very simple

So, i left work early today to take the iMac into tekserve (again). Normal wait, I was somewhat amused by the guy who kept interrupting the service people wondering why he had to wait so long (I guess he didn’t understand the whole "take a number" system. or the fact that the more he bugged the people, the longer it was going to take for his number to be called). Around 6:30, one of the guys starting pre-screening those of us who were left. He gets to me, and I go through the whole spiel, and the girl sitting next to me just looks at me and says "oh my god. now even I feel bad making you wait". So my number finally gets called, and the helper guy gets to see my blank screen. which isn’t even blank – instead of a grey apple, it has a grey symbol that looks like a no smoking sign without the cigarette. And that’s all it’ll do.

So he goes into the back to talk to the tech guys about the work they had previously done. About 10 minutes later he comes back and just gives me this look, and says "one of the guys looked like he was about to cry when he found out this machine was back". Apparently, in their attempts to fix it the first time, they had actually installed three separate optical drives before it started working again (at which point, I mention that maybe that was a sign that it actually wasn’t the optical drive), and with this new problem, it was now officially the worst system failure that they had ever seen.

I guess I should be impressed that I’m not mediocre, at least.

I again (half jokingly) suggested that I deserved a new computer at this point. Service guy didn’t laugh – he just gave me a sympathetic look that seemed to say that he pretty much agreed with me. I mean, given that it’s already gotten $800 worth of new parts, and is looking at a possible hard drive replacement (and who knows what else), in the end it may actually be cheaper to just hand me a new G5 iMac. Cheaper for Apple, I mean, since I’m not paying a dime for any of this.

I do have the powerbook, so it’s not like I’m computer-less, but it’s not the same. Heck, the powerbook is actually faster, because it’s 2 years newer than the iMac. But the tiny 12-inch screen is doing nothing for my nearsightedness, and I find myself propping it up on boxes on my desk to get it anywhere near an ergonomic viewing level. I really only bought it for travel and whatnot, but it was never intended to be my main computer.

And this’ll be yet another entry that none of you actually get to read for a day and a half, since the time warner guy isn’t coming until between 2 and 6 tomorrow. There’s a waste of a perfectly beautiful day (after our recent heat wave, it’s actually going to be 77 and no rain all weekend).

In other news, I’m already a fifth of the way through the current book that I’m reading. So that’s something.

Tags: apple, bitching, technology