Genius Bar. What an appropriate name.

So approximately two hours after I posted my blog last night, I was trying to get my music synced to my iPhone. I was at close to max storage on my iPhone so I had been trying to delete stuff to make space for my new Taylor Swift album (because let's face it, that is all I will be listening to for several days). I plugged my iPhone into the USB port on my Mac and BOOM! Total blackness. The computer completely shut off and would not turn back on. The power cord would not even light up.

Cue utter panic. It's silly, I know, but all I could think about was how I need this for school and that I had no money for repairs or replacement. And really, I've just been so at my max lately that it felt like one more thing going wrong was just more than I could deal with.

Of course all this happened after customer service hours closed, so there was literally nothing I could do until this morning. Luckily my roommate was here to tell me to basically CALM THE HECK DOWN and that it probably wasn't as bad as I thought. But I was freaked at the idea of having no money for computer repairs let alone a new computer, and since this is my first Mac and I bought it in a rush off the Apple website, I couldn't for the life of me remember how Apple warranties worked. All I knew is that I hadn't bought one.

I found the customer service number and their hours and found the nearest Apple store (because thankfully I live near an Apple store now) and texted a few friends to ask them to pray, too, and laid there just praying and waiting to fall asleep. That came around 1:30.

I got up and got ready at 7:00. Right on the dot at 8:00, I called customer service and that guy gave me some serious peace of mind because he told me that since I just got this in March, I was still under Apple's automatic one-year warranty that covers absolutely everything, so even if I needed a whole new computer, it wouldn't cost me a dime. HUGE sigh of relief. He also told me that people generally make appointments at Apple stores, but if I walk in first thing the wait probably wouldn't be too bad.

I got to the Apple store just before the doors opened at 9:00, and by the size of the crowd that was outside the doors waiting for the opening, you'd think it was Black Friday or something. Geez. Well, I got to the Genius Bar (appropriate name) upstairs and a guy checked me in and said the first appointment they had open was 9:45. Sure, I was willing to be late to class to get this figured out. And 45 minutes in a store that packed seemed like a good deal to me. So I sat down in front of the Genius Bar and waited.

At about 9:40, a guy was helping a lady next to me, but started talking to me and basically started helping us at the same time. She was working on something and so he asked me, "So your computer won't turn on at all? And the power cord won't light up?" I said that's correct, and he pressed a few buttons and then said, "I just need to do a SMC reset, which is a system reset." He took my computer off to a back room, and brought it back like five minutes later (if that) and voila! It was back up and running! He explained that there was a small power surge in my USB port when I plugged my phone in and so it shut the whole thing down. Go figure.

Frankly, I didn't care a bit about the explanation because I was just so freaking happy my computer was back to normal. I felt pretty darn giddy. Like, I was so happy I kind of wanted to reach across the Genius Bar and plant a kiss on Sean's scruffy cheek.

I didn't, I do have some standards. ;)

But I wanted to.

Instead, I settled for telling every Apple store employee I saw that they just made my entire day. That seemed like a way less creepy option.

I'm baaaaack!

I actually got my computer back yesterday, but I was feeling super sick and ended up going to bed at 7:30.

Not even kidding.

I still didn't feel great today.  Luckily, French was cancelled, but I skipped Music and made it to State & Local and my meeting and concert tonight.

I can't believe it's already 11:00.  I'm going to bed now.  I've had a headache for 3 days now and have been feeling lightheaded and nauseous. 

But I can't miss class tomorrow, so I have to suck it up.

Over the next few days, I'll be going back and posting for all the days I missed.  I apologize if it blows up your dashboard, but I'm doing it for me. :)  This blog is kind of my journal/diary/whatever, so I don't want to break the streak.  Plus, I have some fun stuff to post that really SHOULD be remembered.

Love you guys.  Thanks for still caring about me.

Must. sleep.

(posted after the fact due to computer disaster)
Today was pretty lovely.  Aside from the fact that I feel like absolute crap.

I got permission from Faithe Beam yesterday to come to CUW today because Monday CUW is only for freshmen and The Vespers were playing again.  :)  Absolutely awesome, surprise surprise.  Then, after my 11:00 class, I went to the dining hall and had lunch with them before they left.  To be 100% honest, I missed them as soon as they pulled out.  They're that special. :)
Also really super incredibly totally fantastic??  I got my computer back!!!  And it's okay!!!!!!!!!!!  Aside from a few files being deleted that I could either reload or didn't really need, it's like this thing never even happened! I AM SO RELIEVED.
For the first time in a long time, I'm not staying awake for my weekly TV shows.  I think I'm just going to climb in bed here shortly.  I need my sleep.  And whatever is going on with my body is taking a toll.  So...peace out.

