One of the most ridiculous strings of technological breakdowns I've ever had in my life:
My computer is dead because my US/Europe electric current converter blew a fuse because the laptop needed more power than the converter could supply. I didn't realize this until I borrow my roommate Ewan's converter and blew that fuse too. I didn't have an internet connection so I activated my BlackBerry which comes with a European plug as well and it is now having difficulty holding a charge. It's also turning off randomly and often so last night when I wanted to call a cab I borrowed my classmate Laura's phone. After I got off of the phone the signal went dead and in place of the signal bars the phone read "SOS" - it is still reading SOS. Before giving up on technology last night I was attempting to start my computer up with the little juice it had left so that I could put my paper (which was due Tuesday night) onto my thumb drive and work on it on one of the computers in the computer lab in the dorm where we were staying. After 30 minutes of searching for the thumb drive, which I had the night before in Lisbon, I decided to just try to connect to the wifi in the computer lab and email the paper to myself. I figured out very quickly that you need to be a student at Universedade do Minho in order to use the wifi. Today while I was on the bus I was attempting to post this very blog from my BlackBerry. After 30 or so minutes of typing I had what was damn close to a finished product but I wanted to go through and check the post once more for any errors before I uploaded it and we were at our destination and needed to get off the bus so I put my phone in my pocket and got off. When I got inside I pulled my phone out to finish up real quick and it was in the midst of restarting. Once it booted back up the post had been erased.
The paper that I'm writing is on globalization. In the paper I have been arguing that the social, political and economical playing field of the world is flattening drastically and we are becoming more interconnected despite vast geographical differences. If I submitted my paper on Tuesday I would have definitely stayed with this position. After experiencing a complete inability to stay connected to the world this past week I may have to re-evaluate some of the statements in the paper, however.
Right now I am sitting in a cafe connected to Casa da Musica of Porto in the square of Boavista. The driver of our coach bus that has been driving us around this week, Joao (read: the man), was nice enough to walk with me over to the mall nearby and get converter - not before visiting three different stores to get it. So I'm knocking on wood as hard as I can right now but I think I feel comfortable saying that I am up and running. I have to leave right now to check into my hostel in Porto but once there I will update you on all of the happenings of the week. Talk to you in a few hours.
Meelosh.
My computer is dead because my US/Europe electric current converter blew a fuse because the laptop needed more power than the converter could supply. I didn't realize this until I borrow my roommate Ewan's converter and blew that fuse too. I didn't have an internet connection so I activated my BlackBerry which comes with a European plug as well and it is now having difficulty holding a charge. It's also turning off randomly and often so last night when I wanted to call a cab I borrowed my classmate Laura's phone. After I got off of the phone the signal went dead and in place of the signal bars the phone read "SOS" - it is still reading SOS. Before giving up on technology last night I was attempting to start my computer up with the little juice it had left so that I could put my paper (which was due Tuesday night) onto my thumb drive and work on it on one of the computers in the computer lab in the dorm where we were staying. After 30 minutes of searching for the thumb drive, which I had the night before in Lisbon, I decided to just try to connect to the wifi in the computer lab and email the paper to myself. I figured out very quickly that you need to be a student at Universedade do Minho in order to use the wifi. Today while I was on the bus I was attempting to post this very blog from my BlackBerry. After 30 or so minutes of typing I had what was damn close to a finished product but I wanted to go through and check the post once more for any errors before I uploaded it and we were at our destination and needed to get off the bus so I put my phone in my pocket and got off. When I got inside I pulled my phone out to finish up real quick and it was in the midst of restarting. Once it booted back up the post had been erased.
The paper that I'm writing is on globalization. In the paper I have been arguing that the social, political and economical playing field of the world is flattening drastically and we are becoming more interconnected despite vast geographical differences. If I submitted my paper on Tuesday I would have definitely stayed with this position. After experiencing a complete inability to stay connected to the world this past week I may have to re-evaluate some of the statements in the paper, however.
Right now I am sitting in a cafe connected to Casa da Musica of Porto in the square of Boavista. The driver of our coach bus that has been driving us around this week, Joao (read: the man), was nice enough to walk with me over to the mall nearby and get converter - not before visiting three different stores to get it. So I'm knocking on wood as hard as I can right now but I think I feel comfortable saying that I am up and running. I have to leave right now to check into my hostel in Porto but once there I will update you on all of the happenings of the week. Talk to you in a few hours.
Meelosh.
I think 75 is good weather. 75 here is so different then 75 there. As long as there is sunshine it will be great. But Albufeira will be in the 80s next week!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mo, I think we'll end up staying in Lisbon Saturday, Lagos for a few days and then Munk and J. Whoadie head over to Barcelona Wednesday and Koce and I will probably head to Albufeira or Sevilla - I still need to talk to him. I'm headed to Lisbon in about 30 minutes. Wish me luck.
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