Around 1 month ago I had a trip to China planned and I decided to pre-order a new aluminum MacBook from the Apple Store in Hong Kong and I picked it up during my layover back to Taiwan.
After getting back to Taiwan, I sat down and installed all of my applications (using my mouse). I finished installing all of my applications, had everything set up and I opened up Mail to send an email, and I find out the keyboard on my new Mac is broken. It doesn’t look like much, but if you press the “C” key on the left side, it pops up like a flip phone and you can’t type on it until you bend it back to the right position.
I brought it in to an Apple service center to be checked out. They investigated the problem, identified that the keyboard is in fact broken and asked if I could send it back to Apple. The Apple Store said NO and told me it was past the restocking period. I went back to the service center to just fix it.
7+ days later it is still sitting at the service center. I call AppleCare and asked them if they could speed up the part shipment, and they said replacement English keyboards are out of stock with no estimated ship date! I ask for a replacement Mac, and once again they said they can’t do this. I feel like the biggest idiot — I have a wonderful new MacBook that is less than one month old sitting in the service center waiting for a new keyboard with no available replacement parts. Is anyone else out there having the same issue?
I just got a new desk accessory today from Thailand. As you can see, it helps keep my desk clean by providing me with a convienent place to wrap my cables. Go Mr . P!
This past weekend Steven and I bought a referbished Mac Mini to use as a media center (instead of a Apple TV). To help offset the cost we were going to fix the iBook hard drive that died a month back.
This sounded like a goodvidea to begin with, but after re-assembling the laptop and plugging it in, we fried the motherboard.
Well this is bad, but at least we can sell the parts off for people who undertake similiar home repairs.
My blog is currently hosted on WordPress.com. One of the nice features is that they offer you occasional tips on how you can improve your service. I however received a cryptic message from them today.
WordPress tip: You have uploaded 16,777,216 TB of files, exceeding your quota by 16,777,216 TB. Consider deleting some files to free up more space, or purchasing a space upgrade so you can upload more.
I didn’t know that I have been such a prolific writer!
We just got back from our trip to Tahoe and went to pick up Brownie from the pet store that takes care of her when she is out. Unfortunately when we picked her up, they informed us that she has been peeing blood and has been very sick and not eating.
After bringing her to the vet, they discovered that she did not have kidney stones. I suggested to Steven that we get her fixed (she is still young) and when the doctor did the surgery, he discovered a tumor (which was removed).
We just got back from Armidillo Willys after ordering the pulled pork sandwich (pictured) and a diet Dr Pepper since I am so health consious. I have to say the cornmeal muffin with honey butter was wonderful.
So this weekend I sold my black MacBook. This was maybe one of the few machines I did not hate by the time I sold it. Surprisingly it also held it’s value. In June it will be 2 years old and it only lost 1/3 of the original total value. For a well-used laptop, this isn’t bad. Keep reading →
This past week Steven went to the emergency room twice and a lung specialist once. Unfortunately the two times he went to the emergency room the doctors said “oh you just have a cold” when it turns out that the lung specialist saw pneumonia on the very same lung x-rays. Coincidentally, the very same emergency room staff said I had an enlarged heart when all I had was bronchitis.
When Steven got home and showed me his medicine, I started laughing. I suggested he gets something with codine to help his cough, however they also have cough medicine with opium (the source of codine) in Taiwan. I looked at the brand name of the medicine and get this - it is called “Liquid Brown Mixture (with Opium)”. He asked me why I was laughing, and I said “The name - it is so funny” but he protested because he said it was an accurate name.
You need to remember that this is the same logic that was applied to our pet bunny when he chose the name Brownie - she is brown indeed.
I stumbled upon a how-to article on how you can make your own micro robot. The funny thing is that the robot has an uncanny resemblance to the first generation Cybermat on Doctor Who (a creature that has yet to make a re-appearance in the new Doctor Who series).
Well it turns out that you too can build a Micro-Cybermat using a toothbrush, a watch battery, some wire, and a pager motor. I would love to see someone make a few (maybe glue on the head of a fly) and spray paint them silver for the full effect. Find out more below:
I stumbled upon a how-to article on how you can make your own micro robot. The funny thing is that the robot has an uncanny resemblance to the first generation 
