Thwup, Thwup, Thwup, Phzzzzz, Bang!

...the last sounds my monitor made before dying. A smell of burning plastic and a sad little column of smoke accompanied it on its way to the monitorial Valhalla (a skip somewhere in the college, I have a feeling I can't just throw it in the bin at home).

This is a fitting end for this monitor, given its origins (dust to dust, skip to skip). But it was a nice (19") monitor and I'll be sad to see it go.

More interestingly, given that this happened two days ago, has been my reaction to its loss. My room seems strangely quiet without the constant humming of computer fans. I tried to sit and watch some TV last night, but my heart simply wasn't in it. I was overcome with the urge to type something (anything). I yearned to check my email. Eventually, I wound up sitting at my desk, playing guitar and listening to music (on my CD player rather than the PC...which is the first time in ages). I tabbed out some of the new Frames album by hand, which also felt strange.

I'm trying to sort out a new monitor today. But the temporary loss of computer facilities has been unnerving. I might try leaving it off in the evenings in future unless I really, really have work to do. It'll be interesting to see what I do with all that extra time.