Filed under: Health and Fitness | Tags: exercise, fitness, health, HealthPointe, nutrition, South Beach Diet, SouthBeach Diet, sports, supplementation, weight loss
From time to time I hope to write a bit about health and/or fitness issues.
Having been diagnosed with NASH at one time, and subsequently beating it by losing weight, I know a thing or two about weight loss. (Certainly not everything – but enough to have beat that disease and surprise my Gastroenterologist. He was asking me about what I did to get my weight and liver back in shape so quickly and perfectly. And declared my program to be the “perfect” thing – just what they had been talking about a few months previously in some big gathering of Gastroenterologists. It was, according to him, better than the best they’d come up with – which had been the SouthBeach Diet.)
I’ve also studied supplementation, and firmly believe in the value of it… mostly from my own experience, but also backed up by my research.
And I also have interests in bicycling, swimming, hiking, cross-country skiing, and playing basketball and golf. Although in recent years I’ve had neither the time nor the finances to regularly do any of those things. And, particularly with golf, I’m far from being good, much less an expert.
Filed under: Challenges | Tags: challenge, computer, praise, problem, solution, thank God, thankful
We’re facing a problem with our ‘puter.
We’ve got a Dell Inspiron 5100 laptop computer. Had it for just over 3 years. We paid for a 3-year extended warranty.
The first power adaptor (charger) lasted almost 3 years. So we contacted Dell to get it replaced under warranty.
Nothin’ doin’. Power adaptors aren’t covered but for 90 days – regardless of extended warranties. That’ll be $69.99 plus S&H, thank you very much.
That was the middle of January.
Here we are at the beginning of June. Guess what? The new power adaptor failed last weekend!
Oh, did I mention that power adaptors are only covered by warranty for 90 days? You got it… got to buy another one.
Fortunately, I found another supplier that has them for $24.99 plus S&H. So I ordered one up and paid the almost-three-times-higher S&H price to have it “expedited.” So, no problem. I ordered on Monday morning, figured with expedited delivery I should see it Tuesday or at the latest, Wednesday.
Monday afternoon/evening I kept checking the online order to see about tracking the shipment… to no avail.
Tuesday – same thing.
Wednesday – I finally was able to start tracking it. They got it out of their warehouse late Tuesday afternoon and sent it via US Postal Service… priority mail.
So, now the estimated time of arrival is next Monday!
Meanwhile, since batteries don’t last a week and I use the computer daily, I broke open the power adaptor “brick” (no screws on it, so the plastic case had to be destroyed to get it opened) and found a bunch of electronics inside. By poking around a bit, I got it sort-of working again. It just lets off an ungodly squeal most of the time. It’s really annoying, and creates extra tension.
But at least I’m able to still use the computer.
And I have found a solution for the squeal: put in earplugs and wear headphones that cover the ears.
Hopefully it will last until the new one arrives.
And hopefully the new one will last closer to 3 years than the 4 months this one lasted.
9:55pm Update: We just got back from our Community Group meeting where I’d asked for prayer that the old, broken-open power adaptor would last until the new one came, and decided to stop at the mailbox to see what’d come in the mail today. Thank God! In the mail was the new power adaptor! So, I’m good to go!
Two nice ”bonuses” about the new power adaptor:
- It came with a rip-tie to hold the cable together when it’s being packed up. (The old ones – that were more than twice as expensive – never had anything like that.)
- The connection to the computer is a LOT more snug, so it’s less likely to fall out. (The old ones were always a not-too-tight fit. They generally stayed plugged in, but often I was concerned about how loose they felt.)
June 6 8:58am Update: Well, it’s not quite as good as I thought. While the power adaptor says it’s the same model, it doesn’t have the same power. The original was a 90 Watt, this replacement is apparently a 70 Watt.
Did a little searching online to see what the difference would be – particularly in terms of wondering if the lower power could/would damage the computer, just like underpowering a refrigerator destroys its motor. I’m not 100% confident, but it looks like the only difference should be that it will take longer to recharge the battery, and if the battery isn’t fully charged while I’m using the computer with it plugged in, it might use all the power to just run the computer and leave the recharging to a later time when not so much power is needed. Others have also indicated that by using a less-adequate power adaptor, the adaptor itself might wear out a lot sooner.
