omnibus, I got run over by the

Well, let’s see. I lost the drive in my laptop, again, and the backup regime I had been using when it crashed previously 18 months ago was not quite as comprehensive this time. So there was some data loss. Most preferences and history stuff, environmental details. Still annoying.

Since the iBook is out of warranty, it was time to make my own attempt at repairing the damage. A 60Gb drive from Outpost was $65. The odds and ends of tools I needed was $10 more or so. And it was about 90 minutes or so to do the job. I used the instructions and visual aids here. I needed the small hex driver, a couple of Torx drivers (don’t know why I didn’t just get a set all at once), and I picked up a couple of plastic putty knives for spudgers. Worked just fine.

I chose a 60Gb 5400 rpm drive, as it seemed to hit a good price point without getting too big. An 80 Gb drive might have been a good choice, but 60 doubles what I have been used to. And it’s faster and quieter (though warmer, too).

Irritatingly, I didn’t check the drive before I bought it so I chose a Toshiba based on the 5 year warranty. The drive(s) that failed were also Toshibas but they don’t honor warranties on OEM equipment. I would have bought from someone else, had I known.

So that’s pretty well sorted. A lot of screws involved and I have a couple left over (as did the last guy who repaired this thing). But it’s definitely screwed together.

The joy of kidney stones continues. I did the 24 collection test last week (eew: you collect all your, um, output in a jug then pour off two samples for testing at some lab somewhere) and got the results back today. The preliminary verdict? Hypercalciuria, or excess calcium in the blood. Makes sense, to some degree, since that’s one of the two ingredients, but I don’t have a high-calcium diet. My guess is there is something amiss in how I absorb calcium. We repeat the test in a couple of months to see how it looks then. But the basic coping strategies

  • output at least 2 quarts a day (I did 3.1 liters without really trying)
  • watch your sodium intake (my sodium scored well below the threshold)

don’t offer much hope.

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