The Black Cat Crossed My Path

It was Friday when the black cat darted across the gravel road in front of the truck. My son immediately squealed..."Now you're gonna have bad luck". We laughed and thought nothing of it. On Saturday, my main computer had a malfunction. It is a Toshiba Satellite Laptop that has had a faulty DC Power Jack almost from the moment I purchased it. I was offered to have it fixed while it was under warranty, however it was in the middle of a semester, and I couldn't function without it. I thought it would be an easy fix, and we (meaning my husband) figured out a way to jimmy the jack in place. It held and worked although the connection never was very  sturdy. That was until the black cat ran out in front of my truck on Friday night. Saturday: I decided I would put my course work to the side and get my house organized, as it was in dire straits to say the least. I knew I had assignments due on Sunday, but I had plenty of time...or so I thought. When I finally sat down that evening to do my work, the computer was dead. It took me a little while to figure out that the power cord was not making a good connection, so it had used the power from the battery, which was now drained completely. The power jack had once again came loose and was up inside my computer. I attempted time and again to get it to connect to the dc power supply, and once, it flickered like it might, but then nothing. After close examination I seen that the wires leading to the jack had snapped, rendering the Toshiba useless as I couldn't plug it in and the battery was dead. Woe me. My two assignments were due on Sunday, before midnight and nothing was open on Sunday...not the library nor the college campus, so I had no idea how I would even get to a computer to finish.

Then I thought of my other broken computer...my baby...my Alienware m5500 that served me well for three years. Unfortunately, the fan stopped working on it, causing it to have overheating issues that made it stay on for only short intervals. I plugged in the power supply and it actually responded, back from the dead! I dusted off the cover and crossed my fingers. I needed it to work just long enough to get my assignments done. However, straight away, it started overheating and I knew it was only a matter of minutes before it would shut down. I had to get my assignments done--I shook hubby awake. "Where is your green fan", I asked him. His eyes barely opened. "Hurry, hurry..before it dies". He opened his eyes a little further but was far from awake. He mumbled some directions and the only word I caught was "truck". I ran out to his truck and got the fan out and brought it into the house, plugged it in and sat my Alienware on top of it. It's a smaller fan of the desktop variety, so I nestled it in my lap and started accessing the web to complete my assignments. The fan trick WORKED! I was actually able to get my work done before the due date. I lookd ridiculus sitting on the couch with a fan in my lap, but the small laptop cooling unit didn't have enough power to keep it cooled.

But what does this have to do with the cat? Well, it didn't matter what I did this weekend, everything went wrong. I attempted to wash the dishes and broke one of the dishes from my mom's china set that she had left me when she passed away. Then, as I was cooking dinner, I opened the spice cabinet and the salt fell out and spilled on the counter (more bad luck), and then my son knocked his noggin on the door frame of his room, leaving a big welp smack dab in the middle of his forehead. I am just wondering what else awaits around the corner!

My husband doesn't believe in all the crazy superstitions and often laughs at my expense at all the ones I follow. I can't stand for someone to rock a rocking chair with no one in it, or open a umbrella indoors.  It never fails that if a bat gets in the house, someone close is soon to die!  It freaks me out when a bird hits the window and dies and for weeks after I shout "be careful" to everyone that leaves the house! Maybe it is crazy old wives tales..but just in case it's not, anyone know how to reverse the bad luck a black cat crossing your path brings?!

P.S. This means that my posts might be sporadic over the next few days until I am able to get one of these computers working properly!

Posted in: alienware,black cat,superstitions,toshiba satellite