ironymaiden (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ironymaiden) wrote2022-06-05 08:55 pm
ironymaiden) wrote2022-06-05 08:55 pm
mostly victory
i was always about to sit down and write here in May. oh well.
this morning i replaced the battery in this laptop. battery is working well.
it's a vintage 2015 mac that was top of the line in its day - i bought it refurbished a few years ago and it's been an absolute champ. the battery was original and they do wear out after enough charge cycles; i mostly use it near a power source and wasn't too concerned. the lid hasn't been closing right but i figured that was due to the stick-on privacy slider. but then recently it stopped sitting flat when placed on a table. yeah, the battery was expanding and warping the case. 😱
when i started undoing the screws on the back, the panel just lifted itself off with a ping. 2015 macbooks are still vaguely repairable with the right specialty screwdriver heads, but everything is tiny and delicate and layered over and under each other. the battery packs are glued down, so it really felt like diffusing a bomb since i needed to scrape up and wedge BUT NOT PIERCE these warped and puffy battery cells so they didn't catch on fire. (and also not ruin any other workings with adhesive remover drips.) i was working on my concrete-floored balcony with a metal pot and a bag of dirt ready to capture and smother flaming electronics just in case. it was one of those things where i finished up and then kind of collapsed as apparently i was running on adrenaline the entire time.
i am not, however, typing on the laptop keyboard. the power button works, but no other keys. the trackpad is still good. based on some forum reading i'm pretty sure i know the exact tiny ribbon connector that isn't fully seated, but i need to run the battery flat before i open it up again.
i do mostly use the machine docked up with an external monitor and keyboard, so it's not the end of the world if i can't fix it. worst case, this is my sign that i need to woman up, get a refurb ThinkPad, and put linux on it. (i won't pay the premium for a new mac that has the specs i want and it's going to be years before i can get a refurb that has a good keyboard and ports again, insert rant about touchbar era.)
then i shoved a muffin in my face and went up to Fiber Fusion NW. they were in a much nicer building this year, more room and better ventilation. (they asked everyone to be masked and i only saw one person who wasn't.) it wasn't crowded, which was lovely for my comfort level but leaves me concerned for the event and the vendors. i came home with a bag full of fiber grown and/or dyed in the region. i am a sucker for farmers - i bought some discount brown Targhee wool just because the story charmed me:
i had enough of the show floor faster than intended, which was fine, since it left me time to pick up flowers for my balcony planters before i had to return the car. the nursery was a madhouse, but i found everything i was planning for: more verbena since the one from last year miraculously overwintered; alyssum for fill and the smell; calibrachoa to trail. on a whim i got a bright orange black-eyed susan vine in hopes that it will climb the railing. they're all planted now and i split the creeping jenny so there was some in both planters (we'll see if the one i moved takes).
this morning i replaced the battery in this laptop. battery is working well.
it's a vintage 2015 mac that was top of the line in its day - i bought it refurbished a few years ago and it's been an absolute champ. the battery was original and they do wear out after enough charge cycles; i mostly use it near a power source and wasn't too concerned. the lid hasn't been closing right but i figured that was due to the stick-on privacy slider. but then recently it stopped sitting flat when placed on a table. yeah, the battery was expanding and warping the case. 😱
when i started undoing the screws on the back, the panel just lifted itself off with a ping. 2015 macbooks are still vaguely repairable with the right specialty screwdriver heads, but everything is tiny and delicate and layered over and under each other. the battery packs are glued down, so it really felt like diffusing a bomb since i needed to scrape up and wedge BUT NOT PIERCE these warped and puffy battery cells so they didn't catch on fire. (and also not ruin any other workings with adhesive remover drips.) i was working on my concrete-floored balcony with a metal pot and a bag of dirt ready to capture and smother flaming electronics just in case. it was one of those things where i finished up and then kind of collapsed as apparently i was running on adrenaline the entire time.
i am not, however, typing on the laptop keyboard. the power button works, but no other keys. the trackpad is still good. based on some forum reading i'm pretty sure i know the exact tiny ribbon connector that isn't fully seated, but i need to run the battery flat before i open it up again.
i do mostly use the machine docked up with an external monitor and keyboard, so it's not the end of the world if i can't fix it. worst case, this is my sign that i need to woman up, get a refurb ThinkPad, and put linux on it. (i won't pay the premium for a new mac that has the specs i want and it's going to be years before i can get a refurb that has a good keyboard and ports again, insert rant about touchbar era.)
then i shoved a muffin in my face and went up to Fiber Fusion NW. they were in a much nicer building this year, more room and better ventilation. (they asked everyone to be masked and i only saw one person who wasn't.) it wasn't crowded, which was lovely for my comfort level but leaves me concerned for the event and the vendors. i came home with a bag full of fiber grown and/or dyed in the region. i am a sucker for farmers - i bought some discount brown Targhee wool just because the story charmed me:
these are four dollars. Pigpen kept slipping out of her coat. when we brought her in [for shearing] she looked like she was wearing a ghillie suit. nothing would get all the vm [vegetable matter] out.
i had enough of the show floor faster than intended, which was fine, since it left me time to pick up flowers for my balcony planters before i had to return the car. the nursery was a madhouse, but i found everything i was planning for: more verbena since the one from last year miraculously overwintered; alyssum for fill and the smell; calibrachoa to trail. on a whim i got a bright orange black-eyed susan vine in hopes that it will climb the railing. they're all planted now and i split the creeping jenny so there was some in both planters (we'll see if the one i moved takes).