The new coronavirus is blowing up my computer! Seriously!
My Intel NUC Skull Canyon has started making nasty noises. The only moving part is the fan, and that’s what’s failing. So I need a new fan, urgently. This fan is a specialist part, unique to the Skull Canyon.
I placed an order for a couple of spares a couple of weeks ago. The order was accepted, then delayed, then the suppliers told me their staff couldn’t return to work to fulfil it. They are mainland Chinese, and it’s the quarantines caused by the new coronavirus that are preventing them returning from their New Year celebrations with their families. The traders were perfectly honourable about this, told me the situation, apologised, and refunded me.
Intel closed their online spare parts shop at the end of 2019, drat it. The hopeless NUC shop, both in the US & the UK, deny the part exists. The guys in Philadelphia won’t ship to Europe. Both Chinese suppliers have the fan, have the stock, but have no staff because of the virus.
My computer is making weirder and weirder noises because of the failing fan, and when the fan fails, which it will do soon, the computer will fail too. I’d have already have the replacement part were it not for the new coronavirus. Thus the new coronavirus is blowing up my computer! Bastard!
My way around this is to use an address in the US to order from the Philadelphia guys, and have the package shipped from there. But it’s still a damned nuisance.