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May 03, 2005
The Mistake
I’m a hands-on kind of guy. Which is why, rather than paying to get my iBook fixed, I thought I’d just crack it open and wiggle the connection that had to be the cause of the video signal not getting through. Just jiggling a loose connection. What could be easier, right?
Well, ‘cracking it open’ could be bloody easier, for a start. I couldn’t do it. I became very aware of how expensive the iBook was, and while bending the plastic case like that might be required (they had pictures of it and everything, in the maintenance manual I found on the internet), it’s also completely nerve-wracking. But, I should be happy, as I did succeed in a fashion: there’s a minute crack in the case now. That I put there. That’ll teach me to completely over-estimate my own abilities - or at least, it would do if I wasn’t so bloody obstinate.
Why did I think I could do it at all? Well, I was a handy boy with a screwdriver at one stage in my life. I took apart televisions and video recorders just to have a look at what was inside. I didn’t know that TVs have charged components that can seriously injure you if you touch them, even if the telly is plugged out - but then, I was smart enough not to touch any metal components for fear some static electricity might ruin the delicate electronic bits. I took apart my Commodore 64 too. It made putting together my own PC a few years later seem like a doddle.
And secondly, Apple are happy to fix your computer for you, but they erase your hard disk as a matter of routine. Even if that side of things is working perfectly. So I’d lose everything I’d put on there over the course of the two years I had the machine, including an insane amount of music, video lectures, email, and a bunch of other stuff. I have no room to store it anywhere else, and no patience for the hassle of copying it there, then copying it back over on the iBook’s return. I’m just that lazy!
Well, I’ve given up. I’ve ordered an external hard disk & software to back up the whole thing, which should get here in the next few days. Hopefully that’ll automate the awkward archiving process. Then I can wave goodbye as my computer gets sent off to the great repair shop in the sky Cork. And hey, when it comes back, I might have a shiny Tiger waiting for it…
PS: Wexford fans might be interested in breadortart.com, which sells Wexford-themed tshirts for fans of that county. I spent a few hours getting paid to put the site online over the weekend. Getting paid to do such work is a first for me, hurrah.
Posted by Oliver at May 3, 2005 02:23 PM
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