Last night my computer crashed, and I nearly had a heart attack. Full on panic engulfed me because I could not be without a keyboard for the two or three weeks it would take to send it to the manufacturer and get it back. However, there was nothing else to do about it, so I hopped on the Metro and headed for Columbia Heights. It’s not the closest Best Buy, but it is the closest fun spot to hang. I figured I could go for tea or coffee if the news was really bad.
When I got to said Best Buy, my computer hadn’t crashed… exactly. It was kind of like taking your car to the mechanic. I couldn’t get into the BIOS to check what was wrong. It was just stuck on the TOSHIBA screen and wouldn’t do anything. Of course, at the store, getting into the BIOS worked, and for whatever reason, the time and date were wrong. If the time and date on the BIOS don’t match the one in the operating system, it won’t boot. He changed the date, rebooted, and the heavens opened; choirs of angels sang alleluias that sounded something like “Linux Mint has ARRIVED!” The Geek Squad guy saw the Linux Mint logo and said, “man… you ain’t playin’ around.” I thought that was hilarious because Linux Mint is barely discernable from Windows or MacOS if you’re not using the command line. I do, but at the same time, Linux Mint is the baby step…. linux for idio….. I mean, inexperienced users. You install it, you press the Firefox button, and presto. It works right out of the box.
I saw a funny quote on Facebook earlier this morning, one that literally made me laugh out loud instead of just typing “lol.” It said, “there are two kinds of linux distributions…. the ones we bitch about, and the ones nobody uses.” Truth. Ubuntu and Linux Mint for the desktop, CentOS and RHEL for servers. Beyond that, the distributions I used in college are barely a whisper. My friend Leslie nearly made me spit soda through my nose when she said that she had a “Red Hat phase in her young, idealistic years.” In fact, I can think of three or four people who will read that and laugh out loud as well, hopefully not while in the middle of a grape Zevia (those are the bomb). Red Hat is still around, but in my opinion lags behind Ubuntu and Linux Mint because the video is never as smooth, the install is more hassle, and yum/dnf can bite me (except for the fastest-mirror plugin- that shit is cool).
In other news, this is the best coffee I’ve had in a long time, which is serious business because it’s only like, the second or third cup I’ve had since I’ve moved to DC. In my house we drink tea now. Tea is cool.
Right now I’m recommending the coconut black hi-caf from Republic of Tea… if you like coconut. Some people don’t want to drink coconut every morning, but to me, it’s delicious. Sometimes I mix it with Bengali chai that my new Indian roommate gave me. I have always wanted to live with an Indian woman because I follow her around hoping she’ll feed me.
She does.
She also has a teenage daughter, and it’s nice to have that energy in the house. She’s not one of those bitchy mean girls. She’s perfectly perfect in every way, and I mean that sincerely. Her mother has it wired, because thank the little baby Jesus that if I had to live with a teenager, it’s one that actually communicates and doesn’t roll her eyes. Plus, she’s nice to me. I think she likes my hair.
My cup of coffee is out, so I’m gonna need to cut this short. More later…. I just felt the urge to celebrate the fact that lallybroch (my hostname) is alive and well, and that my phone isn’t going to die because I actually had a cable on me.
Ok, Irish goodbye. Thought I was done. Not so much. Packing. Gotta talk about it.
Getting ready to leave the house is so much more complicated without a car. It’s kind of like packing up to take the baby out. I don’t have to pack diapers (not for a few more years, anyway) but I do have to bring my coputer, my phone, my wallet, my keys, my Kindle, a coat or hoodie in case of monstrous air conditioning or pouring rain, a reusable grocery bag, and whatever else I need to drag around all over DC in order to avoid having to go an hour back to the house if I forgot something.
I think to myself, “would I rather have a car?” The answer is always no. I changed my mind completely when I started walking every day, because I noticed more how my vision affects me in a way I hadn’t before. I fall A LOT. I have health insurance. If I scrape my knee, it’s an easy fix. I run into another car, not so much.
I’d rather carry lallybroch, safe in her backpack, and hope for the best.
Stories That Are All True 