Teh Wrnog Mnoth

Only a week into this month, and already this isn't my month. It must be someone else's month. Let's see what's gone wrong so far...

  • Major virus scare: I thought a rootkit had infected all of my computers. This happened to my office computer in 2008, so it's not unprecedented. My email app was very slow, so I got a packet sniffer to check out my IP traffic. What are all these connections to 1e100.net!? (Oh, um, I get it. "1e100" means a 1 with 100 zeros behind it: a googol. Get it?)
  • So, no virus, but Gmail is insisting on rebuilding my All Mail folder every time I start Thunderbird, downloading 30,000+ messages. That'll slow things down a bit. Darn you, Gmail!
  • Wrote an important email, and misspelled the address. It didn't get bounced back until hours later. Darn you, Gmail!
  • Getting my coursepack together for spring term, I photocopied a couple of chapters of a book. Then, instead of emailing me the results as a PDF, the photocopier ate everything. Twice.
  • Due to an apparent glitch in HERO (the UofA's online ethics submission/review platform), my ethics application was not reviewed. Instead of taking 5 days, it took 5 weeks. In the meantime, my hands are tied, and I can't get started on my research project.
  • Ordered a couple of things online--both companies sent me the wrong item. Grrr!
  • My PVR stopped talking nicely to my TV over HDMI. Banged my head against the wall (actually, the floor) for hours on that one. Decided to switch to digital cable and get an HDPVR. It didn't talk nicely to my TV over HDMI. The good-humoured tech who came to take a look at it liked the fact I knew what "HDMI" was. But he still couldn't fix it.
  • Tried to get a delicious Nestea from a vending maching right before class and was denied. I got my money back, but it wouldn't give me any delicious Nestea. (And no, I don't want that Brisk crap.)
  • Daughter #1 made me spill my coffee this morning. Oh, the humanity!
Notice a pattern? (OK, except for the last one.) Yup, technology is giving me fits. I'm not superstitious. But if this is your month, you can have it back.

Why aren't you studying?

5 comments:

Anastasia said...
on

Clearly this is a sign that technology is becoming self-aware and is slowly taking over the world in a very passive-aggressive way.

Anonymous said...
on

I like to think that this is the result of every student you had this semester working together to get revenge for making them write a final later this month.

Those machines didn't just "suddenly" stop working, and your daughter just so happened to take the bribe.

Karsten A. Loepelmann said...
on

@Anonymous: So that's the way you want to play it, eh? Well, in the words of the Wicked Witch of the West, "I'll get you my pretty--and your little dog, too!"

Anastasia said...
on

Btw, Skynet became self aware on April 19th at 8:11 pm.

That explains it then.

Karsten A. Loepelmann said...
on

@Anastasia: It was August 29, 1997. But then it was actually July 24, 2004. But then it was actually really April 19, 2011.

I think Skynet has a Y2K bug or something. No need to get out the 2,000,000 sunblock yet.

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