Computer Malfunction Redux

It was only a matter of time. Things were simply going to well. There were no hiccups, no glitches, not even a glimmer or clue that the cliff was coming and that I would walk right over it. Metaphorically speaking, the cliff scenario is what it felt like that day during one of my days of jury selection, when I pulled my iBook out of my bookbag, took it out of its neoprene case, flipped open the top and after a couple minutes, the screen went blank and then began to cycle through the primary colors infinitely.

For six whole entire months, I did not make a pitstop into the tech office. I would see the guys in the hall and they would ask how things were and I could proudly proclaim that I was taking all the precautions and putting the computer into sleep mode when I was attaching a device through the USB port. I was doing my very best not to treat the computer as a bag of bricks and to treat it gently (I know you're chuckling as "gently" kind of isn't in my vocabulary let alone a way to operate in the world). But when I brought my iBook in after Spring Break, the howls of laughter and the jeering I got from the guys in the tech office were deafening. I am proud to claim that I lost NOTHING because I have been religious about transferring all work from the iBook on to the school's server. And I was able to boot the computer up to get to the point where I could email key documents to myself and thereby save them. BOOYAH!!

But, alas, I am again without a computer and feeling a bit lost in the world. I have been so wary of even stepping into the tech office that I only checked in yesterday and heard that they hadn't yet heard anything from their repair people. I'm praying it's something relatively inexpensive and simple, but it's looking like something major has friend inside. Damn.

I have to point you all towards a couple of causes I had forwarded to me. The first is a malaria prevention campaign that you can read in Sports Illustrated. The column is by Rick Reilly and there is a link off the article to the UN program that is running the campaign.

The second is one that sounds interesting as a way to battle high gas prices.
GAS WAR - an idea that WILL work




This was originally sent by a retired Coca Cola executive. It came from one of his engineer buddies who retired from Halliburton. It ' s worth your consideration.
Join the resistance!!!! I hear we are going to hit close to $4.00 a
gallon by next summer and it might go higher!! Want gasoline prices
to come down? We need to take some intelligent, united action.
Phillip Hollsworth offered this good idea.

This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain
day" campaign that was going around last April or May! The oil
companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue
to "hurt" ourselves by refusing to buy gas. It was more of an
inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them.

BUT, whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can
really work. Please read on and join with us! By now you're probably
thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is super cheap. Me too! It
is currently $2.79 for regular unleaded in my town. Now that the oil
companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the
cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $1.50 - $1.75, we need to take
aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the
marketplace..... not sellers. With the price of gasoline going up
more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are
going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit someone in the
pocketbook by not purchasing their gas! And, we can do that WITHOUT
hurting ourselves. How? Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just
stop buying gas. But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all
act together to force a price war.

Here's the idea:
For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from the two
biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL. If they are
not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If
they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow
suit.

But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon
and Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do! Now, don't wimp out
at this point.... keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to
reach millions of people.

I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of us sends it to at
least ten more (30 x 10 =3D 300) ... and those 300 send it to at
least ten more (300 x 10 =3D 3,000)...and so on, by the time the
message reaches the sixth group of people, we will have reached over
THREE MILLION consumers. If those three million get excited and pass
this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been
contacted! If it goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREE
HUNDRED MILLION >>>>PEOPLE!!!

Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. That's all.
(If you don't understand how we can reach 300 million and all you
have to do is send this to 10 people.... Well, let's face it, you
just aren't a mathematician. But I am, so trust me on this one.)

How long would all that take? If each of us sends this e-mail out
to ten more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people
could conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days!!!

I'll bet you didn't think you and I had that much potential, did
you?

Acting together we can make a difference. If this makes sense to
you, please pass this message on. I suggest that we not buy from
EXXON/MOBIL UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $1.30 RANGE AND KEEP
THEM DOWN.

THIS CAN REALLY WORK.

I think I might actually try this. Ok, who knows when I'll post next. But when I get my computer (or a computer) back, I'll be back in the saddle.