Broken and Disconnected

My boot broke today. I have a sort of old, but in really good shape (or so I thought), pair of Columbia boots. I got them a couple of years ago but didn't wear them much. Honestly, they look about as they did straight out of the box.

Since we got a decent amount of snow last night, I hauled the old boots out this AM. The right boot was a slightly different shade of blue than the left, but I figured there was some salt residue from the last time I wore them. The boots did their job as I cleared the wet, heavy snow off my car. They kept my feet warm and dry. It was a bit tricky to drive, but I managed OK.

I get to work and swap the boots for my work shoes. Did you know that if you haven't shaved your legs for 2+ months and wear Columbia snow boots it really hurts? Imagine tiny little evil elves yanking on the hairs on your ankle. Still not gonna shave. Moving on. It wasn't until I went to put the boots back on for my break that a coworker noticed the cracks.

Yes, there was a crack running all the way around the rubber part of my right boot. The boot that was slightly discolored, remember? I'm bummed, but I figure I'll break out the temperature-resistant tape and patch things up. I don't especially care how pretty they look. Though, I did get many compliments on my boots.

As I'm walking outside, I hear this crunching noise. I look down at my afflicted boot and see pieces of the rubber flaking away. I now have gaping holes where the rubber used to be. I may take a pic later and post it. Several people said I should call Columbia because that should not happen. I don't know that they will help me out, but I may try anyway.

That's the broken - here is the disconnected. jr and Jewfro were over the other night. jr and I made bacon cookies while Jewfro worked his magic and made it possible for me to Stumble without being tethered to my modem. There were some quirks: the network would say disconnected when I was still online, the icon showed a disconnect, but I didn't care. Access is access.

I don't remember if it was Monday or Tuesday, but I was having serious problems staying online. Also, it took an inordinate amount of time to connect (or not connect). I tried resetting the modem, restarting my computer, bupkes. I can't stay online wirelessly for more than 10 minutes or so. What is the point of having an awesome new toy if I can't go online? As it is, I'm posting this at work.

Oh, and nothing to do with anything, but I am surrounded by incompetents at work. Too many chiefs for us Indians.

Interlude

FUCKFUCKFUCK. FUCK. SHITSHITSHIT, GODDAMNIT. ARGH, UGH, GUH. BOO. BLERGH.



meh.

Tiny and Adorable

Mmmmm, toys.

I got a text message from my dad today stating that I had a package waiting for me at my parents' house. I let out a little "squeee!" and may have wiggled in my chair a bit. My eeePC had arrived! Ohboyohboyohboy!

I made tracks to the parents' and there it was. Everything packed in a box that was about 8"x12"x4". I broke out the pocketknife and sliced happily through the packing tape. Nestled in a white wrapper was my tiny 1000HA.

It is super shiny and yes, it picks up fingerprints like a motherfucker. Luckily, a handy little cleaning cloth is included. The screen is bright and sharp. I'm still getting used to the smaller size, but hiding the taskbar helps. I've been playing with it for about 2 and a half hours now, and it's only warm. The shift key placement is a bit tricky, but I think I'll be able to adjust. The spacebar is about 2/3 normal size but it hasn't been an issue so far. The touchpad is super sensitive and the buttons work fine as long as you remember to tap on the front edge. The two-finger scroll isn't great, but that may be a practice issue.

So far my biggest problem is a wireless issue. I'm having some trouble getting on my network but I can deal with being wired for now. I'm beginning the verrrrrry slow process of entering passwords, bookmarking pages and downloading assorted junk.