They Never Promised Me a Damn Rose Garden!

This past Thursday, my five-year-old computer died. I had been warned by some unusual behavior and, once about a week ago, it just kind of burped and shut down quite abruptly without so much as a by-your-leave.

For some time, my wife and daughter have been suggesting that when this day came, I should consider switching from my PC to a Mac.  And so, the next day I drove into town to the MacNet store to look at the i-Macs.

I ended up with something the Apple folks call a “Mac mini”, just over seven inches square and a couple of inched high. Imagine! And I cleverly avoided having to buy one of the pricey i-Macs by deciding to use my old monitor – actually, just a month old – and my old keyboard and mouse. 

Early into the set-up, I discovered that my external speakers didn’t work and the not-quite-as-smart-as-first-thought Mac mini couldn’t find my printer. I soon found myself on the phone talking at considerable length with a succession of young-sounding people at Apple Care’s 800 number.  All were bright, cheerful and went overboard to be reassuring. Then Kathleen, I think her name was, determined that I’ll need to buy a new printer because mine is “incompatible” with the Mac mini.

I figure by this time next week, I’ll be at break-even. It’s a damn good thing all those phone calls are free.