The Woes of Technology

Last week I accidently spilled hot tea onto my laptop screen. The cat was whining at the door to get out, and the dog was begging with his eyes to be fed. I attempted to get up, with the cup of tea in my hand, when I got tangled up in the wires connecting my hard-drive backup device to my laptop and splashing hot tea all over the screen. I grabbed the soft cloth that comes with the computer cleaning solution trying to frantically wipe the screen, but the tea had honey in it and I didn’t want the cloth to be sticky, so I grab a nearby cotton throw and use that. I clean the screen and all looks okay.

I leave the laptop closed, which I guess was a mistake, because when I return a few hours later and open it, there’s a huge shadow covering the screen. It looks like a lava lamp, but stationary, not moving. I’ve only had the laptop just over a year so I am devastated. I spend the next two hours calling Apple Care. I'm told I have to make an appointment online with the nearest Apple Store. I choose Baton Rouge and spend another hour trying to make an online appointment.

It had only been a few months ago I had made an appointment online because my hard-drive had crashed. I had heard people talking about their computers crashing for years, but I've been through two computers and a laptop with this never happening. So of course, when my new laptop crashed, I had nothing backed up. Hence, the first appointment at the Apple Store in Baton Rouge. Of course, I couldn’t remember how I had made that first appointment online.

The next day I am driving through Baton Rouge traffic to get to the Apple Store at 11 a.m. The young man at the “Genius Bar” tells me there is nothing they can do even though my laptop is still under warranty. He tells me they’ll have to do a T-4 or 10-4 - something that entails taking the entire laptop apart, because there could be moisture damage throughout, and if there was honey in the tea, that is worse. It would be at least $700, but they will sell me a new one for 10% off.

I pack up my laptop, making space for the next person in line, and carry on with my regular Baton Rouge stops: Petco, Target, and Whole Foods. Since it was cool outside, my dog, Frostie, had made the trip with me, and the highlight of his day was his first visit to Petco.

After Whole Foods, I fight my way onto I-10 and, race home, with Frostie panting excitedly in the back. I had left the cat inside, since the morning had been so cold, and I know she needs to get out. So, after two days lost dealing with technology, at the end of the day, I have no doubt it will always be the pets that rule!