Input: AC 100-240V -, 50-60 Hz, 1.5A

I am scared of electricity. I managed to shock myself (pretty badly) when I first tried to plug in my adapter. Something about placing mine hand over some poorly-placed metal parts...

Whenever I place anything into an outlet here, the outlet sparks. This is freaky. Not to mention the fact that the voltage is different here and I'm terrified of starting a fire or melting everything.

Funny story, this.

We were advised not to bring our computers, but as I was travelling on, I brought mine. A few others did as well. We definitely made the right decision, and everyone else realises this and uses our computers. I'm quite fine with this. Cristina, for instance, is paying me in Q-Tips, as I managed to forget to bring a bunch, and those little swabs are valuable. I don't mind so much, except when either my computer or my charger randomly disappears.

Theresa was using my charger last night--she asked--and I went to sleep not worrying about it. This morning, she asked me if, perchance, my computer wasn't holding a charge. I told her (with the old Girl Talk blasting in my left ear from my shuffle...) that, to the best of my knowledge, my computer was, in fact, holding a charge. Sometimes, it got confused about whether it was charged and the time remaining to charge, but I attributed that to all the programmes running.

She seemed perplexed, and then began to describe a small problem.

After our trip this morning, we were back at the residences examining me charger. To the best of my knowledge, the cord right next to the magnetic part that plugs into my computer had, well, melted.

Hm.

It was most definitely not charging. After some frantic internet searching (Apple, yoru products are both beautiful and intuitive, but your website is the most convoluted and difficult to navigate page that I have tried to use since ACES, and why the hell don't you have e-mail customer support!?) we managed to find Apple retailers in the area and made a plan to search them after lecture. The cord cost $79, but unfortunately and for some unknown reason, 89€. Theresa offered to pay and I didn't even refuse and wait for a second offer to accept.

We searched a few stores to no avail, although I was able to explain what I needed. One kind man gave us directions to a store that would have it, and I actually understood them and got us there. We found the adapter and bought it, and I felt like I had a late birthday present.

It's so cool! The best part is that it's the European version, but the way that it is designed to interchange a long power cord or a short, straight-to-outlet plug, I can interchange both my two European plugs and my two American ones, saving me the trouble of buying the $80 international adapter kit thingy.

I stuck it into the plug by my bed, and within 10 minutes it wasn't charging anymore (the light just turned off, which means that the plug wasn't connected to any power source...?). Luckily, it works in another plug in the room, which means that I'm now scared of the plug by my head. Also, I managed to read the inside of the plug by my head, which said that it was 250V, and the adapter runs on 100-240, but the straight-to-outlet part says 250, and I bought them here, anyways! Stupid electricity. Heaven forbid anything be standardised internationally.

We determined that the probable cause of the meltdown was the fact that she covered the computer in pillows and didn't like the distracting sound of the fan, so when that kicked on to cool the hot circuit-board, she pushed the computer farther into the pillows, overheating something or other and melting the electricity...? Who knows. I do know, however, that I have wicked cool European plugs for my Mac right now, which makes me wayyy cooler than most US Mac users.