The Laptop Situation

Wednesday was a scary time for The Parole Board.  As I stated in a previous post, we have been working on a video that details what Life Behind Bars is all about.  This video will be presented to a major liquor company in hopes of getting funding in 2012 to help expand LBB.  Needless to say, there is a lot riding on this. 

[The Warden]

So there I am at work, drinking my coffee and editing some pictures that are going into the video. I start to notice that my track pad wasn’t cooperating with me. When I would try to click on something it would act like I was holding the clicker down and would drag stuff as I was moving the pad. This was really making it hard for me to flow through my creative ideas and it was pissing me off! It slowly grew worse till my clicker didn’t work at all.  So now I have no clicker and a deadline to meet with the LBB promo video.  There was only one thing to do, drop everything and go to the apple store…to the LBB mobile!

It was approximately 10:00 a.m. and I had just sat down at my desk to commence working.  Before I could even enjoy my morning coffee, I received a phone call from The Warden about an issue.   He said that the track pad on his Mac wasn't functioning properly.  The track pad (for those of you wondering) is the little square on a MacBook laptop that serves as the mouse.  He said that he was going to the Apple store to have them look at it.  Although the entire contents of the video and the software needed to complete the video were on the laptop, I wasn't too concerned about the situation as it was just the track pad malfunctioning.  Or so I thought.

So now I have taken my lunch break a little early to go to the mall, right before Christmas, and hang out in the most populated store, the Apple store.  I make my appointment with the Genius Bar and this little kid comes out to help me.  This kid looked like Peter Parker and acted like PeeWee Herman.  They asked me what the problem was.  I explained and then they ran some tests.  The kid said that the track pad wasn’t working (no shit) and that my Mac is no longer under warranty.  He explained and that I would have to buy a mouse for $40 or I can replace the track pad for $80. 

He got a mouse and plugged it in only to find out that the mouse wasn’t clicking either…WTF?!  So, PeeWee Parker took my Mac back into the back to run more test.  When he came out he said that for the mouse to work, they would have to shut off the track pad completely.  I agreed for him to turn the track pad off and send me on my way.  Knowing that I had a bluetooth mouse back at home that I could go and get, I headed that way so I could start using my Mac and get back to the LBB video.

After lunch, I spoke with The Warden about the laptop and things had not improved.  He tried to inform me what was going on, but when it comes to computer stuff, I don't speak the lingo very well.  All I gathered from the conversation was the computer was still not working and The Warden was headed back to the Apple store. 

I get home, grab my mouse and start to sync my mouse up to my laptop.  But, I can’t use my track pad so I can’t hook up my mouse.  I then realize that I have to go back to the Apple store to use a mouse to get this hooked up.  I hop in my ride and head back.  When I get there I don’t even talk to anyone, I just go up to a Mac that has a mouse, unplug the mouse and plug it into mine.  I set up my bluetooth mouse then I jet!

The Warden calls me and says that he just left the Apple store and all systems were go.  Immediately it felt like a huge weight was lifted off me as the fate of our company is riding squarely on this video.  Things are good, I finally relax.  At least for a little while. 

I went to go and visit some of my INMATES up at Social 121 to drop off some bar keys.  When I got there they handed me a shot of Rumple and my normal Stoli and soda.  So I decide to grab my Mac and do a little work at the bar.  When I open up my computer and get it going I soon find out that my keyboard does not work at all.  So now I am stuck with a Mac that has a functioning mouse but I can’t type anything or use any of my commands.  

I left work around 6:15 p.m. and got a call from The Warden.  Guess what?!  He was going back to the Apple store.  That makes a hat-trick of trips to Apple in one day.  I began to wonder if I was being punked.  But, there was no Ashton Kutcher.  Nor were there any camera crews popping out of nowhere like Vietcong soldiers in 'Nam.  Oh no.  And just like plot of The Blair Witch Project, the laptop situation grew worse with each passing minute. 

In fact, the status of the laptop situation was elevated to code red.  The Warden and I were doing our best to keep our composure.  However, all I could focus on was that of all the times for a computer to act up, it happens a few days before the biggest deadline of our lives.  With that in mind, The Warden returned to the Apple store while I waited on pins and needles for an update.

I take the shot, suck the Stoli and soda down, jump in my ride and head back to the Apple store (AGAIN) before they close.  Luckily, once at the Apple store, they were able to get my keyboard functioning properly.  I'm not sure what time I ended up leaving, but I do know that I spent my whole day dealing with the laptop situation - three trips to the Apple store during the busiest shopping season of the year left me in serious need of alcohol.  I called The Lawyer and let him know that we are good and that I'd meet him at the bar in 15 minutes. 

I got the call around 8:00 p.m. and The Warden said that finally, everything was working properly.  I let out a huge sigh of relief.  That past two hours were spent wondering how we were going to explain the mishap to the liquor company and questioning whether or not they'd be understaning and, more importanly, wondering if they would still give us a chance to redeem ourselves.  Anyway, I could tell by the sound in his voice that the laptop situation rendered The Warden weak and in critical need of rumple.  We made plans to meet at a bar and drink the day into oblivion.  Never a dull moment for The Parole Board.