Tee-Hee

HP just called.

"Hi Susan…" 

"My name's Suzanne, actually," I said. 

"I'm sorry about that. Your computer is here and we're going to get to it in a couple of days. Your note was kind of vague…can you give us any additional information?"

I'm not sure what's "vague" about "Computer will not boot up." It doesn't leave a whole lot of room for error, you know?

"It doesn't recognize the monitor," I said. "And when I plug in the speakers, I don't hear it booting to Windows. It just doesn't do anything." 

He promised to get it back to me as soon as possible.

I thanked him. I did not tell him about the Mac.

Speaking of the Mac, I slipped it into its protective case today. Looks quite snazzy. I started working at just before nine - and yes, my music transferred, huzzah! - with the machine unplugged so I could work in the kitchen and the couch. I've been back and forth all day and it's STILL GOING at 4 PM, with 1.25 hours left. That is some impressive juice, folks. Even the extended life battery would've croaked by now.

It's 4:30 now. Still going!

I've cleaned up my desk quite a bit and ended up stashing a lot of stuff in the garage. The home office looks…better…now to tackle my bedroom and the kitchen and it'll look like a proper apartment. 

Long Day

There's nothing quite like realizing the big hard drive you used to back up all the information on your Big Computer is fried.

At least, I think it's fried. Neither the Mac nor the PC can "see" it. I bought it brand-new. I'll test it on one last computer before I take it right back to the store and demand vengeance. Or at least data extraction.

What's really irksome is that my important documents…well, most of them…are backed up elsewhere as well. So it's not like OH SHIT IT'S GONE. But this was the most recent backup of my massive music collection, so…I'm a little irked.

Oh, and I can't get the computers to play nice on the network, which means transferring other stuff has been a PITA. I was able to get the immediate work transferred through dropbox, which I despise, but I guess I'm just going to have to cross my fingers as far as the rest of it goes.

I did manage to get a music transfer going between the two laptops using Bluetooth of all things, since the networking idea won't work. It's slow as hell but I guess it's better than nothing. In theory I can let it run throughout the night, but I suspect it won't be that easy.

Sigh.

Computers: Making my life difficult since…forever.

I just want to get my stuff transferred - I finally got Word installed today and I don't want to go back and forth between computers. 

Word. Shall I mention the Irvine Apple Store? 

I find Apple Stores a little creepy to start with. I mean, I'm glad they exist, particularly after my hassles with the PCs and getting stuff repaired, but going into an Apple Store always reminds me that Maclovers really can be kind of fanatic. A lot of them just have this…rabid gleam in their eyes that makes me want to back away from them slowly.

I found what I wanted quickly, located one of two female staff members (not that I was looking for a woman - she happened to be closest to me - but the ratio of guys to gals was eye-poppingly obvious). "Can I buy this?" I asked.

She rang me up on her iPhone. I was in and out in about four minutes and then made my 15-minute drive back home.

Oh technology, how you mock me.

Using the Mac is easy enough. I like the touchpad quite a bit, although I still think my mouse is a little more practical, especially with all the editing I'm doing. Headaches aside, I'm glad I switched. 

Immediately after the computer shipped, I purchased a protective case for it, a trail sleeve, and a skin. They all arrived today; I heard the mailman drop the three packages on the stoop and go "What the hell?" I'm sure he thinks I'm a consumer whore of some sort. 

Whatever, man. I'm going to have the best-dressed laptop in Starbucks.

I'm exhausted and still have a ton of work to do. May just pop out and sleep and hope the transfers finish by morning. Humorous aside: this is the first time I've used Bluetooth for ANYTHING.