Aaiiee!

[davidgillon]

When you're four days from a submission deadline, have vital changes to make courtesy of your beta (thanks Yoon!) , and the only computer with Word installed decides to stop working....

I knew my laptop needed fixing, the keyboard has been somewhat dud for months, but I hoped I could get this submission done using a plug-in keyboard before trying to repair it myself or sending it off for repair if I couldn't. (See 'only computer with Word installed' for why I was so reluctant to risk not having it). Only now the dud keyboard has decided rather than having keys that don't work, it'll have ones that intermittently decided to work constantlyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

It completely locked up the laptop earlier, and I was terrified I'd lost the first half of the changes. I seriously considering dismantling and disconnecting the keyboard in the hopes that would stop it and allow me to get back in with the remote keyboard. But then I remembered there's an online version of Word. I still needed to get back in, so thank god it's intermittent rather than truly constant, but I dived in, saved a copy on Onedrive and switched computers.

Word Online lacks a few features, but it's perfectly usable, and my changes are done. Moral of the story, make sure you're saving copies onto Onedrive and check out Word Online if you haven't already as you never know when you might need it.

In Ark news, I worked out that the falling egg production after evicting all but one of the male dodos was probably down to Frederick the Dodo actually being Fredericka. Whoops! I then went on a big supplies gathering expedition on my raft, round into the next bay, where I was killed several times in the early game. It seemed much less scary this time. Well at first it did, anyway.

Having filled the raft three quarters of the way to capacity and started home, I spotted one last spot I wanted to hit. Greed will get you every time. I'm busy chopping wood when I spot a sarchosaurus waddling ashore. First one I've seen, but there's no mistaking that giant crocodile look. So I leg it back to the boat and as I'm trying to steer it off the beach the sarco spots me and attacks. I killed it, but not before it had completely trashed all of the supply crates on the raft, leaving everything I'd gathered scattered in the shallows. Cue me frantically building new supply crates as night falls with one eye constantly looking around in case he brought a friend.

I was lucky.