It never fails. Every single time my computer has died in the past three years it has been at a critical time when I, for the most part, really need it.
The first time it died in the middle of a paper during finals in fall of sophomore year. The second time, only months later, before a major presentation as part of a case competition for my business school. The time after that? Girl spilled water on it the day before a 20+ page paper was due, during finals, while I was in the middle of finishing my communications capstone, spring of my junior year.
This time? Beginning of this semester, while taking six classes, working three jobs, designing three websites, and of course, traveling to rural Kentucky, where nary an Apple store is to be found. That’s why I traveled an hour and a half this morning to Louisville, to visit one of only two Apple stores in the entire state, to see if they could figure out why my computer seems intent on giving me a gray screen of death every time I attempt to turn it on.
The Apple “geniuses” offered up plenty of improbably solutions and then declared it beyond their capacity to fix. In other words, “it would be best” if I just wrote them a $320 check and shipped it off to their fixer-upper facility in Houston. No thanks.
This is where I plug the ultra-amazing, super-responsive, best-bang-for-your-buck Mac repair service I’ve seen, heard of, and used: Expert Mac Repair. They’re so nice and responsive (including on Twitter, @expertmacrepair) that even if they weren’t cheaper than Apple–which they certainly are–I would gladly pay a hefty premium just to work with them instead.
Don’t get me wrong, Apple does alright. But they don’t answer phones immediately at 11 p.m. at night, order a part without even knowing if they’ll need it, and drive to my house the next day at the time I request (and show up early!) to fix it in-person, as soon as possible. Nope, Apple can’t do that. does.
Anyway, enough complaining. It was a pretty decent day. Got to see two of my besties who live in Louisville and had a fantastic lunch at a tiny little Cuban place (in Kentucky! I know right?!). Rehearsal dinner was entertaining enough, and the fireworks afterward were certainly a crowd-pleaser.
And with that, I bid you goodnight. Have another kitty pic (this kitty isn’t mine, but it’s still super cute and friendly):
