you plugged in the second one?

Nah, nevermind, i probably would have assumed it was the Power Supply and plugged in the second one. I still doubt it is the outlet (It is possible, though).

I think it was the coffee shop punishing the nerds who buy a $4 coffee and camp for 3 hours at the place instead of having the coffee and moving on... Places like that make their money on turnover, not campers.

camper.

Luke4 said...

you need to add a quote feature to your comments as well.

Brian W said...

July 27, 2010 8:57 AM
Anonymous Luke4 said...

"you need to add a quote feature to your comments as well.",

I agree as I had to do this manually!!!!!

Now my outlet is smokin!!!

Luke said...

Maunal Quote of my earlier post:
"Hey: How come you plugged in the second one?

Nah, nevermind, i probably would have assumed it was the Power Supply and plugged in the second one. I still doubt it is the outlet (It is possible, though)."

WAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIT A second here...

why the F would you have Two power supplies with you are the same time?

I think THAT is the real story.

Luke said...

Whups. No ARE, I mean AT.

AT the same time.

Quote and Edit feature please.

(Hey, Ten Comments! Good Job Woodsie! The site has never seen such activity. If this keeps up the Followers may just increase to one).

It's funny, also, that pete set up a "follow" function and didn't choose to "follow" himself...

You always need to self promote!

Brian11 said...

11

Soronos said...

I am flabbergasted at the( now )dozen comments on what has to be my shortest blog entry to date. Which you may interpret as you will...

Power supplies: two different laptops, two different adaptors, two different days and two different outlets. Same result: fried adaptor. Which is better than fried laptop, frankly.

No quote function that I can find either, and I am not so narcissistic as to Follow myself - yet.