Laptop saga (an excuse to type a lot)
Joel-Peter Witkin https://www.google.com/search?q=joel+peter+witkin&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiN6qvU-K3kAhUBqp4KHfiZA1kQ_AUICigB&biw=1218&bih=618&dpr=1.5#imgrc=_
I binged the first six episodes of Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance yesterday on Netflix. I love it so much. Of course I've loved The Dark Crystal since I was a wee Paul, and have figures and even a statue. Sadly I don't have any of the comics yet. But this series I think has lived up to my expectations. It's like taking The Hobbit and turning it into Lord of the Rings; if the Dark Crystal movie was The Hobbit, than Age of Resistance is LOTR. It's more overreaching in scope. It really fleshes out the world and answers some questions from the original movie, but not in a Star Wars prequel kind of way (as Age of Resistance is indeed a prequel.
Now that this new Netflix series is out you can pre-order new figures. Which I obviously want.
I took my laptop into the shop to fix the keyboard. Some the keys only worked sometimes, so it would take me forever to type anything substantial. It's now fixed, hence, the impetus of this post! It feels sooo good to just type normally and have the keyboard do what it's supposed to do. I'm typing so fast my fingers like lightning.
So I took it into this local shop. I messaged the place over FB. When I went to take it in, the place was in the corner spot of a building with realtor signs in the upper windows. I knocked on what I thought maybe was the door (it was) and a dog barked. A dude wearing shorts and no shoes opened the door. Red flag #1. He assured me I was indeed at the right spot.
So apparently he had recently moved shop to that location, and has been renovating, and that's why it was kind of a mess inside. Anyway I gave him some money, like $20, he messaged me the next day saying I needed a new keyboard. He wanted cash, I wanted to PayPal him or something, but he said he couldn't take PayPal because his bank account and yadda yadda. I let him know that it was a bit weird that he's a computer seller/repair shop and doesn't accept digital payments, but his explanation made sense. So, kinda red flag #2, after the location thing.
He also told me my battery was inflated, and could actually begin to release fumes inside my laptop, rendering it unusable. He showed me pictures (this is all over text), gave me prices, and also sent me screenshots of the prices. So still something didn't set right but it seemed entirely plausible and seemed like he was trying to be transparent. That's kind of red flag #3, "is he trying to scam me out of more money?," but I only thought that because of the first two red flags. So I drive over there again to physically give him money, and he shows me my bloated fucked up battery, and he apologizes about the PayPal thing, and everything's good.
He texts me like a week later (he had to order the new keyboard and wait for it to come in) saying it's ready to be picked up. WOOHOO. I drive over there, ring his bell (he now has a doorbell installed), and I can hear some guy say "who the fuck is at my door?!" A stranger answers, but the guy I've been dealing with quickly takes over and the other dude just sits back down. Red flag #4. And it smells like weed a little. I mean, this seems like a fly-by-night operation I'm dealing with here at this point. But I pay the rest of the money I owe (it was very reasonable), thank him, and off I go.
At this point I should say that every time I've dealt with him over text or in person, he's always fairly down-to-earth, polite, smiling; you know, not weird or anything. Every time I'd visit him I'd feel reassured that my poor lappy was in good hands. And his store is literally 10 minutes away.
So. When I get home, much to my bewilderment, disappointment, and enragement, now several other keys don't work, but the old messed up ones do, for the most part. So HUGE red flag, #5, if you're keeping track. I message the dude and in the most restrained way I can (I gave myself a day to cool down) explain the situation and my complete disappointment. He seems pretty surprised himself, and says he tested it before giving it to me and it seemed ok, but admits he didn't try every single key. Holy jeez man. He tells me to bring it back, he'll look at it, won't charge me a dime, and will have the issue fixed one way or another. At this point, I'm thinking, "if this is a scam of some kind, I don't see what their angle is. Getting info off my laptop somehow?" So fine. I do, he says it's likely a faulty keyboard, and he's kinda pissed at the supplier cuz now he's out the $40 or whatever it was for a "functioning keyboard." Anyway he says I can keep the laptop while waiting for a new keyboard to come in, and he apologizes of course. So, a little over a week later, I take in my laptop once more. About 90 minutes after I get home I receive a text saying the keyboard works perfectly. I pick it up the next day, and after some rigorous typing in notepad, it sure does! Now his place is really starting to shape up, with display cabinets, him wearing shoes, and merchandise displayed with prices (everytime I went over there the place got a little more up to snuff).
So here we are. I don't think I was being overly paranoid in the beginning, but, it turns out setting up a new locale for your business (and possibly living there, upstairs, as well? I never figured that out but he has a HUGE St. Bernard there and I just get that feeling) and a shady business may give off comparable vibes. If you're just a guy with his own small business, I guess. Now I'm off to give positive reviews on whatever sites he's on. I'll write more later but it'll feel like an instant to you.
