ABC Meme

I am going to jump on this even later than La Lecturess

Accent: *I* don't think that I have one, but several people I know tell me that I sound like a Philadelphian at times. Especially with the pronunciation of 'water', which I am told I pronounce 'wooter'. That annoys me, as I have never been a fan of the Philadelphia accent. (Sorry to all of you Philadelphians out there reading).

Booze: Hmmmm. I don't actually drink that often, and when I do, it is often unfortunately to excess. I guess the most memorable of these events involves mojitos. Really strong mojitos. Mojitos it is.

Chore I Hate: Scrubbing really crusty caked on grime on pots and pans.

Dog or Cat: Definitely dogs.

Essential Electronics: Cell phone, laptop, iPod, GPS nav system.

Favorite Cologne(s): Don't typically wear it, but Chanel for men if I do.

Gold or Silver: Gold.

Hometown: Increasingly Upscale Town, PA.

Insomnia: Nope. I love to sleep, and generally sleep quite well unless I am very, very stressed.

Job Title: Assistant Professor.

Kids: I agree with Lecturess: I can barely take care of myself.

Living arrangements: Single-family home.

Most admirable trait: I think I am an intensely loyal person.

Number of sexual partners: What, kiss and tell? Don't think so.

Overnight hospital stays: A few. First grade, a smattering of times since then. Mostly healthy.

Phobias: I don't know if I have anything that I would categorize as a phobia. I generally have a fear or an uneasiness about the unknown, and have a tendency to overanalyze things, which can lead to 'analysis paralysis'. Is that more of a neurosis than a phobia? Alright then, I also fear death and failure.

Quote: "Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people." Carl Sagan

Religion: Lapsed Catholic.

Siblings: One younger sister.

Time I wake up: I usually wake up between 5:30 AM and 6:30 AM, which I hate. I usually get up on work days between 7 and 8 AM.

Unusual talent or skill: Does making plasma count?

Vegetable I refuse to eat: A toss up between brussel sprouts and lima beans.

Worst habit: I get frustrated fairly easily and have a tendency to swear at inanimate objects. I also overanalyze, which I may have mentioned before.

X-rays: Ankle, right arm, teeth.

Yummy foods I make: Glazed pork chops. Pumpkin pie from scratch. Spinach-and-feta-stuffed chicken. Pumpkin soup served in pumpkin shells. Omelets.

Zodiac sign: Aquarius

Why I Love Apple...

Last night, I got home late from work, and as I was taking my phone out of my pocket, I dropped it squarely on the keyboard of my laptop. It hit the 'R' key with a rather loud 'crack', and the 'R' key popped right off, the little clips that hold it on the keyboard broken off. Great.

I never realized how much one uses the 'R' key in the course of daily typing until I had a gaping hole in my keyboard that completely threw off my typing rhythm.

I checked a few places online, and found a few that sold replacement keys for about $9.00 plus shipping and handling. This seemed like a lot for one little key. Since I have the laptop under extended warranty (I always buy the extended coverage for a laptop - too much can go wrong, but I have been lucky - 3 years and counting with no major problems), I decided to call the company and see if there was another solution.

I spoke to Justin in tech support, and he was very helpful, but said that they don't, as a rule of thumb, stock individual keys for replacement. If I wanted to have it fixed, I would need to 1.) Send the entire laptop to Houston 2.) Have the entire keyboard replaced 3.) Pay for it out-of-pocket, since user damage isn't covered by the warranty. This would also require me to be without the computer for seven to ten business days. This seemed like a less-than-optimal solution, and even Justin agreed that it probably wasn't worth it.

Enter the local Apple Store, in Burlington, MA. I called them after I finished with the main company, and asked them if they could do individual key replacements. They said they probably could, and it would just depend upon whether or not they had any keys of the right type. They told me to come by this evening. I went online and made a reservation at the Genius Bar for 7:30 PM. I showed up at 7:15 and my name was already up on the little electronic board there. A very nice Genius, whose name I didn't catch, came over and asked me what the trouble was, and I showed her. She smiled, went in the back, and re-emerged with a big box of broken keyboards. She found one that matched my keyboard, popped off the 'R' key, and had it installed on my computer in less than two minutes. She asked if there was anything else she could help me with. I said no, and she smiled and sent me on my way. Free of charge.

It's the little things like that that make me a loyal Apple customer. That, and the fact that I spent the morning trying to install some software under Windows XP, and the cryptic error message I kept receiving was "Could not communicate with device because data received". What the hell does that even mean?

In any case, Apple Store Burlington rocks. And I have a nice new 'R' key. :-)