Tag Archives: computer

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strike 3

mac’s blue screen of death

Stayed put yesterday trying to get as much screen time in as possible and crashing from the whacked internal clock.

The doorbell rang around 10am… Airbone Express…

Wow.. They turned my laptop repair around that quick!

I unboxed it and read the repair summary: “Replaced hard drive” – according to them, I encountered a software problem so bad it fucked the drive. (hu?) Whatever – I was happy to have it back.

I whipped it outa the box… It fired right up and I logged into the airport network and did a software update.

90% into the update… The screen tinted and I got the familiar quad-lingual crash message instructing me to hold the power button down until the machine restarts.

Sooooooooo…. I called up Apple Care and we had a nice long chat.

I’ll spare you the details but suffice to say they’re sending me a brand new 15” PowerBook G4… Obviously – my lemon doesn’t exist anymore so I’m getting an upgrade… The new one is the re-design with 1.25 GHz chip and a bigger hard drive.

So….. It’s a shame they made a crappy product in the first place – but I can’t express how impressed I am with Apple’s Customer Service…

I had rehearsed lines like: “if I have to call back, it won’t be me,… It will be my attorney or a representative from a consumer activist group”…

No such ranting necessary… The service rep was totally cool… Verrrrrrry apologetic and actually sounded “personally” disappointed that I had so much trouble.

So… Yayyyyyyyy Apple! I’ve got so many bitches with you – but you always make me feel good in the end.

So – next week I’ll be able to work on the road again…. And do other stuff like not blog.

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lemon

1000 yard stare

The boy at the Apple Store was convinced that my troubles had to be from a botched install of Panther, so on his recommendation, I returned home and ported my work off to the old G4 and CDs and reformatted the hard drive and installed it fresh.

Within 5 minutes of having the PowerBook back up, it crashed again…. Within 10 minutes I was on the phone with Apple Care. Now with the software being ruled out, that means that this is the third hardware failure since I bought the damn thing last September.

They sent out a box for it and before sending it in I scribbled a hand-written note and taped it to the top of the unit in hopes to appeal to the emotions of the Apple Service Department. Probably wasted effort… Today’s business / customer service model doesn’t accommodate the human condition. Not even companies who tout a touchy-feely “we like people” image like Apple.

Hardware failures don’t just happen to nifty little portable computers. Kevin stepped off a curb and twisted funny over the weekend and wound up throwing his back out. He does this about once or twice a year… Back injuries are miserable because you can’t get comfortable.

I suck at playing nurse – and wind up feeling sick and helpless. I do my best to keep his cold-packs changed and fetch him a Darvocet every four hours… It’s all I can do.

My dad came by the house with some homeopathic stuff from his stores. (His back is permanently fucked).

I greeted dad with a big hug. The nightmare chrisglass is going through with his father has really been sticking in my head lately. Since mom left, Dad’s permanently sad and doesn’t like to leave the house much. I tempted him with a fresh pot of coffee to stick around a little bit and hang out. It was good to just sit around and spend some time with him.

Since the divorce, both of my parents have pretty much become damaged goods. I wish it was as easy as calling Parent-Careâ„¢ and having them send out a box so I could send them in for repairs as well. Unlike my PowerBook, I wouldn’t push for a replacement… Repairs only please.

Damage aside, Glass’ situation has reminded me of the significance, and impermanence of parents.

note to apple

They, (or anyone for that matter), do not have an expiration date printed clearly on their necks for you to check.

If I had a blog I’d probably attempt some dumb ass, limp-dicked correlation between my broken laptop, Kevin’s back, my dad’s soul and my friend dealing with his pop dying.

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they took my toy


special delivery

I’ve been putting it off too long – and today was the the drop dead day to get my PowerBook into service before things get really crazy with the move. (screen silver spots and a dead battery).

The nice man at Apple told me an Air Expressman would be at my door within three hours with a foam coated box.

Two hours and fifty minutes later there was a knock at the office door.

Five minutes after that my entire digital existence was taped up and swooshed off in a truck.

I’m already having withdrawals.

I’m sitting here on my old G4 tower, feeling a little agoraphobic because of the 22 inch monitor…. What in god’s earth did I do with all this desktop before?!

Whatever shall I do in those idle moments at home? The dewy wee hours of the morning when I get up before dawn?

I certainly won’t be able to blog – as if I did anyway.

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somosas as currency

the apple store or a kubrick set?

Friend Danny came by today to snatch me out of the office, take me to his salon and cut the hairs on my head. I design Danny’s business cards once a year, and in exchange – I abandon the clippers for the colder months and get actual “haircuts”.

Danny’s one of those friends I feel like I don’t spend enough time with. He’s a rugged, handsome man with manners of royalty and a mouth like tinkerbell. Regardless, it’s hard sometimes to picture him as a buxom red head shimmying down a runway with pumps on. Danny was the reigning Miss Gay Missouri, (A Drag Title), throughout the late 80’s. Up until recently, he has organized the pageant and countless other fundraising events. More impressive than being one of the city’s “drag elders”, Danny was the founder of the now muliti-milion dollar NFP: St. Louis Effort for AIDS.

You’d never get the sense from Danny that he’s the city’s biggest drag-elder, nor the creator of one of the first AIDS related organizations to in the US. What you do get a sense of is that this is a man who’s dedicated a better part of his life to charity. His eye’s have the scars, as so many men in his nearly whiped out age bracket, of loosing a lot of loved ones. It’s a reminder that there was a time when the Virus wasn’t treatable. When I was contemplating Duran Duran imports – he was watching everyone close to him die.

Danny asked me to play personal shopper today for him. He needs a new computer. So, working on that toaster oven, I took him to The Apple Store.

We lucked out and got a sales attendant with a personality.

While the sales guy was doing his schtick I couldn’t shake the feeling that I knew him from somewhere – until… It finally hit me.

“Are you from St. Louis?” I asked.. “And how long have you worked in retail?”

“Yes” he said rolling his eyes, “I’ve been in retail wayyyyyy toooo, . . . wait a second. . . JIM?!?!”

I had worked with the the guy 16 years ago when I took one of my first jobs at the mall in a mens clothing store called “His Place.” It was one of those terrible 80’s hip-clothing stores like Chess King or Oaktree.

heads unlimited business cards

“Oh my god, I didn’t recognize you… Wow you look so different, you’re so old.”
He caught himself saying that and started stumbling to correct himself, “I mean, you’re older, or… uuhhh.. I uhhhh”….

“We’ll take the 14″ ibook please”. I interrupted not really phased by the inadvertent insult.

I figured: Sure – I’ve done some hard living and I’m no where near as well preserved as this guy was (he looked nearly the same). But you know what? Here it is 16 years later and I still don’t have to put on a name badge when I go to work, so I’ve got nothing to be bent out of shape about.

My compensation for assisting came in the form of a tray full of Indian food from the mall’s food court.

If Danny only knew I’d paint his house for a couple of samosas.

If I could spend more time with ALL of my friends.

If I could have the presence of mind to blog.