Monday, December 28, 2009

Fools Aren't Born, Pongo. Pretty Girls Make Them In Their Spare Time.




Greetings! Drip drip drip.... 2009 dribbles to a close...

I almost bought a new iMac tonight after work... *this* close. If it wasn't for a comedy of errors, I'd have one now...

Oh, man, I'm going to do it... I'm going to explain what happened. Here, lemme drop a warning first...

WARNING: The following tale is ridiculously boring. Be sure you are well-caffeinated before attempting to read the next three paragraphs. If you feel light-headed or nauseous at all while reading, stop immediately and take several deep breaths. Then fix yourself some hot cocoa.

iCame, iSaw, iLeft Empty-handed: A Technological Near-Miss by Dave Wagner III
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I went to the Apple Store at the mall; it was packed. I wanted to see if I qualified for their 12 month 0% financing for an iMac, which I determined to be the smartest way to go. If I'm going to make a tech purchase, it needs to be before the end of the year, for tax purposes. They told me to use one of the floor model computers to access the online store, and apply online. I was reluctant to do it, entering all my personal info right there, with a mob of people wandering by around me. I did it anyway.

Of course, when I hit "apply" the computer thought for a while, then gave me an error. The sales person said I'd have to do it again. I didn't want to. They said I could apply at home, and if accepted, print out the acceptance text and bring it in the store, and any clerk could help me. I went home to apply.

Applied and was approved. Printed it out, went to the store. The sales person was wrong. I couldn't apply at home and bring in the printed record - I had to do it in store. Now to use my newly-approved financing, I have to wait until the card arrives in the mail, which will be after Jan 1. Oh well. When the card arrives, I will close and terminate the account. After the first does me no good. No new Mac. They tried to call the credit card company to see if I could get approval to use it tonight, but they said no. No card, no sale. If I'd done the applying in store, it would have been easy.

Wow... that story is definitely in the running for the most boring thing I've written in the blog this year. But it was frustrating and a bummer and on my mind, so I wrote it anyway!

I got my work rig back from Vye, and it is working again, and clean, and my files are all safe. But I have to reinstall all my programs, and the DVD drive won't open anymore! It's not Vye's fault, of course... it has been giving me grief the last couple months, and now it has stopped working altogether. How can I install stuff if I can't put the discs in there? That's part of the reason I thought I'd pull the trigger on a new iMac... I want to consolodate desk space, and replacing my old iMac and dual-monitor work rig with one new iMac would be smart, especially since the one iMac will run both Windows and the mac OS.

O_o

I just topped the previous boring story with something even more boring, didn't I... there's only one solution... a Starbucks/Star Wars mash-up picture...



If you aren't familiar with the original trilogy, that one just sailed over your head, sorry. I still love you. In fact, I love you deeply! All of you! I'm just a well of love - the real mushy, saccharine kind! Aren't you lucky!

Wifey has agreed to going out on a date on New Years Eve. Nothing like putting off the annual date to the very last possible night, eh? lol We may go see Avatar... but I'm not sure I'm up for 3 hours of 3D... my head hurts just thinking about it. I should save the time and money, and just hit myself in the head with a ball-peen hammer...

I've always wanted to do this...




Hmm... he was kinda motionless after the impact... I assume he was ok, but he didn't seem to be moving... his friends thought it was funny enough...

Got a book for Christmas from Stepdad called Lone Survivor, by Marcus Luttrell. "The eyewitness account of Operation Redwing and the lost heroes of Seal Team 10." Apparently, it's an amazing tale of survival by a Navy Seal who lost his team during a mission in Afghanistan in 2005. Looks like quite a tale, I'm looking forward to reading it.



Dang.

Not much to say after that. Gonna go think now... thanks for your patience.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Dave, I forgot to tell you! That drive never worked for me. I had to use my USB-CDROM to install Windows.

You're welcome to borrow it if you want... in fact I think I have an old CDROM you can have. It isn't a DVDROM though.

That apple store story is a BUMMER! But, maybe it wasn't meant to be? What about getting a neato spot to hook up your laptop to a mouse and keyboard with a monitor and an external drive.

Actually there is this program called synergy that lets you use multiple computers for a single desktop. Wouldn't do well with games but talk about a power workstation! Imagine a triple screen workstation! (or however many you have)

Unknown said...

I heard Abbs got to sample your book... :D

Anyway, don't give up the blog after the new years. Don't do it!

That Seal story was amazing. Lord, I'm so for my complaining.

logankstewart said...

That three paragraph mini-story had a heck of a title. I found the rising action a bit lackluster, the climax sub-par, the falling action quick, and the conclusion invigorating. Maybe it's because I came in to work 2 hours early and now I'm ready for a nap.

Heh, I've seen that Admiral Ackbar thing before. Good stuff. An old local coffee shop I used to frequent had a "Sweet 'stache" discount, though I'm not sure if anyone ever had a sweet enough mustache.

That faceplant/bodyplant in the snow had to have hurt wearing a snowboard.

Anonymous said...

What an awesome clip. It seems like a miracle that his mind is still intact after all that he endured.

Abbie said...

ugg, your story is depressing. I'd be so annoyed! bummer too...

yeah, don't stop your blog dave! i'll miss it!

David Wagner said...

Vye: Thanks again for all your help. I'll let you know what I decide.

Rebekah: I can send you some sample text if you want... but it's still rough draft...

I doubt I'll ditch the blog altogether, but I can't make any promises on how often I'll update it... it likely won't be every day anymore, but probably a few times a week...

Ann: My thoughts exactly. From what I understand, what he told was just the tip of the iceberg... there's far more to his story than that. I'll read the book and post a review, I'm sure...

Abbie: Thanks for commiserating with me... yeah, it was a bummer, but there's far worse problems to have...

Logan: my mustache would never qualify as "sweet"... glad you liked the story title!