My Fujitsu laptop’s in the shop, and the conditions to get it back keep receding off into the future.
When I took it in last week Friday, I thought the problem was the same broken power connection that needed resoldering before. I’d have it back the same day.
Unfortunately, the part itself was broken. Fortunately, they found the $29 part and had ordered it. Unfortunately, the part wasn’t actually in stock. Fortunately, there are other suppliers that carry it. Unfortunately, none of those seem to be in stock either. Fortunately, there’s a brand new version of the $29 remanufactured part. Unfortunately, it costs $250 just for the part, not counting the labor.
Fortunately, the $250 part seems to be in stock, in theory. Unfortunately, the part comes from Sony, which has a reputation for delivery between the time of order and then end of the universe.
The chances of getting my laptop back before Thanksgiving is receding into improbability.
Fortunately, I have a backup computer — an ex-laptop from 1999 with a busted screen, replaced by a really cheap desktop monitor. Unfortunately, it’s running a crufty, never-rebuilt, highly unstable version of Win98 which crashes about 3x per day.
Fortunately, the ex-laptop would probably be a well-behaved Linux machine. Unfortunately, I’m using it as a primary work box, so I’m not going to run the risk of conversion now.
Fortunately, most of my data is on servers. Unfortunately, there are a few email attachments from last few weeks that aren’t on the project workspace.
Fortunately, the shop gave me a cd with the email file. Unfortunately, the drive driver was busted. Fortunately, I was able to reinstall the driver. Unfortunately, their backup didn’t have the attachments. So a major weekend project has been at a standstill for two weekends.
Unfortunately, the crappy desktop monitor gives me eyestrain. Fortunately, it’s probably healthier to spend less time in front of a computer.
Argh!