everyday is d. day

some starbucks contemplation

it's cool out today. the weather is beginning to turn. i had to dig out a sweater for the short stroll down to starbucks for coffee because there is none in the house. it might seem extravagant, but the indulgence has been whittled down a weekly instead of a daily ritual. and it doesn't have that wicked feel of spending when the funds are simply deducted from my pretty little coffee card.  the budget is $25 for 4-6 weeks. when it hits zero i contemplate seriously whether or not to refill it or not. i let some time pass and then i feed it again, right around the time i crave a good grande half full americano.

it is nice to be out of the house. i'm sitting at the sbux in a window seat that sidles the sidewalk, warmed by the late morning sun through the window. there's the hum and buzz of conversations around me and unmistakable hissshhhh of the steaming of milk. i write this remotely thanks to shaun's crappy pc, since my portable beauty has essentially been rendered a desktop not so long ago.  i'm finally making use of a bell hotspot courtesy of that coffee card i carry around in my wallet.

(oh i'd love to replace my beloved with a shiny new beloved. that was the suggestion to cure my woes. if i could grow money on a whim like that i would be hitting the cyber-pavement every day in search of a job.  the problem was supposedly of my own making--a spill--but i don't recall spilling anything on it. bijou, what is it you do in the night, you frisky little feline? the investment of $500 into it in the summer simply made it so the cord into the machine charged it up, but now it doesn't even do that anymore. i can think of a lot of things could have done with that $500. oh well. )

i've scanned the classifieds and updated my facebook status, since i've come out of hiding. not officially. don't tell anyone, but i am somewhat ready to rejoin the living again. tentatively.

and now introducing.......a problem

my macbook has been making ominous sounding noises for awhile now. reminiscent of a playing card passing by bicycle spokes. round and round. tick-a, tick-a, tick-a, tick-a.  it begins the protest not long after i boot it up and gets progressively worse as i set to my emailing, FBing and surfing. could fry an egg on the thing. i confessed that i sometimes have the thing on my lap. he shot me that look of disappointment. i oughta know better. i quickly qualified my statement by saying i knew that it wasn't a laptop, but a portable computer. it helps to know a bit of the lingo. but seriously, who isn't tempted to rest any one of these on their lap?

i've been putting it off as long possible, since my current necessary austerity forces me to, but when my charger went or its ability to charge i decided to get a genius to look at it. i already pretty much knew that i was going to have to replace the charger, having tried every sort of "fix" i could find that might remedy the situation. in his opinion i need to spend about $250 (most of the cost being labour). i asked him "so what if this part gets replaced but i still have the same problem?". his answer didn't reassure: "well then the problem is probably much worse--the logic board--and it might not be worth repairing.....". hmmm, if you ask me, no one computer component should cost more than the original computer itself. perhaps it is intentional and by design, who knows. it did occur to me that had i gotten that apple extended warranty i could have had the repair done under warranty and every time i think about it i cringe. stupid stupid. i missed insuring it by a day. a day! the lesson i've learned: don't wait, budget for the extra few hundred dollars at time of purchase, save yourself a world o' heartache and money. 

i wonder, did my computer noticing me covet the new sexy green offering by apple? don't laugh. i swear technology senses our flagging loyalty as well as any person does. i remember when i carried around a palm; long before the iPhone and the blackberry i saw the new model come out and drooled over the prospect of the newest offering to come over the horizon and almost on cue, my palm started to hiccup and belch and i spent countless hours assuaging the device, reinstalling and recovering data. 

having said that though, as technology goes, i count myself really lucky. i think i've got some fairly good technology karma.  i've read message boards where people have had huge problems getting their computers, peripherals and doodads to run, much less perform for any amount of time. the timing of this particular problem, however, is terrible.