Archive: 2002-09
Moving
If you’ve been reading my previous posts, you’ll know that I am now in the process of moving house. I’m going from a small room in someone else’s house to a not-quite-so-small apartment of my own. Unfortunately, I’m also going from having unlimited broadband internet to having no internet access at all. So replying to email and updating my website will become even less regular than usual over the next few weeks.
It’s Alive!
Fortunately, I have been able to bring my computer back to life. The display consists of two parts, the TFT display itself, and an electroluminescent panel behind that to provide illumination to the screen. I could dimly see that the display was OK, although without the backlight it wasn’t usable, so it had to be the EL panel. This is supplied by a high-voltage inverter circuit in the top (display) half of the case. What had happened was that one of the wires to the inverter had snapped near the hinge. It’s not surprising, given the number of times that the case gets opened and closed; the hinge is definitely the weak point of the clamshell design.
Isn’t It Ironic, Don’t You Think...?
Talk about ironic...about 24 hours after I write about the poor health of my notebook computer, I return home to find that the screen doesn’t work any more. Bloody typical!
Liquidity
If you asked me what I’ve been doing the past few weeks, I’m not sure that I could really pinpoint anything interesting or new, other than the fact that I have started work. My job is interesting and enjoyable most of the time, but it is tiring. Even though my hours are quite short, it takes a long time on the train to get there and back. Here in Japan, no one thinks that an hour and a half commute is a long commute, but it is! Especially when I am only working for an hour and a half or two hours at a time... At least the pay is good, and my travel expenses are paid for.
Job
Since I’m sure that you’ve all been waiting with bated breath to find out about my job search... I have a couple of short-term contracts which will take me up to mid-December and pay very well. I’ll be teaching English at a couple of companies on two—possibly three—nights a week, and from next month (i.e. October) I’m going to be busy Monday-Friday working at a junior high school. That may be for five or ten weeks; it’s not clear yet, but I am hoping to find out by next Monday.