more like “half a skein wonder”

04 Jun 2005 in journal

hey there on this lovely saturday. the sun’s shining, the wind’s blowing .. and me? i’m stuck on the phone with apple all morning. it’s all good though, or rather there’s good news and there’s bad news but the good ultimately prevails – or at least i hope so.

don’t feel too sorry for me though because movies? nah. talking to people? nah. the best best way to knit is while waiting on the phone – especially, waiting for an apple rep. you get groovy music, some muzak, some techno, and some moody obscure classic rock, plus every two minutes or so a manbot jollily tells you everyone’s busy and you just gotta wait some more. in all that waiting i started and finished a lovely new bit of knit. but first, some tech progress reports.

here’s how it went:

• ~ i bought an external hard drive – that was fun, i like buying.
• ~ i backupped my computer – that was tricky but ultimately satisfying (for fellow mackers out there, check out the annoyingly named superduper! – it’s excellent even though the name is so teeth-grittingly aghh at such times when backups are needed and one feels neither super not duper about anything.)
• ~ i then bit the bullet and did a clean re-install of the operating system – nerve-wracking and anxiety-laden.
• ~ i booted up and lo and behold, it was all new! – that was my few minutes of unbridled joy, feeling like an uber-nerd even though all i did was click a few buttons
• ~ then the downfall: no sound! what? but i got out two dvds to watch!! and more problems: weird freezeups, inability to change system preferences, lots of whirring and clicks from the hard drive – that was when i admitted defeat and cursed apple for the first time ever. it was a sad moment though probably somewhat inevitable – i mean, i put them on this pedestal and all for years now..

here’s the ultimate good news i promised: this morning, i call apple, chat for a bit, and just like that they’re sending me a pre-paid box and i’m going to send my computer to them and that’s it, they’ll send me back my laptop with a brand new hard drive and hopefully other new goodies. and it’s all for free – or rather, covered under the applecare warrenty, which i oh-so-highly recommend.

until the box arrives though, and i’m rendered laptopless (hee), my camera is being recognized by this otherwise cracked hard drive.. hence the photos. once again, cotton tots to the rescue – i love love this yarn. so soft, so cheap, so purty. and stefanie’s pattern? instant gratification at its best, perfect for a frustrating friday night and saturday morning. really, i wrote it took half a skein, but it might instead be more like a third of a skein, it’s amazing. and my first time knitting with my denises, they’re awesome.. overall, i’m loving this shrug, as do many others – and, i agree with erika, it’s like an all-day hug.

in the pics, the observant will notice: heidi’s gift on the wall, trouble sitting pretty, no pics of my head because my hair was a tad (read: a lot) frizzy and rat-nesty looking, the brand new free weights that are kicking my arms into shape (who knew three pound could be so heavy!) and my lovely new external hard drive (160 gigs, w00t!) that has my backupped stuff all safe. oh jeez. knock on wood for me, will ya?