For the past couple of weeks I’ve struggled with a balky power adapter and wi-fi issues here at the Casa.

On the day before my last huge assessed teaching class (TP8 for those familiar with CELTA) my computer started going dead.  Huh?  What’s the problem?  I’ve got it plugged in…

When I started playing with the connections, I discovered that because I’d been wrapping and re-wrapping the cables around the adapter box, the wire coming out of the adapter had become frayed internally –but I couldn’t tell just by looking at it.  I fiddled with it until it connected then tried to duct tape it tight. It worked just long enough for me to finish CELTA the next day.  Unbelievable – it was sooo close to failing me when I needed it the most!

After a good CELTA finish, Leslie and I were tired and didn’t do much for a couple of days – but I still needed to check emails, etc.  Now my adapter really started getting cranky.  I couldn’t get it to connect.  But if I fiddled with it awhile, I’d find just the right spot and I’d carefully put it down to maintain that connection on my desk.  Then my battery wouldn’t hold a charge for long so I had to keep it plugged in…

That solution lasted for a bit but then it became virtually impossible to keep it connected, so I decided I had nothing to loose and decided on surgery.  I carefully cut into the cable to see how it was made, discovered there was an inner wire sheathed in insulation and an outer stranded type wire that had separated.  I discovered I could make a good connection if I sharply bent the wire and held the frayed strands together – but how to hold it together “permanently”?

Leslie had the solution.  She had a tweezer that clamped.  Voila – back in business again!  (But now, because of heavy rains from the start of rainy season, we had no wi-fi in our room…).