c. scott andreas

On Thursday as I was preparing to fly from London to Chicago, the PowerBook G4 otherwise known as my right arm gave out.

While standing in line for security, I noticed the light on the front flashing wildly. When I attempted to turn it on, the speakers made a buzzing noise, the screen stayed black, and (alarmingly), a smoke smell started seeping out. You can imagine how much fun the hand-searching of my bag was.

While waiting to board, I made an appointment at the Chicago store’s Genius Bar. Upon arriving, the guy confirmed that the logic board was fried six months after my three-year AppleCare expired. The repair cost was about $700. Utterly saddened with the prospect of losing my laptop and having to buy a new one before MacWorld (heading back to the UK before new ones can/will be released) , I wasn’t sure what to do.

After a couple minutes, Ernest returned from “the back” with my PowerBook and made my 2007:

“Given the history of this machine, I’ve approved the repair at no cost to you. It should be ready in about a week and a half - we need to order some parts. We’ll ship it to you, wherever you’re at.”

Mega score for Apple, there. Until then, I’m gimping it with a PIII-900mhz Gateway that I bought 6 years ago. I can’t wait for Seraph to come back.

BUT, now they’re threatening Fake Steve Jobs and have forced ThinkSecret offline. There goes one of the few things that gives meaning to my mid-afternoon. Ugh.

You give and take away, Steve. You give and take away.