I can be an idiot

So, you remember that my Dell laptop cord frayed last summer. Hmmm, maybe you don't. I didn't blog about it.

Last summer, the power cord to my Dell Inspiron 8100 frayed just behind the plug that goes into the laptop. I bought a replacement, off eBay I think.

Last week, the cord started acting wonky and I'd only have power half the time. The problem was at the connection to the adapter. I secured it with tape, which worked fine until it started making electrical noises and smoking.

I unplugged it and made sure to e-mail myself the two files I was working on, "Sheep's End" and "By the Book" - I thought. I only sent "Sheep's End". But that's not the idiot part.

I went online to hunt for a third PA-6 power adapter. Lots of people sell these adapters, at prices ranging from $15 to $90. You'd think I'd have clued in to something amiss after two died. I admit I had a nagging suspicion that all was not right, but I didn't look into it.

Only through viewing a two-year-old message in an online forum did I discover that, yes, Dell did indeed recall these faulty adapters.

A new one, one less likely to set my couch on fire, should be here in a week or two.

Bonus admission:

That hard drive is driving me crazy. It shakes the whole house. I must get rid of it, even if it means no RAID.

UPDATE: I switched positions of the drives inside the computer and now the thing is quiet - well, as quiet as it used to be. Ahhh....