Why do my power cables keep blowing?

Now, that's an interesting question. After the first two power cables fried, we put an expensive surge protector and made certain that the electronics were on that.

In addition, because we had had the weird power surge that was the reason for the 2nd power cable loss, we had an electrician out to look at the outlets that had the surge who said that there was no problem with the electricity at all. However, after that I noticed (was freaked out and angered by) that whenever the lights were turned on or off in the hallway, the outlets on the shared wall inside the living room would receive a power surge. This surge did not set off the surge protector at all, but I wonder if it contributed to the failure of this second MacBook charger cable? I do know that it must have contributed to the failure of our 4th power cord, the extremely expensive adapter charger that the Dell was running on. Man, this is just amazing, isn't it?

However, on Friday, after this happened, I threw the computer and the charger into my bag and when the babysitter arrived and the German and I left to meet friends in Prenzlauer Burg, we stopped at the Apple store on the way.

It was a typical German customer service experience. When we walked in, we took a number (electronically) , which is a far sight better than one can expect at T-Com. Then, when we were called the German explained what had happened to the clerk. The clerk misunderstood, thinking that he had purchased a new cable a few weeks ago while what had really happened was that they had given us one (warranty replacement) and it did not go through the Kasse. But the clerk sent the German to the Kasse to get paperwork (which was not there) and when he came back without any, it was not in Ordnung.

At that point, I started to become concerned because we were starting to get late for our meeting (we were still 30 minutes from the restaurant). So I asked what the problem was. When I explained the situation it became clear that the process the clerk had started was incorrect so he changed to looking at the bar code on the computer, determining that I was correct in believing that I still had 4 years left on my warranty, and then telling me that it would be 4-6 days until I would be able to get a new cord: Apple would want to look at the cable before issuing me a new one.

I looked at the clerk in disbelief. In measured tones I informed him that in this country and city where I do not speak the language, that my computer is my life line. I suggested that if they did not have a cord to give me (hard to believe, as they sold computers there!) that he loan me one. (We had already had the conversation where I indicated that I was unhappy with the failure of two cables and he had informed that that it was not his fault and that he worked for Gravis, not Apple.) He told me that the company only had four loaner computers and that they would almost certainly be all out.

I asked him to please check the status and I would wait to be angry until I found out if therewas a reason to be. Then I smiled at him.

When he came back, he gave me a new cord.

That was nice.

More tomorrow about what happened at the restaurant...

The final frontier.

Now, maybe I am even geekier than Snooks, because I have known about this for some time. But trailer two is just way more exciting than trailer 1. Nimoy doing the voice over is just cool.

Clearly I am not as geeky as some (though I sometimes try;)), but this is a site for the interested.

I am looking forward to it, because I'm just not crotchety yet and I think it will be great, even if the characters motivations and back stories are changed.

A quick note...

My second Mac power cable in the last- what, four weeks?- has blown. Won't be blogging until it's replaced. Either tonight after the German gets home or tomorrow morning (we are meeting friends for dinner in Prenzlauer Berg and I'm not certain we will have time after the babysitter arrives).

And the friends that were planning on joining us this weekend were ill and weren't able to join us in Berlin:( , leaving us with extra tickets to Tanksgiving tomorrow, and everyone else we know is either ill or out of town for the weeken. Sob.

I hope that dinner tonight makes up for it and I am glad another couple were able to join us as we would have stayed closer to home if it were just the two of us: we can really talk anywhere, it generally takes some other goal to make us go 45-60 minutes out of our neighborhood.

When I wasn't looking, the last state was called.

Missouri went for McCain. That's not really a surprise. What is amazing is that it went 1,445,812 to 1,442,180. Wow. Down to 3,632 people.

Good for us and good for the people of Missouri, who fought their way until the end and nearly succeeded in overturning their slave holding history. After all, the state (and the ability to own slaves) was one of the proximate causes of the Civil War. So they have come a long way.

The final election results (I think):
67,066,915 Barack Obama (53%, 365 electoral votes) to
58,421,377 John McCain (46%, 173 electoral votes)

A great map to look at, with individual states' totals.

What type of Blog are you?

This site purports to discern what type of blogger you are from your blog. Check it out and tell me what you think- how accurate you feel it is.

