No Smoking #2

I have had another no smoking experience. Over the last couple of weeks I have been doing a series of office moves at the coalface. Usually I don't move the computers and just reimage them so they are all clean and tidy for the new user, however due to chinese wall information barriers it has been easier to move the hardware in this project.

I completed the final move on Thursday. I had been dithering over this one as it involved me moving from an office with a stunning view, to one with only an averagely good view. The fact that 3 people now take up the space that was previously occupied by just moi is irrelevant.

When I fired up my computer after moving it the screen lost image after a few seconds. I changed the dongle which is the usual culprit but still no image, THEN, suddenly, a little puff of fine smoke came out of the fan and the fan started whirring away very loudly. I quickly forced it to shut down.

As I have been naughty and stored some data and files on the local drive, I immediately rang my main IT girl in the Auckland office and told her what had happened. She laughed hysterically and then proceeded to YELL it out to the entire IT department that I had made my computer produce smoke. I take it from the roars of laughter I could hear down the phone that this was the most amusing thing they had heard all week. Whimper, their chortling was not helping me retrieve files.

I then decided to live dangerously and pushed the on switch again, and what do you know, it started up and decided to play nicely. I have now saved and refiled all the data I was fretting about, and intend to keep using the machine until it totally fries itself. That will be most amusing.

I wish my diamond drama had the same happy ending. I found this morning that I have lost the diamond out of my left lobe in the last 24 hours. On top of the ring I lost earlier this year that means about half a carat of diamonds and attached gold work that I have donated to the universe. Whimper. Obviously was not meant to be.