Month: September 2004

So, the laptop is in the shop. The video cable is fried. Future Shop (or, as I hope Quebecers call it, Futu Shop) is the only distributor of parts for emachines in the area.
We’re playing a waiting game now.
In the meantime, I’m furtively sneaking into colleagues’ offices and stealing time on their machines, collecting email and updating my student pages as quickly as possible.
So, apologies for the long, dramatic pauses.
I shall return!

So, Canadian anti-Britney Avril Lavigne has chosen this month’s Maxim as the launch vehicle for her new role as a sex kitten. Along with several flirty pix of Miss Manners in various stages of undress, there’s an interview which features the following:
Lavigne begins by saying that she has been unfairly depicted by journalists as having a short fuse.
“The media have portrayed me as an angry girl who’s pissed off all the time,” she says.
In answer to a question about when the last time was she “had to smack a bitch down,” Lavigne responds this way:
“In a bar a few months ago. Some chick came up to me and got in my face and said something, so I kicked her in the box and shoved her. I don’t go looking for fights, but if someone comes up to me and pushes me, I’m not going to take it.”
Ok, as long as she doesn’t have a short fuse or anything.

An impassioned commander with more respect for individuals than for authority, you have a no-holds-barred approach to life and its obstacles.
“I don’t believe in the no-win scenario.”
Via Isabella.

The NHL – that’s the National Hockey League – is involved in some bruhaha over the usual bags of money, and the players are currently locked out. As a result, the hockey season will definitely not start as scheduled, and may not happen at all.
One fan in Toronto had this to say:
“It’s like there’s a cloud over Toronto. It’s just one disaster after another.”

I started writing this post yesterday afternoon.
My fantabulous laptop is pooping out on me. Since it’s a refurbished machine, it’s no longer under warranty. E-machines tech support were able to tell me immediately that the problem is the CPU fan – I suspect this is not an unprecedented case.
The symptoms: the computer gets very hot very quickly, then shuts itself off as a safety precaution. Which would be acceptable were there any warning involved, such as “the system has detected a problem and needs to shut down. Please close all applications.”
This message, however, does not appear. The machine simply stops altogether. On a good day, presumably when there’s good air circulation and low humidity or something, I can work for a couple of hours before this becomes a problem. Unfortunately, the AC here at work is automatically shut off at the beginning of September, so even with my office window open all the time, the air gets warm in here.
I’ve spoken to a recommended techie out in Sherbrooke, who has since reported that he thinks he can get the required part(s), and that he thinks he can take a look at the machine and give me an estimate next week.
Sigh.
Suffice it to say that posting will be sporadic, given that I have to make hay while the sun shines (in other words, make essay questions and grammar quizzes while the computer is up).

In case you were wondering “whatever happened to Bea Arthur” (of course you were. Just be a (wo)man and admit it.), it turns out she’s dating Zach Braff.
You know, the guy from Scrubs.
His Garden State marketing people have convinced him to get blogging, and he’s funny (that’s haha, not strange). He claims to read all comments, but every post generates hundreds – some of the commenters are just as funny and twisted as Braff – but it’s like shopping at Winners. You have to be prepared to wade through a lot of mundane stuff to find the perfect pair of pants. There are usually several comments rejoicing the fact that the commenter is first! second! top ten! – on the other hand, the prevailing sentiment is one of happiness, appreciation and humour, so it’s a good thing.