mistressofmuses (
mistressofmuses) wrote2022-07-15 10:27 pm
Entry tags:
Definitely not catching up today...
Rough drive back. Accidental 4-hour addition for nothing except suck - attempting to make a quick little side trip, and getting trapped on a VERY rough, unpaved road full of washouts that was an undisclosed 25 FUCKING MILES to the destination. Some sunk-cost fallacy ("but we've already come so far") and also just some plain being stuck with nowhere to safely turn around. We made it out - thank you VERY much, Alex, for safely navigating that shit - but it sucked, and we didn't even get to see what we were hoping for. By the time we made it out of that shit, we could have been home.
We picked Cy up - he did way better than anticipated!
...Then we got home to a notice from our apartment saying we have to be ready for an inspection next week, possibly as soon as Monday.
Last year they barely came through, looked at almost nothing... and then informed us that we'd failed due to "presence of trash in the apartment". There was no trash... but there was laundry in a plastic bag, and we think that's what they meant, though we never got an answer, despite asking for clarification. It was extremely stressful, as we were threatened that failing the inspection could lead to eviction... but then they never followed up with us, and we've changed management either three or four times since then.
So... we've got to spend the weekend panic-cleaning the apartment, because again, the notice says that failing the inspection will be considered violation of the lease. While I think with some cleaning and neatening we can meet all of the requirements, I still worry. It's a very small studio apartment, and we have a lot of things stored in plastic storage boxes. That makes it LOOK cluttered, even when it's clean, and we aren't blocking the windows or doors.
...And then when I pulled my computer out of my bag, I discovered my laptop battery ate it the rest of the way, probably because it was so fucking hot in the car. The battery swelled to the point that it was pressing against the underside of the touchpad, so that it was impossible to "unclick". While there was a small bit of swelling that's been one of those "need to get replaced" things... in addition to making the laptop not work, that's getting to the point of being dangerous! I'm real glad it didn't actually explode or anything. It could be worse!
But that means that if the cord comes unplugged for even an instant, the computer shuts down, so I can't do too much that's time-consuming without risking hard shutdowns.
I ordered an off-brand replacement that should be here on Sunday. It seemed to be well-rated, so I hope it doesn't immediately die on me. Or explode. (And that I correctly sussed out the correct part.) I think my ONLY option is off-brand at this point. This laptop is 15 years old.
Fingers crossed that it DOES arrive when it's supposed to, and that this is a secretly good thing, since I haven't been able to use the computer unplugged for more than about five to ten minutes for years now.
But fuck. It was a really nice trip away, even if it was just for a couple days, and then today just kind of sucked and kept sucking. (Though everything was just short of being THE WORST. We could have gotten hit with rain that would have actually made it impossible to get back on the bad road, leaving us stranded and waiting for it to dry up. The really bad wind that almost blew us off the damn road could have blown one of our bags out of the truck box. The inspection notice could have come with less notice - if we'd stayed away an extra day or two, or if our return hadn't landed on a Friday. The laptop battery could have exploded.)
But ugh... definitely not up to editing and trying to post a bunch of pictures today, and at this point I just want to go to bed. I hope everyone else is well, and I really will try to get caught up on posts and comments shortly!
We picked Cy up - he did way better than anticipated!
...Then we got home to a notice from our apartment saying we have to be ready for an inspection next week, possibly as soon as Monday.
Last year they barely came through, looked at almost nothing... and then informed us that we'd failed due to "presence of trash in the apartment". There was no trash... but there was laundry in a plastic bag, and we think that's what they meant, though we never got an answer, despite asking for clarification. It was extremely stressful, as we were threatened that failing the inspection could lead to eviction... but then they never followed up with us, and we've changed management either three or four times since then.
So... we've got to spend the weekend panic-cleaning the apartment, because again, the notice says that failing the inspection will be considered violation of the lease. While I think with some cleaning and neatening we can meet all of the requirements, I still worry. It's a very small studio apartment, and we have a lot of things stored in plastic storage boxes. That makes it LOOK cluttered, even when it's clean, and we aren't blocking the windows or doors.
...And then when I pulled my computer out of my bag, I discovered my laptop battery ate it the rest of the way, probably because it was so fucking hot in the car. The battery swelled to the point that it was pressing against the underside of the touchpad, so that it was impossible to "unclick". While there was a small bit of swelling that's been one of those "need to get replaced" things... in addition to making the laptop not work, that's getting to the point of being dangerous! I'm real glad it didn't actually explode or anything. It could be worse!
But that means that if the cord comes unplugged for even an instant, the computer shuts down, so I can't do too much that's time-consuming without risking hard shutdowns.
I ordered an off-brand replacement that should be here on Sunday. It seemed to be well-rated, so I hope it doesn't immediately die on me. Or explode. (And that I correctly sussed out the correct part.) I think my ONLY option is off-brand at this point. This laptop is 15 years old.
Fingers crossed that it DOES arrive when it's supposed to, and that this is a secretly good thing, since I haven't been able to use the computer unplugged for more than about five to ten minutes for years now.
But fuck. It was a really nice trip away, even if it was just for a couple days, and then today just kind of sucked and kept sucking. (Though everything was just short of being THE WORST. We could have gotten hit with rain that would have actually made it impossible to get back on the bad road, leaving us stranded and waiting for it to dry up. The really bad wind that almost blew us off the damn road could have blown one of our bags out of the truck box. The inspection notice could have come with less notice - if we'd stayed away an extra day or two, or if our return hadn't landed on a Friday. The laptop battery could have exploded.)
But ugh... definitely not up to editing and trying to post a bunch of pictures today, and at this point I just want to go to bed. I hope everyone else is well, and I really will try to get caught up on posts and comments shortly!

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Too bad the trip didn't go better, but I hope it was fun. I've been stuck on roads like that, they can be spicy.
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But ugh on the inspection and double ugh on the laptop battery!
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But yes, glad Cy was good, and glad to be home.
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A new computer is still going to have to be in the pipeline, but this might help extend its lifespan a bit!
The trip was definitely a lot of fun! This was just kind of a bummer of a way to end it. It was an extra spicy road... I just wish it had been labeled as such!
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But very ugh on the rest. :/ Lousy way to end an otherwise good few days.
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The whole wall-bound thing is annoying, so I'll be glad to at least have a laptop I can use as such for a while. Even if I do need to replace the computer as a whole at some point. Thank you!
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I dunno what to say about the apartment inspection; it just seems entirely arbitrary based on who's doing the inspection. Almost like they're power-tripping. :( Fingers crossed that you'll pass the inspection when it comes.
Gosh, that battery situation *is* frightening; at least it didn't leak or otherwise corrode its compartment. Hope the new one works well, it's kind of a gamble sourcing parts for older machines.
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Yeah, the apartment inspection thing feels really... bleh. I was away this morning, but apparently they came by and were here for less than a minute total doing said inspection. We'll find out probably next week whether we passed or failed. Everything was clean and working, but there's some stuff that I think they may count as trash again, so we'll see.
The battery situation was definitely a bit scary! That could have been WAY worse. So far so good on the replacement!
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Definitely going to have to really figure out what my replacement plan is. I've used macs (outside of work) for so long it'll be weird to switch to something else, but for reasons of both affordability and the fact that newer gen macs SUPER suck from a consumer standpoint, I'm going to have to.
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But newer macs are even more of a nightmare of proprietary peripherals and ports and things, with a bonkers pricetag. Though honestly, most decent windows machines aren't a bargain these days either, and they've gotten worse with pre-installed garbage programs that take up a ton of space and operating power, too. So... bleh.