Socket and socket and socket.....

I can show you how I get power to my laptop. As I mentioned before we have so many power failures in this country. We had 3 times yesterday. If you plugged in your laptop, a blackout may damage the machine when the power comes back because the voltage is not stable. We do need high volt guards for computers.

Electrical sockets (outlets) in Malawi are the "Type G " kind a british style. Our machines don't match the shape of these sockets. We need travel plug adapters in order to plug in. Travel plug adapters simply change the shape but who expected these adapters to adapters situation.

It's kinda puzzle. Oh well.........look, I got 4 of them!

Living room set made of Cane (Rattan)

We finally got a living room set. These kind of cane furniture are very popular in this country. We bought this 3 pieces from a street vendor.

They just piled up the chairs, sofas, tables by the side of a road. I am sure they are covered with dust. Jim says they stay there for a couple of days for sale and move to the next spot. They sleep with those pile of furniture on the road. It is not easy......

We paid 31,000 KM ($220) for 3 pieces with dust! We need to put some burnishing on. We just carried them from the street.

They are generally stable and hard. I am excited to make some cushion for them!

Now I will be able to invite my friends to our flat.

Blackout is a part of African life

Blackout! We are not be surprised. It's a part of African life. It happens 2~4 times a week, normally in the evening around 5:40 pm or early morning sometimes. It takes 2~5 hours to recover.

We had 2 huge generators when we were in Chad because blackouts happened everyday. We had to get used to the generator's roar like subways. We appreciated the generator for our computers, printers, and fans. (Our office did not have AC and the room temperature was 39C plus. ) Sometimes the blackout lasted 24 hours and a week. We had to stop running the generator for avoiding the overheat. We had sweltering dinner in the dark and long hot nights. That was the life in Chad.

Here in Malawi, we don't have a generator in this flat. We have to live in this situation. My husband, Jim created simple movable lights with a long cable．These lights can be operated on electricity stored in a battery which he bought. When I cook dinner I bring it in the kitchen. When we eat dinner, we bring it in the dining room. Such a handy tool! When the power is out, candle lights blink on up and down in the neighbors' rooms but our light is the quickest and brightest! I am very proud of Jim.

Our cooking stove requires electricity. The first month we arrived in this town, we just ate salad for dinner because I could not cook. Now we got a propane tank for blackout cooking. It is just like an indoor BBQ.

I stat preparing dinner around 4 PM because of the unlucky 5:40 pm. I learned some tips. Cook when I can cook and defrost when I can defrost! This is the life in Africa!

My mac and me

I am still struggling with my sore throat which started the end of April. I can't believe it but it comes back again and again. I had been feeling good last 3 days then went to the local market yesterday. My sore throat came back the afternoon now I am really sick again.

Another bad news is that my Macbook is sick too. I am updating this page with my Mac actually but sooner later will stop working. I re-installed the system last week because my Mac could not start up. I tried everything I could do then I re-formatted. BUT! Now my disk utility says "a fatal hardware error....."

It means I can't fix it any more. I have to replace the hard drive. I am shocked.

Good news is that I found a repair shop which my husband brought in his laptop today because of a virus problem. I did not expect but just in case I asked if they work for Mac. "Yes!"

I am going to bring in my Macbook to replace the HD.

I don't know how long does it take because they have to order it for me.

Me sick, and my Mac sick. I will not be able to update my blog for a while..............pray for me guys.

Too bad......

By the way, I will be able to check my e-mail from Jim's laptop. I can even read Japanese !

Finally finally my sore throat has gone!     I feel like lost a lot of my muscle because I almost did not go out for a month.  Now I have plenty of energy to go out.

Now what?   My MacBook got sick.   It stopped working since I had tried to open a PDF file from Japan.   I don't know why but it happened.   I was thinking to take my data back up a couple days ago but I DID NOT.   I have not made it since last October.   Outch!

Fortunately Jim has 2 laptops right now, I borrowed one of them and I did reserch to solve the problem.   I could see the desktop for  5 seconds then the screen went back to the sign in page.    I panicked. 

Day 2, I tried everything I could do following to the Apple web page.   Try this, this, this, then this.   I did a safe boot then I could reach the desk top.    THANK YOU!   I was just flustered to make back up as much as possible.  

Now I need to solve the problem but the problem seemed getting worse and worse.   

I had decided to make re-install the system.   I did it!    

Oh, my god, it stooped at the 2nd disc.   It could not go forward nor go back.   I could not do any thing.  I was at a loss.  

Day 3,  I was just stressed too much and woke up 5 am.  I was at a panic stage.  I forgot to eat breakfast but I started to work on my mac.   I was just afraid I could not use my laptop until December?   I resrched a closest Apple store.  Hmmm, I was pretty sure there was no Apple store in this country.   Kenia? or South Africa?    Did I have to bring in my mac?

I almost gave up to try the troubleshooting actions but I inserted the first disc one more time.   WOW!   It went through!!!!

I could see the choice for the re-installation.   I immediately chose the erase and install option so that I could get plenty of space on my hard drive.    I did same thing hundred times before but  it did not allow me but now I made it!   I did not know why.

Thank you thank you thank you!   I succesfully re- install the system.   I know I probably lost some files photos, musics but