Personal
Minor Car Trouble
April 04, 2008
No matter how new a car
is; eventually, it will break down.
Read
More...
Technology Woes
March 25, 2008
I have had every intention of updating my blog more
regularly. Unfortunately, sometimes technology gets
in the way of technology.
For just about the entire month of March, I’ve been using the public library to check my email. The convenience of having a computer in my house had been long taken for granted. I got used to it after a few days.
Around the beginning of March, my wife and I began to notice a purple line running just right of center down our new iMac’s LCD screen. After doing all of the “recommended” fixes for the problem, the purple line persisted. We had just bought one of those new all-in-one iMacs not even two months before the line appeared.
And so, the next step was to take it to an authorized Apple repair center. The nearest Apple store was 60 miles from my house. The nearest AARC was 30; I opted for the closer repair option.
For the minor shortcoming of this computer, I was satisfied that Apple holds all of their products under an automatic one-year warranty from the date of purchase. And, unlike most warranties I’ve purchased, there was absolutely no hassle or challenge to having our computer fixed “under warranty.”
The draw back to this problem was that we recently did away with our older computer; which would have been a great back up in this situation. I have a Mac that I use for studio applications, but it’s much older than this new Mac and it doesn’t go online unless it absolutely has to. Coupled with a rather long wait time (about 3 and a half weeks) I found myself in a stagnant situation with my new blog.
The old blog was entirely web based, so updates from the library would have been easy. This new system (a Mac only system) is not web based. I’m sure I could have figured out a way to update this, but I’m really not that code literate. I like the WYSISWYG method. And so, I waited.
I was finally able to pick up my iMac from the repair center a few days before Easter weekend. I got it home and plugged it in. Wow! No line in the middle. Problem solved. Warranty valued. Great situation, right? OK, now, let’s pick up where we left off by importing some of my wife’s files that are on a CD. When I attempted to insert the CD, it wouldn’t load. Rut-Roh.
And so, after a short discussion with the repair store, I was back in the car going to get this new problem checked out. When I dropped it off, they were a bit defensive in saying “there’s no way we would have caused this problem.” I never claimed that they did…I just dropped it off, politely, and requested that it be expedited because it had just been in the shop.
On Monday afternoon, I called to check in with the repair store…just to see if any progress had been made. The computer was fixed. And, it only took just a few days.
When I picked it up on Tuesday morning, the problem had been solved. It turned out that a wire had been connected improperly when the LCD was replaced. That error was causing pressure on the optical drive. Hence, it didn’t work. The problem was corrected.
I understand that things break down. I understand that things, if they are to be fixed, sometimes take time, too. I also understand that because humans often fix things that are broken, they can also make mistakes. And, because I’m in a fantastic mood today, I’m not really upset with having to drive all that way to get my Mac fixed. It is fixed. What is done is done. All in all, I appreciate the facility’s honesty.
And so, until this thing breaks down again (which, I hope isn’t for a while) I hope to update this blog more often. Thanks for reading. Have a fantastic day!
For just about the entire month of March, I’ve been using the public library to check my email. The convenience of having a computer in my house had been long taken for granted. I got used to it after a few days.
Around the beginning of March, my wife and I began to notice a purple line running just right of center down our new iMac’s LCD screen. After doing all of the “recommended” fixes for the problem, the purple line persisted. We had just bought one of those new all-in-one iMacs not even two months before the line appeared.
And so, the next step was to take it to an authorized Apple repair center. The nearest Apple store was 60 miles from my house. The nearest AARC was 30; I opted for the closer repair option.
For the minor shortcoming of this computer, I was satisfied that Apple holds all of their products under an automatic one-year warranty from the date of purchase. And, unlike most warranties I’ve purchased, there was absolutely no hassle or challenge to having our computer fixed “under warranty.”
The draw back to this problem was that we recently did away with our older computer; which would have been a great back up in this situation. I have a Mac that I use for studio applications, but it’s much older than this new Mac and it doesn’t go online unless it absolutely has to. Coupled with a rather long wait time (about 3 and a half weeks) I found myself in a stagnant situation with my new blog.
The old blog was entirely web based, so updates from the library would have been easy. This new system (a Mac only system) is not web based. I’m sure I could have figured out a way to update this, but I’m really not that code literate. I like the WYSISWYG method. And so, I waited.
I was finally able to pick up my iMac from the repair center a few days before Easter weekend. I got it home and plugged it in. Wow! No line in the middle. Problem solved. Warranty valued. Great situation, right? OK, now, let’s pick up where we left off by importing some of my wife’s files that are on a CD. When I attempted to insert the CD, it wouldn’t load. Rut-Roh.
And so, after a short discussion with the repair store, I was back in the car going to get this new problem checked out. When I dropped it off, they were a bit defensive in saying “there’s no way we would have caused this problem.” I never claimed that they did…I just dropped it off, politely, and requested that it be expedited because it had just been in the shop.
On Monday afternoon, I called to check in with the repair store…just to see if any progress had been made. The computer was fixed. And, it only took just a few days.
When I picked it up on Tuesday morning, the problem had been solved. It turned out that a wire had been connected improperly when the LCD was replaced. That error was causing pressure on the optical drive. Hence, it didn’t work. The problem was corrected.
I understand that things break down. I understand that things, if they are to be fixed, sometimes take time, too. I also understand that because humans often fix things that are broken, they can also make mistakes. And, because I’m in a fantastic mood today, I’m not really upset with having to drive all that way to get my Mac fixed. It is fixed. What is done is done. All in all, I appreciate the facility’s honesty.
And so, until this thing breaks down again (which, I hope isn’t for a while) I hope to update this blog more often. Thanks for reading. Have a fantastic day!