Do I generate my own magnetic field?

For this blog, I owe creative inspiration to my mom. It's become a long running joke between us that I ruin technology like no one else. There's been another bout of "Melissa as the technological Bermuda Triangle" over the last couple months.

couresty of superphysics.netfirms.com.  I imagine my magnetic field looks like this.

I roughly estimate that in the last six years I've gone through two laptops (I'm on the third), a hard drive (on the second), two i-pods, several cameras and more headphones than I can remember.   I believe most technology was built with planned obsolescent in mind.  Even if you buy the best digital camera available now, in two months it will quickly be on it's way to the rubbish bin.

My sister is usually quick to hop on to new technology.  She implores why I don't have a _______ yet, and ______ could be anything from a model cell phone to a computer program.  I always wait several versions, waiting for the manufacturers to realize what they screwed up and fix it in the successive models.  Great example was the i-phone that was released last year that couldn't make phone calls.  Seems like that might be a requisite for something called an i-PHONE!!!

As much as I love music,  it wasn't until generation 15 or so that I got an i-pod.  Last week I dropped my beloved 120gb classic i-pod off for a battery replacement.  In Indonesia that mean that you will actually be getting a new i-pod of the same model.  My old one went out after a power surge at the crap hole boarding house I was staying at before. That power surge also blew out my blackberry, of which all the innards have been replaced. My mother very kindly lent me her old i-pod, a skinny one that holds a whopping 125 songs.  I scoff but I would have gone crazy the last month on the back of the ojek without it.

courtesy of methodshop.com  The frown is how I felt. The battery went out on my so I didn't even get this icon.

Now my blackberry is going out again.  I'd been in Indonesia about three months when my first phone went missing.  I replaced it with another cheap brick phone and kept that one when I upgraded to a Blackberry last August.  The blackberry was stolen in October and I bought a used one from a friend.  This is my current phone.  It's at least three models old now,  has had the screen, battery and circuitry replaced once and spent three nights in rice drying out (dessicant is my current favorite word).  I had a leaky water bottle in my purse the first time, the second was a fall into a small amount of water that couldn't even be termed a puddle.  The third time in the rice was Sunday night.  I don't know what happened to my phone so I thought I'd stick it in rice over night anyway.  Monday I had to reinstall several programs and blackberry messenger still isn't working well.  The keys are also sticky.  I either get five i's or none.  Looks like I'll be phone shopping again shortly.

courtesy of bgr.com

When I went home for the Christmas holidays the internet went out.  Actually, within 48 hours of my arrival the router went out.  Not just the internet signal, my mom had to buy a new router.  She swears I caused it.  I think it should be remembered that I was the good luck charm when we went Christmas shopping and found stellar parking spots but I'm not sure if they cancel each other out.  Printing the final copy of the new science book after returning from holidays was nearly impossible, as are many technically related tasks at work. Printing, internet and access to the server are all out of service on an at least twice weekly basis.

courtesy of cabq.com.  Wave of the future?

I don't think, however that I generate my own gravitational pull.  On the day I do, someone must say something!