Random Updates

We are nearing the end of C's visit to KL. She leaves next Tuesday to head back to the US; I have to leave on Saturday to go back to the US as well. KL-Singapore-LA-Houston-Florida-Houston-Austin-Houston-LA-Singapore-KL. Ack. Tonight we have dinner planned at KL Tower, the revolving restaurant that most big cities seem to have nowadays. We've heard the food is nothing to write home about, but that the view is pretty good.

After that, we will attempt, once again, to go to Eye on Malaysia. Attempt #1: Wednesday (since the laser light show is on Wednesdays), but an early evening rainstorm derailed us. I know, rain in Malaysia...shocking. But between the rush hour traffic and the rain, we knew that any attempts to get a taxi would merely result in raising my blood pressure, so we opted out. Attempt #2: Last night. We actually made it to the Eye on Malaysia location. We got out of the taxi, and after looking at the ominous black clouds rolling in and lightening in the distance, we decided not to get on the 60 meter high metal object. Call us crazy. After waiting out the worst of the rain, we decided to head home. So we'll try again tonight. Maybe the third time's the charm, and we will actually get so far as to ride the damn thing.

Today, I have to finish packing for the US, and then at lunch C and I are going to get pedicures. Hopefully after that, I will be able to go pick up my work laptop from the IT department at work. Yesterday, my laptop chose (two days before I leave for the US and need my laptop while I'm there), to die. I was in the middle of working, and all of a sudden, it just turned off. Black screen. Nothing.

Normally, this would have been followed by a colorful, creative string of vulgarity, but I think all I said was, "Well, shit", since C was sitting right next to me. See? Having a kid around is improving my disposition! Either that, or it's forcing me to repress my rage, one or the other. But regardless, C didn't learn any fun new phrases from me, so score one in the stepmom department. So I called the IT department. They said that I had to bring it in right away so that Dell could come look at it, and no, they didn't have any loaners that they could switch the hard drives with for my trip. For fuck's sake. No loaners? Should have figured. This is the same department that has no extra network cables either, so I should have figured the chances of them having an actual entire spare computer were slim to none. So I knew I was shit out of luck unless I got my computer there pronto. A day and a half to troubleshoot and fix the computer is not a lot of wiggle room.

I got a call from them yesterday afternoon.Turns out, the motherboard needs to be replaced, which is a relief. I had figured that all the food crumbs and cigarette ashes in the keyboard somehow wriggled their way into some sort of nook and cranny and raised all kinds of hell with my computer. (See kids? Not only will smoking pollute your lungs and make your hair smell like an ashtray, it will BREAK YOUR COMPUTER. NO MORE MYSPACE. NO FACEBOOK EITHER. Holy shit, I think I've just hit upon the best anti-smoking campaign for kids ever.)

I even tried to blow dry out the assorted crumblies before I took the computer in. (Now I don't think that those little keyboard vacuums are so stupid. One sure would have come in handy yesterday). I could just imagine the IT guy opening up my computer and seeing all the ashes, dried cereal, Twistie crumbs and the occasional smear of Nutella inside my computer. I would hang my head in shame as he says, "Well, of course you broke your computer. The remnants of your pantry are stuck here inside your keyboard."