First, the screen decided to stop working. As in, my computer would turn on, but I couldn't actually see anything on the screen. Or let me rephrase that...I couldn't see anything unless I had the computer cracked open and crouched down to peer through the 2 inch gap between the keyboard and screen. If I opened it any more that that, I would be greeted with a completely black screen. This caused me to be computer-less for about a week, during which I used my liason's computer in the office to check e-mail. I eventually got that fixed and thought I was in the clear.
Not quite.
Just a couple weeks later my computer power cord decided to stop working. And I was, yet again, computer-less. I eventually made it to Changsha (about an hour away by train) to buy a new cord from a *seemingly* legit Toshiba store. And my computer was fine.
But it doesn't stop there.
Just two weeks later my new cord decides to stop working also. I plugged it in last week and there was smoke, some sparks, and then it looked like this:
In America, this would suck, but it wouldn't be a huge problem. I would just go to the store and buy a new one. No big deal. In China, it's practically the end of the world. I can't just go return it because 1) I don't have the time to get to Changsha, 2) If I got back to Changsha, I wouldn't have any idea how to get back to the place I bought it, and 3) I don't speak the language and therefore would have no idea how to explain what happened. So basically, for the third time since I have been in China (which has been an entire 2 months) I was without a computer.
But fortunately, this story has a happy ending...for now anyway. The computer teacher at my school was able to tape the cord back together, so now it works and I am able to use my computer (and update this blog! Woohoo!).
So if you notice a significant lack of posting in the coming months, I can almost guarantee...it was my computer's fault.
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