We've been having a few internet issues on our "main" home desktop (we have two... our new, better, faster, more memory one and our one that is older than the May Queen that we keep hobbling along...) We invited a friend over who is more computer savvy than us, who told he thought it was probably a problem with the network card, and if so, he would happily replace it for us.
I was downstairs picking up the newspapers from the ever spreading pile in our living room, placing them in a box to take to be recycled, when my husband came downstairs.
"I have some news for you," he began, "remembering that we will stay calm at all times."
Yes, the alarm bells were ringing in my head, too.
"Yes?" I said. Calmly.
"Our computer caught on fire. It's out now. You may want to come upstairs and help us open up windows to let the smoke out."
"Ok...." (I remained calm! I would like that noted for the record!)
Ultimately we were lucky that this happened when our friend was here, and not just us two idiots, but either way, it is an unfortunate and costly stroke of bad luck. We'll be getting a new one soon. The good news is our hard drive is OK, so we didn't lose any of our files.
What this means, in addition to the step up in opera rehearsals, my overgrown lawn, the cold I'm trying valiantly not to succumb to, and the clutter that is threatening to take over my house and my life, is that I will likely not be very active in blogland for the next week and a half or so. This is not bloggy abstinence, just reduced computer time. So if I don't stop by every day like I usually do, fear not. If I don't post as often, don't worry. I'm just busy learning Italian. And selling all my other earthly possessions to pay for the new computer.
I hope your day is going better than mine. But at least I got to use one of my favorite movie quotes for the title.
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34 comments:
WHOA! i am so sorry but wow, i suppose it could have been worse?
and your husband's line was absolutely priceless.
why would it do that? Jeez.
Glad you're ok.
The first thing that hit my mind was "is it a Dell?" They had a battery recall a few months back for a bursting-into-flame issue.
Oh, my. I did NOT see that one coming. So glad the damage was minimal and everyone is OK.
When you get the chance, will you post about how this might be avoided? (I'm specifically thinking about our eight year old Dell that is humming away in the basement right now.)
Ohhhh, noooooooo!
My day is looking better by the minute.
Maybe you should give the manufacturer a call to complain loudly about the terrifying fire and subtly hint that your extreme emotional distress might just possibly be soothed by a new, free computer.
On FIRE? That is crazy! I love how your hubby broke the news to you. Kudos for staying calm. I'm not sure I could have. Good luck on your cold, Italian, clutter, and selling of your possessions. ;)
It caught on FIRE? As in flames and everything????
I am so glad you are all okay and that you caught it in time. But what a major pain in the tail! I'm so sorry!
On fire??? Yikes...I think I would have been in a panic.
I hope things get sorted out!
Whoa. I'm glad no one was hurt.
Good luck with all that's coming up.
CLUE! You are a Clue fan! Thanks be the Google Gods for the help.
Nothing panics me like something telling me to stay calm. I don't do well in a crisis, evidently.
Sorry to hear about the fire. I hope you are not reduced to being a bottom feeder of the internet (aka users of public library computers).
(Did you get my email with my mailing address? Or did I mess up and give my personal information to a cyber stalker? Okay, now I'm feeling panicky.)
Uh. How did it catch on fire? Fan stopped working and overheated or something. Enlightened us all! I thought if that happened they just died, not actually catch fire. However, I have read the Digital Fortress (Dan Brown) . . . if you haven't yet, you might want to now!
Computer? On fire? OH MY GOD.
our friend speculates that it was somehow damaged in a power surge at a previous time, and just now... um... i dunno... finally burst into flames from the damage? I'm not entirely sure. No, it was not a Dell, and our friend assured us that in all his years working on computers he has never before made (ahem SEEN!) one burst into flames before. so don't start worrying about your own computers. I think we were just the lucky recipients of a freak accident. It does make for a good story, though. and a rather large credit card bill. sigh.
I'm so sorry, PM! I have heard of laptops spontaneously combusting, but not desktops.
A good thing that nothing really bad happened, even though the cost of a replacement is tough to swallow.
Hope it all works out.
Heidi
Clue!! Yes, Clue!! I've been wracking my brain ever since I read that, and I could picture her saying it, I just couldn't remember the movie. Thanks!!
PM: Oh my. I'm sorry to say that I laughed and laughed. Not because of the fire or the death of a computer, but because it is absolutely no stretch of the imagination to picture the Big Guy telling you that. Priceless. (The Sergeant read it too, and I think he laughed more than I did.)
To tell you the truth, it sounds like something that would happen to me. But with me it's always cars. I love to tell people I was driving once and the power steering pump fell off my car.
Hope you get things right soon. I'll miss your wonderful posts, but maybe I'll use this as an excuse to make a long-distance phone call. :)
that sucks!!!
sorry that happened but i am glad everyone is ok.
That is awful. I have the same thing -- except I try to work on my code in wordpress, and I wipe out my blog. I 've done this several times. And, someone, usually in Australia, pulls it back for me. I'm sorry about your mess!
Our computer caught on fire
Oh my.
;)
Hope things settle down (including the flames) quickly!
What a Hallowe'en-y thing to have happen... Talk about trick-or-treat... DEFINITELY trick, unfortunately...
Thank God no one was hurt, electrical fires can be so dangerous! And the "treat" would seem to be that you didn't lose any files. That, friend, is nothing short of a miracle.
Missing you already, hurry back to us!!
xo CGF
Yikes! Isn't it too much of a coincidence that it happened while the techy "friend" was there, though? I'm not blaming him, but....
yeah, furrow, I've thought about that, too, but I don't think he did anything to harm it. We did have the cover off the computer, and I wonder if the extra oxygen or whatever was enough to fuel the flames? I dunno. it's a mystery I will probably never know the answer to.
oh no! This is terrible! And your husband -too funny "we stay calm at all times" - do we? so funny. Wishing you better days than today!
Well the bright side can be that you will now have two newer computers ... at least I hope it was the older one that caught fire ... This is always the tightest time of the year for us so I commiserate with you on extra money going out.
I'm so sorry! Oy vay! Good job remaining calm. Hopefully by this time next year this story will just seem hilarious to you.
The expense of a computer is no fun.
Great quote for the post title BTW!
Thanks for so faithfully reading my blog...it's been pretty slow lately.
Warm thoughts...
CAUGHT ON FIRE? Whoa. Just, Whoa. Glad you are ok, girl.
Will miss your posts though, hurry back!
COMPUTERS CAN CATCH ON FIRE NOW?
Glad you're all right.
Sucky. Big time.
Where is that quote from? It's going to bother me.
Wow. That's a new one.
Damn.
Glad it was only a little conflagration.
Yikes. That is messed up! Glad that everyone is ok.
Oy, that was unexpected. Good luck with the opera and I hope you have a motherboard and CPU soon.
OMG! That sucks!
Will miss you while you're gone...
Hope the rest of your day was better!
YIKES! Glad all is okay. Phew! Your day makes me feel better...that's okay, right?
Delurking to shout, "Clue" !!!! I love, love, love that movie. And that particular line, well, my sister and I use to reenact it all the time when we were younger and trying to express our hate of something...I can't believe someone else knows that line.
And I am very, very sorry about your computer. How scary! In all my "what could go wrong" scenarios, I can't say that one has ever crossed my mind....
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