Beer with subtitles

This is undeniably useful and possibly fun, but not when your train leaves in ten minutes.

On the other hand, I woke up so refreshed this morning that it was no problem running around by Butt Bridge to reach the station; also, I actually left the flat more than 16 minutes before the train left (the walk is ordinarily 15 minutes) which is really something.

Go hiking.

In the spirit of trying new things and meeting new people (and all that stuff), I agreed to go out hiking at the weekend with a friend from work. I quite enjoy walking and occasionally take a long-ish wander out to the beach near Sandymount – which I’ve blogged about before – and so when she asked if I was interested, I had to say yes: I figured it was the next logical step, or something like that. This time, however, I couldn’t just hop on the DART to get home.

The day started with a trip out to Tallaght on the Luas, incidentally the first time I’ve travelled the whole red line. Soon after this we breached the cosy confines of county Dublin and were headed for Donard. Here, after checking everybody was still with us, we proceeded to the base of Lugnaquilla.

Somewhere, hidden in that mist, is our ultimate destination: Lugnaquilla, the highest peak in the Wicklow mountains.

It didn’t take long for things to get steep, at least for when you’ve only just begun. By now, it’s sunk in that I pretty much have to continue with the trek upwards. It’s not a bad thought – after all, this is a mountain, it shouldn’t be easy – but like I said, there’s no DART home here…just a sobering thought.

Well, the slopes kept me busy for quite some time – in fact, I was far too out of breath to be taking pictures. I thought I was moderately fit (for a computer programmer at least), but it’s not the same at all as ordinary walking. As one of the group put it, it’s a bit like climbing stairs all day. Let’s just say that I need to build those muscles some more!

However, it’s not just my general pathetic-ness: it’s very very misty and there’s simply nothing to take a picture of. Fortunately, after a while we’re high enough to have snow and now I can’t resist pulling out the camera – I haven’t seen snow like this in Ireland for years. I mean, it’s actually lying there on the ground, wow!

It’s genuinely cold by now; my eye brows have ice on them. Time to write a Caption Scott-esque note to my loved ones?

Actually, the summit is just around the corner.

Here it is: Lugnaquilla or, in Irish, Log na Coille, meaning “Hollow of the wood”. This is the highest point in Leinster (the whole east coast, in fact) and the 14th highest point in Ireland. At this moment I feel pretty good: it marks the end of three hours climbing, the snow is a novelty and, in some small way, we’ve achieved something. It’s just a pity about the mist; as you can see, there really wasn’t much of a view.

Also contributing to this natural high is the prospect of the descent. In my naivety, I assume it will be simple, especially since it was the steep parts of the climb that got me. It was tough getting up, but that can only mean it’ll be all the easier coming down, right? I should stick to the programming: it soon becomes clear that while the climb was a physical challenge, the descent will be a mental challenge. By this, I mean that on the way up it was very easy to focus on the ground immediately underneath your feet. Very simple. Now, however, I have to watch every stone, puddle and patch of snow and try to plan my route…it takes a bit of concentration.

Well, what did I expect? This has all been a learning experience in many ways and this is just one more lesson. Fortunately, our guide chooses a different path down and after an initially steep-ish start it’s onto gentle terrain. In fact, the mist has started to clear. Now this is what I came for.

After much pleastantness from here on in, we’re back onto tarmac roads and are almost home. A brief unexpected encounter with a shallow river provides the last bit of excitement (to the disappointment of some, nobody fell in) and then it’s back to the cars and civilisation.

I for one was glad to leave civilisation behind for a few hours: the exercise was welcome, the weather and views spectacular and, perhaps most importantly, the company was great.

I hope to do this again.

It’s survived falls, thumps and bangs. It’s been on for over two and a half years with barely a break. Its disk has been wiped and re-partitioned with every passing OS fad. It’s got built-in WiFi, Bluetooth and its own flash light. It’s survived three trips to America. You can spill drinks all over the keyboard without worrying and the hard-drive has its own air bag.

The battery may have worn down to 45 minutes, but the machine is indestructible: you cannot hurt a Thinkpad. Or so I thought…

The T4x series was the last to be designed solely by IBM, i.e. before they sold the business to Lenovo. When I got mine (2004), no other i386 laptop came close and a Thinkpad was forever top of magazines’ A-lists: expensive, but sturdy and reliable with huge battery life. Not that the quality has diminished much since the sale, but the competition seems to have caught up in many respects and so, in some ways, the T4x is the last “real”, great Thinkpad series…at least in my mind.

However, yesterday morning it froze solid and wouldn’t turn back on again. The power light was active along with the CPU fan but without a hint of other activity. Uh oh.

I stripped the machine down but it soon became apparent that this was pretty serious. A Google search reveals a known problem with the T4x series whereby the ATI graphics chip detaches slightly from the motherboard (“system board”). IBM/Lenovo seem to treat this as a design flaw and may even replace the motherboard if you’re out of warranty (normal cost about $600), but for some the severity is intermittent and it’s even been reported fixed by the wedging of some paper between the chip and keyboard, thereby jamming the chip back into place.

There is a very interesting thread on this problem here: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=33952&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

I tried applying pressure to the chip and powering up (reasoning that if it worked then some paper would be supply a permanent fix) but to no avail. I had all but given up when a friend suggested “bending” the machine: seemingly, his friend must constantly need do this with his T4x.

The logic behind this is that holding the machine with one hand (i.e. on the left, nearest the PCMCIA slots or on the right, over the hard-drive) puts undue strain on the motherboard; it should cope with this, but older T4x motherboards (i.e. about three years) don’t like it. Many people with the graphics chip problem like holding the machine like this, myself included. By bending the machine (open the screen and then bend where the keyboard is) in the opposite direction to normal, you may just pop the ATI chip back into place.

Lo and behold…some bend-age is all it needs. I think I’m on borrowed time, though.