Well I shouldn't judge too harshly, because he wasn't technically open yet, really. Here's the review I wrote:
I had a laptop keyboard issue. I took it in, and while the guy (Alex) was investigating it, noticed my battery was in dire straits and in need of a replacement. He sent me a YouTube video to educate me about the issue and also sent me screenshots from the webpage he would order from to assure me about the prices for a new battery. The man was completely transparent and didn't want me to feel like I was being had.
After I took my repaired laptop home, I found it didn't quite work right still. I told Alex of this and he profusely apologized and offered to fix it without further fees of any kind. He paid for another new keyboard out of his own pocket (the other one he received was simply faulty) and now I'm typing this on a perfectly functioning keyboard.
In all my dealings with CCCS, they were communicative, quick, polite, and very reasonably priced. Honestly I'm glad I have such easy access to them, and if I ever do need a new laptop, I'll check there first.
I didn't mention the red flag stuff because this is a good guy and I want him to succeed. Especially when it's a great little computer shop like this right in my backyard.
A kitten found its way to our house recently. All black, cutest goddamn thing you've ever seen. It was obviously abandoned because it was extremely friendly. Well Bryan and Amanda decided to take it in. Of course before they could physically do so, the damn mountaineer broke a hind leg by falling out of a tree. They took it to a vet and it would cost $1600 to fix. Too much. So it lived with me in my room for a few weeks while being given medicine and trying to remain inactive. Not easy for a kitten. But, miraculously, it did actually end up healing on its own! Now it lives downstairs with Amanda and Bryan. I do miss it, like sleeping with it and carefully playing with it and having it purr at my every touch, but my room's just too small for a pet to be confined to.
It's kind of amazing actually. I've been watching allll these kitten videos recently on YouTube, like mostly vet and rescue videos, just because they're so cute and I miss having kittens. I really want one. Then a wild kitten suddenly appears and it's "mine" for a bit! I don't believe in anything of the type, but still, thanks, universe.
Here she is, on my shoulder, while still living outside. I suggested the name "Bast," after the Egyptian cat god (and in the Sandman comics), and Amanda agreed. :-)
I watched Climax recently, the newest film by Gaspar Noe (Enter the Void, Irreversible). Now I watch this video way too often.
It began with Dark Crystal, and so too shall it end. Here's the rest of my Dark Crystal shit: a statue of The Chamberlain (got it very cheap when ThinkGeek was having a blowout clearance sale) and an Aughra Funko Pop figure. She's one of only two Funko Pops I have (the other is also from a Jim Henson property). I mostly dislike Funko Pops but there's some good detail with her.
I binged the first six episodes of Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance yesterday on Netflix. I love it so much. Of course I've loved The Dark Crystal since I was a wee Paul, and have figures and even a statue. Sadly I don't have any of the comics yet. But this series I think has lived up to my expectations. It's like taking The Hobbit and turning it into Lord of the Rings; if the Dark Crystal movie was The Hobbit, than Age of Resistance is LOTR. It's more overreaching in scope. It really fleshes out the world and answers some questions from the original movie, but not in a Star Wars prequel kind of way (as Age of Resistance is indeed a prequel.
Now that this new Netflix series is out you can pre-order new figures. Which I obviously want.
I took my laptop into the shop to fix the keyboard. Some the keys only worked sometimes, so it would take me forever to type anything substantial. It's now fixed, hence, the impetus of this post! It feels sooo good to just type normally and have the keyboard do what it's supposed to do. I'm typing so fast my fingers like lightning.
So I took it into this local shop. I messaged the place over FB. When I went to take it in, the place was in the corner spot of a building with realtor signs in the upper windows. I knocked on what I thought maybe was the door (it was) and a dog barked. A dude wearing shorts and no shoes opened the door. Red flag #1. He assured me I was indeed at the right spot.
So apparently he had recently moved shop to that location, and has been renovating, and that's why it was kind of a mess inside. Anyway I gave him some money, like $20, he messaged me the next day saying I needed a new keyboard. He wanted cash, I wanted to PayPal him or something, but he said he couldn't take PayPal because his bank account and yadda yadda. I let him know that it was a bit weird that he's a computer seller/repair shop and doesn't accept digital payments, but his explanation made sense. So, kinda red flag #2, after the location thing.
He also told me my battery was inflated, and could actually begin to release fumes inside my laptop, rendering it unusable. He showed me pictures (this is all over text), gave me prices, and also sent me screenshots of the prices. So still something didn't set right but it seemed entirely plausible and seemed like he was trying to be transparent. That's kind of red flag #3, "is he trying to scam me out of more money?," but I only thought that because of the first two red flags. So I drive over there again to physically give him money, and he shows me my bloated fucked up battery, and he apologizes about the PayPal thing, and everything's good.
