| Off the grid |
[Jul. 10th, 2010|12:19 pm]
darkskywatcher
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Yup, total hard drive failure. Apparently Apple is aware of this problem, which means the replacement is free, even though the warranty has long since expired. However, I decided that I wanted to at least try to get some of my stuff off the drive before it has to be shipped back to Apple, so I took it to a specialist company. Fortunately, they evaluate and let you know what they can and can't get before they start pulling anything, and the evaluation, at least, is pretty cheap. If they can get stuff I want, it's going to end up costing me hundreds of dollars for them to do anything substantial. I still think it could be worth it, because I really don't want to spend the time having to replace the various things I lost(music, saved games, porn, etc.) if I can avoid it. Also, the guy I talked to was nice enough to recognize that I was just a guy with a computer and not a business, which is their more usual clientele, and said he'd do what he could to keep the price down.
And, even when I get the computer back from them and take it back to the shop guys, I'm still probably going to sell the computer as soon as I get it fixed. Sure, it works, but it's old and has failed multiple times, and I'm sick of it. All of this is going to cost $$$ of course, but as much as I groan about it, I'm really fortunate in that I can afford it at all.
But the upshot of repair/data recovery/repair is that I'm without a computer for an extended period of time, probably given my work schedule another two weeks (making three total). And, already, I've noticed just how dependent I am on the net for several important things, specifically information and socialization. Even the friends I have in the Cities usually organize online. While to a certain extent it's expected, there have been some surprising moments, like when I realized that the only way I knew to check the weather was to either look out the window or look online. I've taken to carrying my umbrella to work as a precaution, and it's almost been relevant.
It also made me remember that I've become rather specialized at entertaining myself with electronic media. My PS3 is offline because we don't currently have a TV, and with no computer that just leaves me my DS, and I get sick of Harvest Moon after a while. There have been some work nights where I decided to go to bed early because I couldn't think of anything else to do (heavens forfend I do something productive!). This weekend, I started reading some of my old RP stuff, and remembering a pick-up for Dark Heresy I half wrote and could still run at some point, which was nice.
Still, for the meantime I'm left checking things at the Library on the weekends, so if you need to get a hold of me for some reason, give me a call. Cheers. |
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