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travel, at a tangent


Ol' Faithful

Jack Daniels labelYears ago, in the mid-eighties, I met a young American girl, let's call her Jane, who was travelling through Europe on her gap year (although they didn't use that term then). She and her friend were floating around Europe in a hashish- and heroin-induced haze between party, bar and nightclub, bedecked entirely in black - 501's, Doc Martens and heavy eye-liner.

One night, as she lay sprawled across a couch, joint in one hand, whisky glass in the other, she joked to me (between hiccoughs) that, because JD was the only man she'd ever been faithful to, she liked to be called "Ol' Mrs Daniels' when she was kickin' back and hangin' loose. She was about 20 years old at the time, as was I, so it was funny and cute.

The shock of the new
Apple is in the detailsI was thinking of Ol' Mrs D the other day, as I stood in the Regent Street Apple Store, explaining to the Apple 'Mac Specialist' that I'd been using Apple machines for fifteen or so years, and don't expect mild electric shocks to be part of my MacBook Pro Intel Core 2 Duo experience. For £1,349.00 (that's around $2,700 today).

Having originally bought the machine from nearby MicroAnvika, I'd been advised by their engineer, who tried to find a replacement for the computer I'd bought there and failed, after two replacements, to go to the Apple Store and buy one there, after having inspected it. So that's what took me to the Apple Store.

I don't know what it is. Maybe it's just me, but there's something about the Apple Store. Maybe it's too modern, too busy, too big. Maybe the staff are a just a tad too confident. Other than the really nice one I got talking to the other day who was like someone's Mum, all comfy, like cuddles and custard, and was, I suspect, covering for an errant son (she knew little about computers but was lovely to talk to).

So, I bought my new notebook (they're too hot for your lap, hence abandonment of the term 'laptop'), and tested it on-site. No nasty tingling feeling. I thought that the keys looked a little crooked, but put that down to my astigmatism. Wrong.

Back at the ranch, working on my mother's wooden table, there's a mild buzzing at my fingertips when I touch the aluminium casing. At my own desk, also wooden, the buzzing sensation's not so mild. And the keys are a little skewed, and there's an almost imperceptible (tho' not to me) rattle as the disk cycles down.

So, I'm off to the Apple Store tomorrow, with my latest MacBook Pro Intel 2 Core Duo, either to get my money back and wait until the next revision of this series, or to swap mine for another unit. I had a chat with one of their technical support execs, who recommended this course of action. He was very cheerful, and very far away.

So, Having read the job spec for 'Mac Specialists' on the Apple UK website, I am surprised by how much internal resistance I'm experiencing to getting my Mac in its box and heading off to Regent Street...
"Instead of "Get paid to spread the love" let?s say "Get paid to enrich people?s lives"
I'll get back to you once I'm feeling a little richer...


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