Time to crack this case
Feb. 25th, 2010 09:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stephbgAs predicted, my new laptop screen arrived today (this post brought to you by Dad's old spare CRT and heavy cabling), but the good news/bad news was that it was unaccompanied by a thunderstorm*. It was impressively packed. Mmmmm. Bubblewrap.
My workplace bristles with electronics and hardware engineers. I'm a bit shy about asking for free technical support, but today I gave it a go and requested help in cracking open the laptop case and swapping over the screen. I was then regaled with the traditional techno tall stories about inpenetrable laptop cases and fiendishly complex procedures for disassembly. This I kind of knew already, so it didn't bother me too much.
However, at some point in the conversation my assistance boiled down to "If you have trouble replacing the screen bring it in and I'll give you a hand." It got worse: I think my final offer was "I'll supervise." I can't help but wonder if the fact that I wrote an electronic and hardware assembly/test manual has led these people to imagine I have any sort of ability in the field. Chickens, meet roost.
Despite all this fakery I really do have limited experience with hardware, and the more critical something is to my lifestyle the less likely I am to risk it in my own unprofessional hands. However, it seems that the universe has decreed that if I want to keep this laptop, I'm going to have to do it myself. Hopefully the part I ordered was (a) the right one, and (b) functional. It arrived with reassuring promptness at least, and if I get it right, I'll be mighty pleased with myself out of all proportion to the task :-)
(*) Mostly bad news: I want some weather damnit!
My workplace bristles with electronics and hardware engineers. I'm a bit shy about asking for free technical support, but today I gave it a go and requested help in cracking open the laptop case and swapping over the screen. I was then regaled with the traditional techno tall stories about inpenetrable laptop cases and fiendishly complex procedures for disassembly. This I kind of knew already, so it didn't bother me too much.
However, at some point in the conversation my assistance boiled down to "If you have trouble replacing the screen bring it in and I'll give you a hand." It got worse: I think my final offer was "I'll supervise." I can't help but wonder if the fact that I wrote an electronic and hardware assembly/test manual has led these people to imagine I have any sort of ability in the field. Chickens, meet roost.
Despite all this fakery I really do have limited experience with hardware, and the more critical something is to my lifestyle the less likely I am to risk it in my own unprofessional hands. However, it seems that the universe has decreed that if I want to keep this laptop, I'm going to have to do it myself. Hopefully the part I ordered was (a) the right one, and (b) functional. It arrived with reassuring promptness at least, and if I get it right, I'll be mighty pleased with myself out of all proportion to the task :-)
(*) Mostly bad news: I want some weather damnit!