ESTP - The Doers

The active and play-ful type. They are especially attuned to people and things around them and often full of energy, talking, joking and engaging in physical out-door activities.

The Doers are happiest with action-filled work which craves their full attention and focus. They might be very impulsive and more keen on starting something new than following it through. They might have a problem with sitting still or remaining inactive for any period of time.


I couldn't figure out how to copy the chart- anyone? It was interesting to see what areas of my brain it felt were active during blogging:)

What I've been reading recently in links.

An interesting discussion of Libertarianism in science fiction currently.

The Pope speaks on the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht.(Die Welt.)

Racism in Europe (Washington Post).

Al-Qaeda is racist. Who would have thunk it?

Haider, uncritical admirer of Nazis, dies at 58.

Bruni glad to be French after Berluscon's racist remarks.

Klaus Emmerich, Austria's "Wolf Blitzer", goes off on racist rant.

Euro Zone announces recession.

An interesting review of Nemirovsky's life and Suite Francaise.

The boots I want (by the same company that makes the adorable haus shuhe for the girls).

The University as a home for racism: the last acceptable form.

Here is a good article on the open anti-Semitism that passes as debate in the US. The saddest part is reading the comments. Dare I hope that the majority of these commenters are not US citizens? Or are they part of the minority that voted for McCain not because they agreed with his views but because they agreed with Sarah Palin's?

It nauseates me when I hear someone call Israel's policies analogous to those of apartheid South Africa (because of the lack or any truth or meaning) but when they equate them with Hitler's, then I know that they would love to put me up against a wall and they are practicing the Great Lie concept.

Why letting the domestic auto industry collapse is problematic.

"There is no denying that the risks of letting GM fail are high. Economists warn that if it fails GM is more likely to end up in Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation than a Chapter 11 restructuring. Given the current credit crunch the traditional bridge loans available to companies in Chapter 11 are all but impossible to obtain. And few consumers would be likely to buy a car — which depends on long-term warranties, service and parts — from a company in a bankruptcy reorganization. The Big Three and their affiliated suppliers account for 2% of the U.S. workforce, or more than 2.5 million U.S. jobs. GM alone employs over 100,000 workers, the same number of autoworkers that have been laid off so far this year. And that's not to mention the hit the federal government would take when GM dumps its pension, insured by the quasi-governmental agency, the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp.; with nearly a million participants, it is the largest private defined-benefit pension plan in the U.S. Some experts estimate that that hit alone could cost the taxpayers more than $100 billion, with another $100 billion in lost tax revenues and $10 billion in increased Medicaid expenditures annually."

Tuesdays with Dorie- Arborio Rice Pudding.

(Here shown with the plastic wrap to prevent skin formation- although I like skin and will leave it off next time.)

Well, whew. I got it made today and it is sitting in the refrigerator for the required 6 hours chill. I would like to thank Isa of Les Gourmandis d'Isa for choosing a non-threatening recipe for this week, and one for which I actually had all the ingredients sitting in my pantry.

I had hoped to have it up by noon New York time, but I went out and looked at the questions and answers after I put it in the refrigerator to cool (and next time I will look before I make it) only to discover that there was both a problem with the cooking time (needs to be doubled from that in the book) and the ratio of rice to milk (most agreed it should be increased).

So I pulled the two bowls out of the refrigerator, put them back into the saucepan, added a bit more rice and started to cook it again. Since there is a mult-hour cooling time for this, I don't expect I will have the picture up until later, but I will post this now and add them.

From the taste of the rice pudding (soup) I tried, it will be delicious, and if it is actually as simple as it seems (once the cooking time and rice amount hae been adjusted), then I expect I will start making it regularly.

---Here are the pictures- I added a bit of cinnamon and it made a positive difference. I like the pudding very much but I found it a bit more bland than the usual run and next time I make it (and I will) I will try adding raisins or another dried fruit and perhaps even a bit of salt for contrast (ever since I made the NYT Chocolate chip cookie mix, I am in love with salt in sweets).

60 Minutes with President-Elect Obama

Sometimes it's hard to keep up with what's happening at this remove. I was very glad to watch this when I could in my own time zone.