Monday, August 22, 2016

Death by Cantaloupe!

The Culprit


On Friday, when daughter was getting ready to come home, she packed a container of cut up cantaloupe to bring with her, partly because she knew the cantaloupe would spoil if she left it in the fridge in her apartment for the week she'd be down here, partly because she didn't want to throw it away and waste food, and partly because she knew I liked cantaloupe.  She put the container in a plastic bag and then, put it in her backpack.  There was more cantaloupe in the container than what is shown above; I had already eaten some of it before I took the picture.


When she arrived home and unpacked her backpack, she discovered that the cantaloupe juice had leaked onto a file folder of work-related papers she had brought home with her (she's working from home, this week).  And, some of the juice had spilled on:

The Victim


Oh, no!  Her laptop! The juice had spilled in the area where the battery compartment is located.  Quickly she wiped it off, removed the battery and wiped it off, and tried to switch it on, but nothing happened.  She plugged it in and tried it, but it wouldn't turn on.  She kept it to dry overnight but it was useless.   There are a couple of spaces in the battery compartment and probably the juice seeped into the inner workings of the computer.  It couldn't be helped.  The laptop was declared "dead on arrival".

So today, after my radiation session, we went to the computer store and bought a new laptop.  She was going to buy it, but I told her I'll pay for it.

On the way home from the computer store, we picked up some Chinese food for lunch.  Came home and after lunch, we both did some office work.  Later, daughter took a nap with her head on my lap.  She says I make a comfy pillow.  :)

My doctor had prescribed some medication for me to take after radiation ends.  It is something I'll be taking for practically the rest of my life.  Someone from the clinic called me this afternoon to say that the prescription has been sent to my pharmacy and a short time later, the pharmacy notified me that the medication was ready to be picked up.  So, later in the evening, daughter and I went to the pharmacy to pick up the medication.  Since I have already met this year's co-pay maximum for medications, I didn't have to pay for my new prescription.  I also had a $5 rewards coupon from the pharmacy which was expiring today - I redeemed it towards some personal care items for daughter.

On the way back, we stopped at the grocery store to buy a few things: 2 loaves of bread, half and half, soda, and ice cream bars.  The total came to $12.87.  I didn't take a picture; when we came home, daughter took the groceries in while I took the trash cans to the curb and watered the front garden.  She had already put the stuff away by the time I came in afterwards.

I had thought of making steaks and baked potatoes (both from the boxed frozen items my supervisor had sent me, earlier) and steamed broccoli for dinner.  But daughter said she wanted to have a sandwich with the avocado/cucumber/egg salad one of her friends had made and given to her to try.  So I had a sandwich, too.  I'll make the steaks on another evening.

Today, I am grateful for:

- The radiation session went well.
- I was able to buy daughter her new laptop. 
- I didn't have to pay anything for my new medication.
- Redeeming a $5 coupon from the pharmacy
- Having my daughter's company all day.

Monday's To Do List:

- Go for radiation - DONE
- Shop for a new laptop for daughter - DONE
- Office work - DONE
- Take trash cans to the curb - DONE
- Water the front garden - DONE
- Tidy dining table
- Pharmacy - DONE
- Grocery Store - DONE

I did all but one item on my to do list for today.  The trip to the pharmacy and grocery store were new items I added to the list and I did them instead of tidying the dining table.

Tuesday's To Do List:

- Call/email office
- Go for radiation
- Go to dermatologist appointment
- Clear dining table
- Clear  coffee table
- Bring trash cans in
- Water back garden

How was your Monday? 

12 comments:

  1. I hope your daughter was able to retrieve all her documents! I regularly email stuff I am writing to myself. It keeps a copy somewhere safe.

    The title made me smile and the cantaloupe looked lovely! x

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    Replies
    1. Lyssa, she says there wasn't much of any importance stored in her computer, other than an outdated CV. The title was actually something she said and I told her I was going to use it. :)

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  2. Oh no!!! it doesnt sound like she was saving critical documents to her hard drive though, which must have been a relief. Try. burying the laptop ( with battery removed in rice for a couple of days. Then do a hard reboot (take out battery, make sure power supply is NOT connected, press power button continuously for 1 minute, reconnect power supply, turn power button on. if laptop comes back on, put the battery back on.

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    Replies
    1. Nathalie, thank you so much for your tips. I read them out to daughter and she will try them to see if they work for her. Will let you know the results. :)

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    2. Sorry, I typed this from memory on my Kindle while I was biking so the formatting wasn't great. She should try submerging both the battery and the laptop in rice (to draw out any moisture) for 2-3 days, but have her remove the battery from the laptop.

      Then, to do the hard reboot, the correct sequence is:
      1) disconnect power
      2) take out the battery
      3) press power button for 1 minute
      4) reconnect power
      5) Press power button
      6) If laptop starts and loads windows, then put the battery back on. If laptop doesn't start then it's probably bricked.

      Good luck. If anything, if the laptop springs back to life, maybe she can sell it on e-bay or something. It was very nice of you to pay for a new one!

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    3. Thank you, again, Nathalie. We will try it and see. :)

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  3. When I read the title of this post, I thought a cantaloupe had fallen on your head. Yes, my mind is funny in the way it works. ;) I do feel bad that your daughter's laptop was ruined. It was very nice of you to replace it for her.

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    Replies
    1. Ha, ha, Debbie! Now, if I had said death by coconut... :D Actually, you've reminded me that my childhood home had several coconut trees and my father was so afraid that we children would get hurt by a falling coconut, he had two of the tallest trees cut down! They were growing in the one lawn where we used to play the most. :)

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  4. Oh that's rotten luck for your daughter regarding her laptop. Definitely worth trying the rice that Nathalie recommended. I think a fair few phones have been resurrected that way according to the internet. Reminds me of the time Amy knocked a glass of milkshake onto the keyboard of our old computer. Mark was unusually calm about it until I realised he saw it as a way of upgrading to a laptop! Silver lining and all that....xx

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    Replies
    1. Yes, we will try the rice trick that Nathalie suggested. If it works, then, my daughter will have a spare laptop. She can keep one here and one up at Berkeley and not need to carry it up and down.

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  5. Sorry about laptop. Wow! pricey cantaloupe. Better to throw out expired food than ruin electronic

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