Chapter 43: The Mystery of the Dead Laptop

What exactly happened to my computer was beyond my understanding of technology at first. It just died. Wouldn’t turn on or anything. Of course I took it to the shop, paid through the nose for a diagnostic test and they said the hard drive was melted and destroyed. I sighed. Yes, I was a girl who used her laptop on her bed and floor. But not that often. Really hardly ever. But I guess it must have been enough to kill the poor thing. So I pay a rather large three digit number to get it a new heart and I have a computer for a few more months. Then, of course, the same thing happens later. I take it to another store, pay for a diagnostic and they say the same thing.

“But I never had it on the floor or my bed!” I protest uselessly. “How did this happen?”

Seeing my strange, over the top, and rather unnecessary upset, the technician says, “Give another day with it and I’ll see what I can find.”

Two days later the they call and give me the news: “Your laptop’s mother board was never working. It couldn’t ever tell the fan when to come on and cool the unit down, so it melted itself both times.”

Oh, the agony! My poor laptop was mentally retarded and committed suicide due to a malfunctioning brain! They said they would fix it, mother board, hard drive, but it would be about $850. I died. Then I told them no, thanks.

So for the last semester and half I have had this corps of a laptop sitting on my keyboard (also alone since I have no computer to make music with it on) and every once in a while, I would turn it on to see if it would magically boot up. No such luck…until the other day.

I believe I mentioned the Columbus Foundation trip? And how I would have to save up really hard and make a lot of money to be able to afford to take four weeks off for that? Well, have also mentioned how I continually said, “Oh, God, if I had only (insert amount of money here) then I’d never have to worry about a thing again!” Because money is all I fret about to be honest. What I didn’t know was that God was replying, “Uh, yeah, I know. I kind of want you to depend on Me.” I ignored that.

So I never got a magic genie with tons of money. And working to save up for the trip has been hard. Then, on this past Sunday, my pastor preached on what? The love of money. I know, an old sermon topic, but pastor Kelly is AMAZING. His sermon really touched a nerve in my heart. The kind that makes you glare at the preacher while he’s talking. So on Sunday, I said eff it and gave up the money-grubbing idea. I still was going to work hard and save, but worry and fretting about it wasn’t getting me anywhere. Or getting me a new laptop.

In the kitchen that afternoon while mum was making dinner, I told her about the sermon and how earlier dad had said there was no way I was doing the Columbus trip. Then I said, “Maybe if dad really won’t let me go, I’ll save up for a laptop.” Pause. “Or maybe if not that, I’ll save up to go to Kansas City and visit Elise. I don’t know.” Right after that, I go upstairs to do some French homework and decide to give the laptop a try. I switch it on and forget about it for a few hours. It tries all its normal “instant self repair” things that never work and finally it asks if I want to go to a save point and restore from there. Well I didn’t have one. AND the laptop hadn’t gotten this far in a long time. Pressing my luck, I look for a “factory restore” option and after some searching, I found it. Hmmm….I push and let it go for some time as, magically, it all starts over again. And within two hours, my laptop is up and operating again! I wonder how long this will last. I haven’t turned it off for fear of it never coming back on. Was it my music making software that screwed it up? I don’t know. I’m going to try putting it back on and not download anything else. I’m not even putting my files back on. Going to keep it clean and work off my external hard drive.

So….what’s up, God? Heard me say I was going to save up for a laptop…OR Kansas? What do you want me to do? Something is happening and I don’t what You’re up to, but I’ll play along. Maybe there’s even some simple technological explanation for why my laptop is working and I only have a few days to use it? I don’t know. All I know is the freak coincidences that happened that Sunday.

I still work hard. Harder than ever if I can. I must study and save. Well, we’ll see.      

Chapter 42: Back to work!

Spring break is over and all too soon... It was as if the professors decided since I'd have the whole week off, they'd have tests right when we start again. Oh, and do ALL this assigned stuff while you're at it. It wasn't too bad. I did get to visit the ocean (ok, ok the gulf) for the first time in months. I missed it so much. When I got out of the car, I stood near the water on the cool, dark sand and let my hair down so the sea breeze could destroy the hours that went into straightening it. I don't know how many people know this, but sea water and sea wind curl your hair like nothing else. But I didn't mind. It was like the sea was happy to have me back. It was too chilly to go swimming, but I ran in the surf and let the waves lick at my knees and hips any way.
On that note, I mentioned to dad (must have forgot to earlier before making my huge plans) that I was going to volunteer with the Columbus Organization and sail on the Nina and Pinta for a portion of the summer. I mean, come one, a gypsy pirate type like me would never pass that up! And he did as he often does when trying to gently tell me no; he scoffed and said, "No, you're not," with a gentle smile. Who knows now. My heart still burns for it and I'm still working all I can to save up enough money so I can afford to take 4 weeks off to sail around America.
Which leads me to my next topic. Dance and money. The last night we danced at Skewer's, they decided they hated us. Said we were unprofessional. That's how people see us though. "Oh, those are Amira's girls. Aren't they just cute!" Cute and little. Like baby girls. Not a threat to any one else's job, not "good". Just little girls. So how are we going to cure that since I need to pay off my costume, make money, and save up? Do solo gigs. But I have to get better first. So I'm biting the bullet, dropping the last 5 or 10 pounds I need to, getting in shape, and.....eating vegetables! There I said it....phew...So in order to work out, I'll dance. Have to wake up in the morning to do my crunches and eat right. Not so hard. Should have been doing this all along but I wasn't serious enough. Guess it took a little poke of rejection first. So, step aside world, I'm getting serious.
Of course I'm making myself studying harder too. I'm doing fine in school but I figure since I'm so serious about this now I'll not let myself dance practice until after I'm done studying. That means French, British stuff, icky history, and poetry. Sounds easy, hu? Well, you try it.
So here I am. Working harder. Again. But actually trying this time around. Maybe now I'll have something to write about. Like that pit in my stomach that is screaming for Cheetos right now. I already ate Cheereos, an apple, had some Emergen-C (lots of sick siblings) and am about to go eat a banana for a snack. Stop being hungry! Eh, either way... :)