He texts me like a week later (he had to order the new keyboard and wait for it to come in) saying it's ready to be picked up. WOOHOO. I drive over there, ring his bell (he now has a doorbell installed), and I can hear some guy say "who the fuck is at my door?!" A stranger answers, but the guy I've been dealing with quickly takes over and the other dude just sits back down. Red flag #4. And it smells like weed a little. I mean, this seems like a fly-by-night operation I'm dealing with here at this point. But I pay the rest of the money I owe (it was very reasonable), thank him, and off I go.
At this point I should say that every time I've dealt with him over text or in person, he's always fairly down-to-earth, polite, smiling; you know, not weird or anything. Every time I'd visit him I'd feel reassured that my poor lappy was in good hands. And his store is literally 10 minutes away.
So. When I get home, much to my bewilderment, disappointment, and enragement, now several other keys don't work, but the old messed up ones do, for the most part. So HUGE red flag, #5, if you're keeping track. I message the dude and in the most restrained way I can (I gave myself a day to cool down) explain the situation and my complete disappointment. He seems pretty surprised himself, and says he tested it before giving it to me and it seemed ok, but admits he didn't try every single key. Holy jeez man. He tells me to bring it back, he'll look at it, won't charge me a dime, and will have the issue fixed one way or another. At this point, I'm thinking, "if this is a scam of some kind, I don't see what their angle is. Getting info off my laptop somehow?" So fine. I do, he says it's likely a faulty keyboard, and he's kinda pissed at the supplier cuz now he's out the $40 or whatever it was for a "functioning keyboard." Anyway he says I can keep the laptop while waiting for a new keyboard to come in, and he apologizes of course. So, a little over a week later, I take in my laptop once more. About 90 minutes after I get home I receive a text saying the keyboard works perfectly. I pick it up the next day, and after some rigorous typing in notepad, it sure does! Now his place is really starting to shape up, with display cabinets, him wearing shoes, and merchandise displayed with prices (everytime I went over there the place got a little more up to snuff).
So here we are. I don't think I was being overly paranoid in the beginning, but, it turns out setting up a new locale for your business (and possibly living there, upstairs, as well? I never figured that out but he has a HUGE St. Bernard there and I just get that feeling) and a shady business may give off comparable vibes. If you're just a guy with his own small business, I guess. Now I'm off to give positive reviews on whatever sites he's on. I'll write more later but it'll feel like an instant to you.
Well I shouldn't judge too harshly, because he wasn't technically open yet, really. Here's the review I wrote:
I had a laptop keyboard issue. I took it in, and while the guy (Alex) was investigating it, noticed my battery was in dire straits and in need of a replacement. He sent me a YouTube video to educate me about the issue and also sent me screenshots from the webpage he would order from to assure me about the prices for a new battery. The man was completely transparent and didn't want me to feel like I was being had.
After I took my repaired laptop home, I found it didn't quite work right still. I told Alex of this and he profusely apologized and offered to fix it without further fees of any kind. He paid for another new keyboard out of his own pocket (the other one he received was simply faulty) and now I'm typing this on a perfectly functioning keyboard.
In all my dealings with CCCS, they were communicative, quick, polite, and very reasonably priced. Honestly I'm glad I have such easy access to them, and if I ever do need a new laptop, I'll check there first.
I didn't mention the red flag stuff because this is a good guy and I want him to succeed. Especially when it's a great little computer shop like this right in my backyard.
A kitten found its way to our house recently. All black, cutest goddamn thing you've ever seen. It was obviously abandoned because it was extremely friendly. Well Bryan and Amanda decided to take it in. Of course before they could physically do so, the damn mountaineer broke a hind leg by falling out of a tree. They took it to a vet and it would cost $1600 to fix. Too much. So it lived with me in my room for a few weeks while being given medicine and trying to remain inactive. Not easy for a kitten. But, miraculously, it did actually end up healing on its own! Now it lives downstairs with Amanda and Bryan. I do miss it, like sleeping with it and carefully playing with it and having it purr at my every touch, but my room's just too small for a pet to be confined to.
It's kind of amazing actually. I've been watching allll these kitten videos recently on YouTube, like mostly vet and rescue videos, just because they're so cute and I miss having kittens. I really want one. Then a wild kitten suddenly appears and it's "mine" for a bit! I don't believe in anything of the type, but still, thanks, universe.
Here she is, on my shoulder, while still living outside. I suggested the name "Bast," after the Egyptian cat god (and in the Sandman comics), and Amanda agreed. :-)
I watched Climax recently, the newest film by Gaspar Noe (Enter the Void, Irreversible). Now I watch this video way too often.
Click to viewIt began with Dark Crystal, and so too shall it end. Here's the rest of my Dark Crystal shit: a statue of The Chamberlain (got it very cheap when ThinkGeek was having a blowout clearance sale) and an Aughra Funko Pop figure. She's one of only two Funko Pops I have (the other is also from a Jim Henson property). I mostly dislike Funko Pops but there's some good detail with her.