Thank you, Jesus!

For computer labs, and unattentive computer lab workers. :)

And for the fact that the computer service guy here at school said it just looks like a major virus got on my laptop and they should be able to clean it up! 

I'll have my computer back by Monday at the very latest! :) (And that's only because this weekend is Fall Break.)

Yay for good news!

Computer Jinx

Y'all know Holly got in a car wreck in April and totaled her car.  Then, this summer this new (to her) car started having a bunch of problems, and then, when she and her friend Austin came down to Campbell to help me move in, his car died in the parking lot and Mom had to drive them back to Raleigh.  Holly called herself a "car jinx."

Well, just call me a computer jinx.

Ugh.

So last night, my not-even-four-month-old computer crashed.

Okay, well I don't know if it really completely crashed, all I know is I can't use it right now.

I was reading an article about Sara on some website called The Christian Post when my virus scan popped up and said it had detected a threat.  I clicked "Clean Computer" and it did, but it popped up again a minute later, and when I clicked "Clean Computer" again my computer went completely ballistic, the recycle bin disappeared (which I didn't know it could ever do that), and this box popped up that says I have this ginormous long list of problems with my hard drive.  I have no idea what happened or how it happened.

I immediately called my mom sobbing.  She calmed me down a bit, but I basically had to take a Lorazepam to fall asleep because I was so shaken up that I got in bed at 9:30 and didn't fall asleep till 11:00.

I'm still internally freaking out.  I didn't do anything to this one!  I didn't drop it.  I didn't spill anything on it!  I've done nothing to it!  And I don't have any extra money in my CD money to buy another one, and my mom certainly has no money, and my grandma is so pissed about having to help Mom out that I know she has no money, and I need a laptop!  I have this gigantic Scope & Methods project, plus an English paper.

Ugh.  So yes, this all is basically for me to say that once again, I will not be around for a while.  Thankfully I'm going home this weekend for Fall Break, so please pray that the computer place in town can fix it!  Thank you. 

God is in control...God is in control...God is in control...

Sometimes technology annoys me.

I bought a bunch of blank DVDs last week so I could burn the TV shows I have in my iTunes library to them.  This way, if anything ever happens to this computer (*knock on wood*) I won't have to deal with losing all the shows I have and all the money I've spent on them won't go to waste. 

The idea seemed simple enough.  I mean, I know how to work iTunes, I know how to burn discs, I know how to burn discs in iTunes, so I should have no problem, right?
Wrong.  I got one disc complete (discs can only hold so much, so this has to be done on multiple DVDs), and now am on the fourth try of getting the second disc to work.  Apparently, if you accidentally hit the button to open the CD drive in the middle of a burn, it renders the entire disc forever useless. Forever.  That's lame.  And it happened TWICE, because I am a complete dork.  I have no idea what the heck happened the third time, but I really need this to work this time because a) I need to go to bed soon, and b) I only bought 15 discs!

On the other hand, my life is pretty freakin' awesome if this is my biggest problem tonight.  :)

I got up at 7:30 and did laundry, laundry, and more laundry.  And then some last minute picking up before the carpet guy arrived at 11:30.  He did an amazing job!  I just want it to hurry up and dry so I can get the house all organized again.  It should be dry tomorrow.

I'm gonna sleep good tonight.  Four and a half hours of sleep plus the crazy amount of work that Mom and I did today?  Oh yes, I'll sleep like a log. 

If only these dics would hurry up... :)

Discharge. The good kind.

HOORAY.

I went to see Dr. P today.  I NEVER have to go back! Another doctor that I'm free from!!! :D  That is, according to Dr. P, "unless I break my foot or something".  Which, I'm pretty sure I'll want to go back to him if I break my foot, so I'm glad we're on the same page.

Also, I finally got Microsoft Office for my new computer today.  We picked it up on the way back from Wilmington.  So nice to be able to write documents again.

Yeah.......that's all I got.  Things are still very nuts here, so pray for my sanity.  Merci beaucoup.

Typical

That was the word I used when describing the day to Matt. 

Typical.

As in, yes it was my birthday, but it was a very typical day in this house.  The state of our house often depends on what mood Chelsea decides to be in.  Well, today, she was all over the place, vacillating between angry (telling me it was her mission to make my day hell) and annoyingly perky (telling me every. single. thing. her boyfriend said to her and repeating stories I've heard ten times already), so it ended up being just like any other day.

