More Machines...

More about technology.

I was hurrying to school this Friday morning. I had stayed up late again but still not quite managed to get everything totally ready. There were still a couple of handouts on my computer. We were going to be reading part of 100 Years of Solitude in Spanish 4 (but the English translation, since I didn't have a copy in Spanish--lucky students), and I had some handouts about background information for them to look at in groups. Apparently my teaching is too teacher-centered. This is frustrating, because I feel like I try to get them to do stuff. Like printing out little bits on the United Fruit Company, magical realism, and the environmental impact of banana plantations in South America for them to read one of these and report to their group about.

This didn't happen, though. I got to school and while they were doing some exercise in partners, I opened up my computer to transfer and print the handouts. The screen looked like a stone, but lit up. I restarted it--same results. My computer...had died.

I took it down to the Apple store when school got out. I pulled out of my bag for the "genius" at the "Genius Bar" at the back of the jam-packed store. The "genius" said, "I haven't seen one of these in awhile." He scanned something and pulled up the purchase date: July 2005. He explained that Apple doesn't service computers that have been discontinued for five years or more, and that I just barely snuck in under the wire.

It's getting shipped off to Kansas or something and should be back in a couple of days with a new graphics card and something else and hard drive. Suck as much life out of it as possible...