Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Why do something right the first time?

I'm currently in the midst of my annual computer crisis. Two years ago I had my laptop stolen. Last year I spilled water on my computer while I was home in NJ. This year, well, the computer just decided to go on hiatus. Basically I was typing an email last Thursday when the screen zapped off. Despite my best efforts at resucitation, the computer wouldn't turn back on. I had a moment of panic and called Huyen who told me to relax. She said she would take the computer in to the ishop after she was done with work (I was on my way to teach).

That night, Huyen had good news for me -- there was nothing wrong with my computer. The shop had apparently just hit the power button and it turned right on. Clearly I had tried this but it hadn't worked for me. I then hit the power button on my own and magically my computer turned back on...only to fizz out again one minute later.

The next day Huyen and I went back to the ishop with the computer. We showed it to the same "tech" guys who once again hit the button. This time it didn't turn on. We asked them if they could take a look at the computer and they said, "Oh no, you have to go to to the other ishop across town." It was too late to go to the other ishop so Huyen and I went the next day (this past Saturday).

On Saturday we went to the other ishop and met with the "tech" guy there. The guy hit the on button and stated the obvious, "It won't turn on." We thanked him for his genius observation and asked if he could fix it. He told us that the man who fixes hardware only works Monday-Friday.

During my first moment of free time on Monday morning, I headed to the ishop. I went up to the same tech guy who looked confused to see me. I handed him my laptop and once again he stated that it wouldn't turn on. He then told me that hardware issues could only be fixed at another shop. Yes, this is not what he had told me 48 hours earlier. Luckily the other shop was only a ten minute ride away. I hopped back on my motorbike and shot over to the Mac repair shop.

As soon as I walked into the shop I realized it was the right place. There were a whole bunch of macs on shelves with repair labels on them. I talked to the supervisor who took a look at my mac and gave me a run down on the possible issues and how much each would cost. He told me it would probably take two days to fix which seemed about normal to me. Well, a few hours later he called me and said they fixed the problem and it would be $100. I was more than happy to pay $100 since I know repairs can cost up to $500 or more if there is a major motherboard issue. Upon picking up the computer the man told me that it was now under warranty for three months with his shop. He even placed a sticker on the bottom of my computer to help guide me back to the appropriate place the next time I had an issue.

Well, I have no short term memory problems because the next day I remembered exactly where the shop was. I had to remember because my computer once again had the same problem. The computer isn't getting any power from the power chord and is thus draining the battery. The power chord works and so does the battery so it is something inside the computer that is messed up.

The computer is presently at the shop being repaired again. It has already taken longer than the first time I left it. My fingers are crossed that they don't find any additional problem and that this time, they can fix it correctly.

The point is: 1. I hate computers. 2. There might not be any pictures on my blog for a few days.