I got woken up at 8:20 by a text from my friend/Holly's roommate Carmen.  I was planning on getting up at 9:00, but I couldn't get back to sleep.  We left for the beach at 10:00 and spent a little more than three hours there.  The afternoon was lazy - Blake napped, I played on the computer, Mom worked and picked up the dogs, and Chelsea cleaned.  I would've helped, but it should be illegal to do chores on your birthday. :)  We had dinner with Mommom, Uncle Kirk, Aunt Donna and Bri at a local restaurant and I had a really awesome steak.  Then I came back and just avoided Chelsea.  Matt stopped by at about 11:40 and we stood talking in the driveway for like 20 minutes.  Haha!  Best part of my day, for sure. 

Awesome surprise for the day?  An iTunes lady who was really really nice to me.  Here's what happened: Well, when my computer died, I thought I lost all of my iTunes library on it.  Well, Dr. Google led me to a site that told me how to import all my songs from my iPod onto my new computer.  However, my iPod doesn't hold TV shows, and I had bought a bunch of TV episodes that were in my library that I had no idea how I was going to get to. I emailed Customer Support and sent them all the order numbers as proof that I really had bought them.  Some help lady restored all the shows to my account and allowed me to download them for free!  She also showed me how to back up my library so this never happens again. (I'm technologically stupid. I had no idea you could do that.)  Plus she gave me an extra credit to my account and I got an extra episode.  It was AWESOME.  And a big relief that $36 wasn't wasted.

I have a migraine, so that's all for now.

Sony VAIO has stolen my heart.

My first two laptops were HP (this is my third).

Every laptop my mom has ever had was an HP.

We were happy, HP and I.  Comfortable.  We knew each other very well.  It was like coming home to an old friend.  So it'd be safe to assume I'd stick with what I know, right?

Wrong.

When your mom tells you to get either an HP or a  Sony VAIO and the one store you go to (and can go to) doesn't have any HP laptops, your choice is kind of set for you.

And let me tell you this: best advice my mama ever gave me!

Okay, maybe that's a tad exaggerated, but seriously, y'all: This Sony VAIO laptop is AMAZING.  Like chocolate cake amazing, except way more expensive.

Sony is so incredibly "with it" (Yes, I really just used that phrase.  Watch out, or I'll throw a "hip" at you, too.) that my laptop came downloaded with Skype.  I've never seen that before!  I am very impressed.

Needless to say, I may never buy another HP laptop ever again.  Here's hoping this one will last me longer than the first two, though, so I won't have to buy another one anytime soon!

Even better than this totally rad (Oh yes. I. did.) laptop, however is that my last year of being a teenager begins

TOMORROW!

Computer Issues

So, of course, nothing in my life can ever go the simple route.

I took my computer to the shop today, thinking all that was the problem was a broken power cord and some screwed up keyboard keys because of a spill.  That's something any computer repair shop can fix.

Well, turns out, the power cord wasn't broken.  There's a short on the circuit board which, long story short, renders my entire laptop useless.  Super, right?  Ha.

The freakin' awesome God-granted news, though?  I have this CD in my grandma's bank, that has money in it, some of which she gives me each semester for school.  She offered to take me to buy a new laptop tomorrow, and she'll pay for it, and just take the money out of my CD when she goes to get my money for the fall out.  Hallelujah, because I kinda need a laptop for school.  Also good is that my mom doesn't have to pay to have this computer fixed because she needs to stretch her money till the end of the month. 

So yay, new laptop, and yay Mommom! :)

Dear world,

Let it be known that my mom is awesome. And I love her.  She's paying to get my computer keyboard fixed instead of making me spend my birthday money on it.  Which she really shouldn't have to do, since it was my fault it got screwed up.  But hey, I'm not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth! :)

Let it also be known that I survived 54 hours alone with Chelsea and didn't smack her.  Put that down in the record books under Greatest Achievements. ;)

Wednesday is my birthday AND I get to go out to eat AND we're going to the beach.  I'd say that's a sweet day. :)

I think my computer has a virus.

And it's really annoying to use the on-screen keyboard, so I won't be around till I can get it fixed.

Just wanted to tell y'all so you didn't worry. :)

Yay for presents!

My grandmother is awesome. Seriously.

She bought me a very very very nice laptop and new printer (the printer my mom got me was faulty so we had no printer in the house) as my graduation present.

I am so EXCITED. I've spent the past like four hours downloading messenger and toolbars and microsoft and loading up the printer and just playing on it. I LOVE IT. It's going to be great to have at Campbell, especially since most of the classrooms have wireless hook-up and plugs for you to plug in your laptop in class, and I type wayyyy faster than I write so it'll be much easier to take notes. (And it has a real number key pad unlike most laptops, which means I can type in French accent codes when need be with ease.)

AND I got my bedding for my dorm room.

AND I got to go to Olive Garden.

Totally awesome day, I tell ya.



And I get to see Matt tomorrow. For the first time since December. :) But that's beside the point.