"Upside Down" Saga Continues...

Hey, I now know what the symbol looks like. Not what I would have called it. Think of a V with three upwardly arcing lines horizontally running through it. Of course, I have no idea what "we" wanted it for all those days ago. Something about setting up Wi-Fi, I remember that part, but where that was to have taken and us to do which... still no clue.

Sunday dawned, if you recall, with me having Wi-Fi, mail only via my search engine and read-and/or-delete only. So-o-o-o-o not user friendly. So I popped the laptop in its Apple Logo bag, no longer plastic but now ecologically friendly paper. I get their point on the green thing. I still have years old Apple bags hanging around. Of course the new paper bag ripped halfway down its side the second it came in contact with the seat of the car so I could take it back to the store. (Well, nevermind the rip: I keep duct tape in the car. Fix it later.)

No,  I was not planning to return the laptop, tempting as the thought was at times. I was going to take Apple up on their oft-repeated offer for me to come back to the store with it, so long as I was willing to wait in line, and get their attention and help with whatever problem I was having setting it up.

Sunday afternoon is so not the time to do that! Not only was handicap parking full, but so was the rest of the center's parking lot. Topping off my irritation after driving around for ten minutes was my increasing need for a bathroom and increasing unwillingness to hike a mile before even hunting for one's location.

Exit, homeward. Still pissed off. More so. If that was actually possible.

I decided to hit the search engine, do some "normal" stuff. No problems with that functioning, at least, but I noticed my list of bookmarks had become unwieldy in its length. I tried everything I could think of to move and delete, aka organize, my list. Nothing that used to work on my old laptop worked. Mind you, the software had gotten regular updates until the capacity just couldn't handle any more, but it couldn't be that out of date, could it? Looked the same. Worked the same. Except for that. Though now that I think about it, probably in other ways I haven't needed to find out about yet.

Put that on the ask-in-store list too.

Plus once I got my email window up and running, I needed to find out how to add new folders for sorting out contents. You know, pictures from my brother (professional grade) versus family pictures vs. documents and info, vs. whatever.

Shouldn't take too long, eh?

This morning I tried again. New plastic bag this time. Opaque and with a hospital logo so it wouldn't look worth stealing while I walked in. Their paper one is wadded up in some landfill by now.  Steve decided he wanted to come too, despite the hike. (He's paying for it now, maybe tomorrow too.) Great close parking this time, maybe an indication of good things to come.

However...

You knew there was one of those coming, didn't you?

When I walked into the store and explained my needs, they suggested I needed to take a class? Call in for an appointment at the "Genius Bar"? Sign up for a phone call? I firmly reminded them I had been repeatedly told while shopping that I could bring it in any time and wait for help, and meanwhile where would they like me to sit while I waited?

Maybe they'll take that offer out of the salesmen's patter, but they finally folded. It was only a couple minutes before a guy came over to, uh, help. First was the need to hook up my  regular email to my email server. That request came, of course, with a recitation of what had been tried so far over several phone calls and hours. He conferred with another employee, took my laptop, deleted the old email software, and set up a new email window which actually connected!!!!!

Hooray!

Well, except... the only email messages in the window were the three I hadn't read yet from today.

Oops.

Where were the other thousand or so? Not just stuff left in the inbox because either they still needed attention or that was my only archive of them, but also the stuff from my "sent" box that I keep sometimes as a record of what I communicated when and with whom?

Well, this is what backups are for. But I had questions first. The email company had changed my password to access them. Would a backup change it back to the old one or just input the saved messages? Nobody knew. And if it did change the password, how would I change it back? I changed it in 3 places on my software during an earlier phone consultation and I had no clue how to get there, there, and there.

They decided my best bet at that point would be to take my computer back home, after arranging with the store for me to be called by one of their Geniuses in a couple hours. It was plenty of time to get home and plug in my phone to ensure I had plenty of battery reserve for a possibly long call. Plus, they very strongly suggested I should ask my other questions to the person on the phone.

Hey, if I'm not spending any more money with them, they were done with me.

I'm going to remember that, Apple. I'm also going to remember that while I got both a text and an email reminding me of my appointment shortly upcoming, nobody called. I didn't want to miss them, or inconvenience then by making them wait while I booted up and all that again, so I sat there with my laptop and cell, waiting. It was past lunchtime, but I could eat a little late, right? (FYI 4:00 PM)

After more than two hoursI I gave up on them.  I could have used that time in so many ways. I have a list of calls I wanted to make, chores around the house.And I was getting more pissed off by the minute. Not frustrated. Not impatient. Not annoyed. Royally pissed off!

Yes, Apple, I'm going to remember that too. Very clearly. Ver-r-r-r-r-r-y.

Despite my previous experiences trying to call into their voicemail system, I thought I'd give it a shot. You are answered by a machine that has questions for you. You never get to a real person without their version of the right answers. Silly me, to have forgotten that so quickly.  Frustration will do that to you, I guess. Make you even stupider than you were to start with, I mean.

Fine. Bypass time.

I tried this earlier, but my Web Guru was out of the country and not excited about paying international cell rates. I thought I remembered he would be back today. Turns out I caught him just as he was arriving home from the plane. Not only that, he was willing to help me right then, as long as I could wait for him to get up to the second floor and turn his computer on.

He hooked up his computer to mine, gave simple instructions, answered my questions about how the backup would really work and how to not only carry through the input, but after checking that it worked properly talked me through my immediate new backup. Remember, the instructions merely say to plug it in to a USB port. While that was progressing, all the other questions I could think of he was able to answer. Again, simply and clearly. A thousand thank yous to you, Ben. Just one more in a long list of reasons I'm happy you married my daughter.

That knot of fury has dissipated.

I almost think I might like this new computer.

Though with my luck....