menace to society

That's not entirely true: I'm really a menace to myself.

Last weekend, I tripped over the USB cable connecting my computer to my printer. Fortunately the computer stayed on the table. The USB connection on the printer was not so lucky, and all the king's horses and all the king's men (read: my feeble attempts) could not make the USB connection work. Bye-bye, printer.

(A kind friend loaned me a combo printer-scanner to use until I go. As I go on with this story, I have no doubt you'll begin to wonder what he was thinking...)

Early last week, I knocked my phone off the table vigorously enough to truly break the screen. I took it to some guys in the main mall, who replaced the screen. That was great, but I had to take it back a second time because the keypad wouldn't work. For now, the phone is functional.

Then, last night, I had a wild moment almost overturning a glass of red wine, and managed to spill most of the wine right into the keyboard of my laptop.

Nice.

After some drying time and a seance with the hairdryer, my mouse started working fairly well again. The keyboard, on the other hand, has not recovered. (It must have a hell of a hang-over.) I'm typing all this from the strangest thing I've seen in a long time: a flexible keyboard that can be rolled up like a rug. It's odd, but it's sort of working --- for the time being.

What's next? The car? I think I've done enough damage there. My body? I could do some nice participant-observation at Gabs Private Hospital... The hell with getting out of the field in one piece. At this point, I'll settle for avoiding major injuries.