You got the touch

Grumble. I noticed after e-mail and Livejournal reading and such the iBook battery wearing down, even though the computer was plugged in. The power adaptor plug wasn't lit, so I assumed I'd foolishly failed to turn on the wall plug again. (I had a fine game of Civilization III interrupted by a Sleeping Now notice once.) Nope; all was plugged in and turned on; there just was no power. I fiddled with the plug's connections, tried other sockets, and tried replacing the Singapore prongs with US prongs and an electrical adaptor. No luck. (The prongs come on a modular piece on the adaptor.) Both power adaptor and iBook sailed out of AppleCare protection a month ago.

So I called the AppleCentre on Orchard Road, who assured me the Service Centre was in Ang Mo Kio. After I asked to finish my question, they learned I just wanted to see if the iBook worked on a different power adaptor, and the second person consulted about this agreed I could try. An hour later I got there, found the Service Desk is closed until 15 April, and that nobody had any idea what I was talking about when I asked about a different power adaptor.

Happily, they figured out my request. A different adaptor worked fine, so I bought a new 65 Watt Power Adaptor. The clerk said my iBook really used a 45 Watt model, but 65 also can, and they didn't have any 45 Watt adaptors. Anyway, I'm home, plugged in, orange plug light, and I'm happy to be alive. Also I appreciate the wisdom of putting the power adaptor outside the computer case.

Trivia: The sooty tern may stay aloft continuously for three or four years, between leaving and returning to nesting grounds. Source: Guinness Book of World Records, 1982 Edition, Norris McWirther.

Currently Reading: Don't You Know There's A War On? The American Home Front 1941-1945, Richard Lingeman.