Propter hoc?

This morning I plugged my front bike light into the old PC to charge. This evening I realised it hadn't charged so I plugged it in to the laptop as I ran out of the door with a borrowed light to go and see Wajib at our local independent cinema.

When I got home I opened the laptop and saw a slew of messages: everything plugged in had been disabled (that turned out to include the mouse); there was a tour of some bit of software available; it was time for a new operating system update...

I unplugged the still-uncharged bike light, dealt with most of the messages then set about downloading and updating the OS.

45 minutes later, OS successfully installed, I went to look something up and the laptop had no access to wifi. Running diagnostics made no difference. I checked another computer. No access. Our mobiles? No access.

So, my defunct bike light has rendered my well-functioning operating system redundant and has fried our internet connection. Such power. Shame it didn't use it just to illuminate my bike ride.


On the plus side, I loved Wajib, a subtle study of the relationship between a Palestinian father and his son paying a visit from his new home in Italy. It built up a picture in gradual layers of their differences and what they shared from the perspectives both of who they were as people and of the different cultures that people of different generations always inhabit. A gentle, compassionate film. I went with a friend who years ago lived in Palestine/Israel for seven years and who came out of the cinema very homesick.