Africa is hard on computers

Africa is hard on computers

Well I came back to the house from the lab and tried to get online with my laptop and it could not boot up to Windows. A diagnostic seemed to point to a fried hard drive which means I've lost a lot of stuff. Thankfully there is a house computer, but it is shared and so I'm not sure how much time I'll have to post. We'll see.

One of my housemates had her Apple die on her here too...in fact it is coming home with me in the hopes of seeking repairs. There is a running theory that Africa is hard on computers with all the dust. It truly does get everywhere.

Anyway the logistics of getting things fixed has reminded me how often we take little things for granted in America, such as Computer Repair with plenty of new parts available, ANY repair with plenty of replacement parts available, mail service, or your favorite foods being always available at the market. You'd be surprised how many things you will have to sit and seriously ponder: I wonder if we can get that here?

Food is a big one. What the canteen at the University and Hospital offer has the potential to vary from day to day...it just all depends on what is brought in from the farms/markets that day. Fancier restaurants have little problems, but the smaller places just "go with the flow." No drive through fast food joints (that I have seen), no Starbucks (somehow American ex-pats here survive and probably save enough money to save a kid at the Cancer Center), no mega home improvement centers, often if you want something...like a sofa or bed or a BBQ it is actually the best and sometimes only choice to have it made.



Sorta like our high end BBQ the house got sometime after my last trip. Man, i=[j (NO JOKE...THAT LITTLE BLURB OF TYPING THERE WAS ME TRYING TO PREVENT A SKEETER FOR GIVING MY MALARIA)...anyway...this beauty can compete with any of those $500 stainless steel monsters you can get from Home Depot...PLUS, a metal worker gets employed and with the money left over you could save a couple of kids' lives.

Yeah...she ain't pretty, but I reckon she works.