Somewhat Good News for the Computer Probs
After that sad, sad post the other night, a light bulb went on and I was able to dig up a couple of leads on businesses that repair Macs. As the library types would say, it's all about searching with the right descriptors.
Wednesday afternoon, I started calling them to find out more. The first call was answered by a cheerful woman who said sure, they fix older Macs and that they validate parking if I drive in. (Because it's in the city and G3s are incredibly heavy and unwieldy--like carrying a 14" TV/VCR combo--I would have to bring it in the car. No way I'd haul that on the bus. Anybody see Zoolander, where the dopey blond model drops the computer on the runway? Horrifying.) O.K., marked them down as a (fairly) viable option.
The second call was a bit off-putting. I had a hard time understanding the owner's accent, and the first thing he said when I told him my problem was, "Sounds like it's time for a new computer." That was not what I wanted to hear at that moment, because I'm far more concerned about saving my writing--"data" to him, I guess. A new(er) computer is probably an inevitable part solution to the problem, but don't sell to me over the phone until I know what I'm dealing with for the computer I currently own. Put a question mark next to that one.
Third call, I waited on hold for a minute, then got voicemail. So I left a message asking if they fixed older Macs. I got a return call but missed it--tried to call back but the man had left the office. I left another message with more specifics, and explaining that I would be out tomorrow (yesterday) but he could leave a message if he wanted. (Phone tag, yaaaay. /sarcasm). I appreciated the return call, so I marked them down as viable, too.
This morning, the man called again--I felt bad b/c I answered a bit sharply, having been about to grab some Advil--but once I realized who was calling I made the effort to be nice and forget about how sore I was. He was obviously in his car, driving somewhere (probably to fix somebody's computer!), but he listened to the problem, suggested it might be that the power management isn't working anymore, and gave a few recommendations for the solution. I felt as if this guy knew what he was talking about. Of course, right as he concluded and started warning me he was getting on Route Whatever and that usually causes his phone to cut out- It cut out.
I didn't call back. I figured it wasn't worth it until Monday, anyway, because I have no idea what my work schedule is for the coming week (bookstore is late posting it, grumble, grumble), and I would have to figure out when to schedule him to come take a look at the Mac--because it's either mail-in (hah) or on-site service.
A little frustrating, sure, but the situation looks a lot less hopeless than it did before.
Wednesday afternoon, I started calling them to find out more. The first call was answered by a cheerful woman who said sure, they fix older Macs and that they validate parking if I drive in. (Because it's in the city and G3s are incredibly heavy and unwieldy--like carrying a 14" TV/VCR combo--I would have to bring it in the car. No way I'd haul that on the bus. Anybody see Zoolander, where the dopey blond model drops the computer on the runway? Horrifying.) O.K., marked them down as a (fairly) viable option.
The second call was a bit off-putting. I had a hard time understanding the owner's accent, and the first thing he said when I told him my problem was, "Sounds like it's time for a new computer." That was not what I wanted to hear at that moment, because I'm far more concerned about saving my writing--"data" to him, I guess. A new(er) computer is probably an inevitable part solution to the problem, but don't sell to me over the phone until I know what I'm dealing with for the computer I currently own. Put a question mark next to that one.
Third call, I waited on hold for a minute, then got voicemail. So I left a message asking if they fixed older Macs. I got a return call but missed it--tried to call back but the man had left the office. I left another message with more specifics, and explaining that I would be out tomorrow (yesterday) but he could leave a message if he wanted. (Phone tag, yaaaay. /sarcasm). I appreciated the return call, so I marked them down as viable, too.
This morning, the man called again--I felt bad b/c I answered a bit sharply, having been about to grab some Advil--but once I realized who was calling I made the effort to be nice and forget about how sore I was. He was obviously in his car, driving somewhere (probably to fix somebody's computer!), but he listened to the problem, suggested it might be that the power management isn't working anymore, and gave a few recommendations for the solution. I felt as if this guy knew what he was talking about. Of course, right as he concluded and started warning me he was getting on Route Whatever and that usually causes his phone to cut out- It cut out.
I didn't call back. I figured it wasn't worth it until Monday, anyway, because I have no idea what my work schedule is for the coming week (bookstore is late posting it, grumble, grumble), and I would have to figure out when to schedule him to come take a look at the Mac--because it's either mail-in (hah) or on-site service.
A little frustrating, sure, but the situation looks a lot less hopeless than it did before.
Comments
I'm backing everything up now.
How irritating it is, to know what one should be doing, and why, and that one should really do it, and then not do it, and then the predictable thing happens. I told my daughter that when she finishes working on her school papers and things she should email them to herself. If the worst happens she can always go to the library and pull up her email, and get her docs from there. Does she do that? I don't know.
Cullen--I have a ton of school stuff to weed through and consolidate, myself. I'd love to just burn it all on disks or something. . . but I'd probably screw it up.
The I.T. person at my former job said her daughter learned the hard way when she lost all her music. Now it's all saved on a backup drive they got from QVC for about $80. She said it was really easy to use. I just haven't been able to justify getting it yet.