I'm accessing the innertubes from my laptop this morning because my desktop apparently couldn't stand (at least) three consecutive ungraceful shut-downs. I didn't mention this but the ENTIRE town of Portales was without power for most of yesterday morning. I know this because we had three... count 'em, THREE... short-duration power outages around 0600 yesterday, during which I dutifully reset what needed resetting and returned to my warm and cozy bed, arising for good around 1030 hrs.
At which time I booted up the peesee and discovered I had no internet. A quick call to Yucca Telecom confirmed that yes, the entire town has no internet, as the entire town has been without power all morning. Well, OK then.
Things got back to normal about a half hour later and I didn't give this much thought afterward, coz Stuff Happens.
Fast forward to this morning... approximately 0600 hrs. The power goes off again. And again. And AGAIN...three more outages that last about a minute each, in quick succession. After the third bump my peesee refused to boot, even in safe mode -- all I get is the dreaded Blue Screen o' Death.
So we pulled out the laptop, fired it up, downloaded 46 Very Important Windows Updates (150 Mb worth), installed same; and 60.78 Mb of Norton updates and installed same. All while metaphorically holding our breath as the Windows update installation proceeded, due to the friendly "Installing updates -- Do NOT Turn Off Your Computer!" messages. All this shit took at LEAST two hours.
Update, 1050 hrs: The desktop is back up and it's the strangest thing. The box wouldn't boot in "repair" mode (I got an immediate BSoD) but booted up fine in "normal" mode. Who knows what evil lurks in the heart o' Redmond? Not me... but I AM grateful to be back up and running.
Sounds like you're having another one o' those days. Try not to cuss too much.
ReplyDeleteiMac. iPad. :-)
ReplyDeleteDeb: You'd be proud of me, as not a single epithet passed my lips.
ReplyDeleteKris: Ah, yes. The sun ALWAYS rises in Cupertino, doesn't it? It'll be a COLD day in Hell before I go there...
We didn't lose power at Floyd, but the loss of Internet was frustrating. Not that I had anything to do, but wasn't able to make my usual rounds and had to resort to doing things such as housework and laundry until it came back on.
ReplyDeleteJenny housework and laundry, EEW, now that's a total waste of good internet time!
ReplyDeleteJenny: Ya know what's strange? There's not a WORD about these outages at pntonline.com. I think that's weird... two days in a row with massive outages and... NOTHING?
ReplyDeleteBe careful there, Buck... I always said that too... But in the last year I took a sip of the Cupertino Kool-Aid, and discovered for myself why my friends have been drinking it for years...
ReplyDeleteNot going back to Microsoft Hell ever again. It's easy over here in Apple-Land, Buck... C'mon, buddy, just a sip... One little sip... ;)
MS Winblows may be terrible, but I'd rather get kicked in the groin than try to use a happy little mac.
ReplyDeleteThat is strange. But the radio (107.5 and 105.3, and on their facebook pages) is covering it as well as they can on the wheres and whens (though I haven't heard a cause yet). The radio and newspaper people kinda clash over a personal issue a few years ago. I'm friends with the radio guys so I know some of the story. But half the time one covers something the other isn't.
ReplyDeleteI'm just glad you didn't have to resort to doing laundry and RV cleaning.
ReplyDeleteC'mon, buddy, just a sip... One little sip... ;)
ReplyDeleteHeh. I'm with Inno on this subject, Thimbelle. No offense to you or Kris but Mac people are among the MOST obnoxious people I know. I don't wanna be one of "them."
Jenny: Thanks for the back-story. That's pretty weird.
Lou: I DO NOT do laundry. Ever. Not since I discovered the P-Ville wash 'n' fold. ;-)
Not going back to Microsoft Hell ever again. It's easy over here in Apple-Land, Buck... C'mon, buddy, just a sip... One little sip... ;)
ReplyDeleteWhat Thimbelle said.
Mac people are among the MOST obnoxious people I know.
Aww...c'mon Buck we aren't all that bad. Perhaps smug in the knowledge that the BSoD will never hit us, secure knowing that a virus will never get us and confident that we will always boot up on the first try.
But obnoxious - no not us who use the world's most perfect operating system.
:-)
Ok, Buck - although i was just teasin' ya, point taken... I remember feeling the same way when I was running PCs.
ReplyDeleteWhich wasn't all that long ago; less than six months.
Ironically, my regular gig (when not taking care of Mom) is repairing PCs, and I also do one-on-one personal training sessions for folks who want to learn how to use their computers, or improve their skills.
Microsoft has buttered my bread for a long time... Long may they live!
Aww...c'mon Buck we aren't all that bad.
ReplyDeleteYes you ARE, as Thimbelle confirms. My bias goes back one hella long time, like to around '87 or so when the first Apple bigots appeared on the scene. Things have only gotten worse in the meantime. I ain't NEVER gonna go THERE.
And Thimbelle... MSFT has made a lot of people happy, for a lot of reasons. I built an altar to Bill Gates years ago and make offerings there regularly. ;-)