A mild misfortune...

Remove all ads!

I just got home from a night shift, it's still dark out, so it's best that I tell this story on a blog, instead of waking somebody up...

So it was cold outside, and I hadn't realized that it had frozen in the night. I was cycling home as always, high speed, hands in my pockets, totally unsuspecting. The ground appeared to be wet, but this was dangerously misleading. I turned a corner, slowing down since the wet ground looked a little slippery. It was frozen ground of course, and it was A LOT slippery. My bike skid onwards as I fell flat on my backside. If my backside was any thinner, I'd probably have broken my tailbone. I'm so glad I don't work out. Luckily it was an empty bicycle path at 7:30 in the morning, road accidents can end up much worse! I must have stayed on the ground for 10 or so seconds, just to get my bearing again. An onlooker thought I had broken something, since I briefly cried out in an exaggerated exclamation. But he walked on when he saw me getting up.
The greatest shock was to happen when I arrived home. I took my laptop out of my backpack to set it up, and noticed that the screen was loose. Oh no! My laptop is broken? I might as well have broken my tailbone! (another exaggerated exclamation).
Then I noticed that the light was still on, and as i moved the loosened screen, it shifted in and out of sleep mode. Could it be..? I opened the screen up, and to my surprise, everything was still in working order: The screen was intact, the disk drive, keys, everything! I'm writing this blog with this very notebook. Essentially all that was broken, was a little plastic bump that switches the pc to standby as you close it, and one of the steel hinges that connects the screen to the notebook.
I'm so glad that my notebook survived. There's so much stuff on it that I haven't backed up: Pictures, movies, (IWD2) savegames, Wordfiles, etc.

Check out the damage in my album, specially created for this blog:
http://sorcerers.net/forums/album.php?albumid=121
I bought my notebook over four years ago in Thailand, while I was on a 3-month internship. I took a whole month to calmly decide which one would be best, and I was lucky to stumble into the annual Notebook Fair in Panthip Plaza, Bangkok. There were lots of shiny new gadgets on display, but when looking at specifications and warranties, I just had to go for the IBM. It looked ugly compared to the flashy ones on display, but it was new, modern, and straight from the factory (produced in China 8 days earlier). I paid 750 euro for it, which was an awesome deal at the time.

IBM was the only company which offered 3 years international warranty on its product, which reassured me that I was getting sturdy craftmanship. But I never expected it to be this sturdy.
I'm gonna miss my IBM, when I get a new notebook. Lenovo took over from the IBM brand, and I'm not sure if they offer the same quality as IBM did.

So this blog is essentially promotion of an extinct brandname, but they deserve it.
I guess that that is the whole story. Just wanted to share it.

 

I'm glad you're ok sweetheart. It could have been a lot worse! And YAY for your laptop being alright too.

Be careful next time silly! xxx

 

Glad you're okay!

I've 'damaged' my tailbone and fractured by hip before, wasn't that bad tbh, didn't really notice it for a week Worst bit was needing the X-Ray

Glad laptop is fine. I bought an external HDD to make backups from my laptop onto and to store personal files when Sal and I buy our computer together. I bought it just the right time because my laptop is on a downward spiral of DEATH. Will be fun when it comes to coursework (computing degree x_x hard to program without one)

 

Well I'm not ready to give up on my laptop just yet... Chances are that a new one won't be the trusty workhorse I'm looking for. And when you work in homeless centres, a boring-looking laptop is inherently valuable I contacted a company to ask if they could solder my hinge back, but they advised me to try superglue first. That didn't work, the hinge is too heavy and the glue just breaks when I turn it I'll try them again tomorrow.
Today I'll just try and backup my files like you said, before it's too late.
When i fell on my back, it was really painful. I think I bruised my tailbone or something, coz I still feel it!

 

Aww, probably. Bruising around a bone can be a pain in the arse (literally and figuratively)

Don't sit still in one position for too long, if bruises settle they tend to heal up slower and you get a dull ache for longer.