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...time for reviews this week.



Ugh.

....thank goodness for Guinness. That is about all I can say after today...

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RedQueen
22:32 May 26 2010

heeheehee....



One of the managers handed me about 4 cans of Guinness that was, and I quote "out of date". I.E. it had a past due expiration on the bottom, and he was either going to give it away or pour it out.



I took it home, and from one can I made a Guinness chocolate cake, complete with Guinness chocolate frosting. I also took said cake back to work, to explain that wine wasn't the only thing the kitchen could use to cook with if it was past it's servable date......



I also made 3 loaves of bread from the "expired" Kilkenny...lol



I love being southern....

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birra
17:21 May 27 2010

I love cooking with such ingredients. It's make cooking, and baking, more interesting. :)

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The side effects of cleaning my office:



Pro: I cleaned out my old travel bag - found about five pounds of loose change, two drink vouchers for United Airlines and two gift cards to Olive Garden...



Con: discovered an unused America West travel voucher that expired in November 2008.



Pro: Dusted, vacuumed and even the air feels cleaner



Con: Disturbed spiders living in the baseboard heaters - had to relocate spiders to new homes for two hours last night



Pro: Everything looks more tidy



Con: Without the clutter, now my walls seem bare. I know that sounds strange. I have to hang pictures....

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Vampirewitch39
17:34 May 24 2010

Maybe print out some of your own work to hang?? :)

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birra
19:15 May 24 2010

That is the plan. :)

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eMetiB226
20:38 May 24 2010

well that's good.....at least you're not talking crayons and markers... :)



now you just have to wait on the spider babies!

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birra
20:40 May 24 2010

I think the babies are already all grown up.

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I've been working on it quite a bit today - the time outs for the kids and a game of kickball not withstanding... and I can now say...



...my office, is clean!

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faeriemoon
07:12 May 24 2010

I don't believe it. Take a picture! :p

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birra
16:56 May 24 2010

It's kind of like taking a picture of the moon on the horizon... your eyes might see it as being really big, but the camera will see it for what it is....

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...someone in their product licensing and accounts division doesn't know how to spell "Niagara."

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ThothLestat
18:33 May 19 2010

*facepalm*

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birra
18:44 May 19 2010

Yep. They spelled it Niagra. One "a" just cost two technicians 5 hours of time.



That's about $500 per letter...

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placidchaos
15:03 May 20 2010

Let me guess, they spelled it "Niagra"?

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placidchaos
15:04 May 20 2010

Woops, I really should read the comments in existence before making one of my own...

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birra
17:48 May 20 2010

You are correct.. on both counts, but we won't hold it against you!

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...a customer purcahsed this integrated video detection system for one of his fleet vehicles. Came with a laptop, camera/sensors, comm pack, everything...



...when he got it he told the company he was going to have his IT guys (us) take care of it. The sales rep scoffed and said he doesn't need a tech for it - it's PRACTICALLY plug & play - he can have it up and running in 30 minutes.



In theory...



...a week later, we're still working on this. I've spent over 3 hours on the phone with Dell and Verizon trying to get the mobile broadband working. We finally concluded the card was bad, which I could have told them, but I needed to speak to everyone in Calcutta just to verify it. It took 4 days to RMA the laptop.



Now the new laptop is installed and they can't figure out why their software license won't activate or authenticate on their network...



Oh yeah.. plug and play alright.... if this customer had been trying to do this on his own, the laptop would have become a frisbee already.

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Bones
04:42 May 19 2010

What exactly is an 'integrated video detection system' used for? Just curious.

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birra
04:59 May 19 2010

Spy stuff...



...heh. No, scanning license plates on cars while in traffic.

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I was just referencing this story as an example of what Morri was talking about in her journal entry about laptops.



They're not all built the same.



For example - I had a Toshiba Satellite Pro when I started my contract that had me travelling. This was (is) Toshiba's top end, professional line of laptops. In the first month of the contract, a TSA agent fumbled it onto a counter top and the closing latch broke. I soon after had to replace the hard drive in it - granted it was a couple years old already at that point, but it didn't stand up to the travel very well.



I replaced it with an Acer - needing something quick, and since we're an Acer partner (and they were eager to have us pushing their new lines) their product rep gave me a great deal on an evaluation unit. It didn't even last a year. Within a month the LCD had imprints of the keys on it from being squished under airplane seats, the case was develping some cracks, the A/C adapter failed and I had to replace the hard drive.



Twice.



The violence of travel.



I replaced it with a Lenovo ThinkPad T61 in the Spring of 2007. I'm still using it today. It travelled with me for almost two years without a hitch. I replaced the hard drive once, but only because I wanted an upgraded drive with more storage for Wireless Assessment reports & data. (I went from a 120GB to a 160GB).



One morning, bleary eyed at the Charlotte airport, I took my laptop out of my backpack at the Avis counter to check my Avis confirmation in my email. I put it back in the backpack and forgot to zipper it in. I slung my pack to my shoulder and my ThinkPad went flying out, landing hard on the concrete floor. My heart was in my throat. The impact caused it to turn off completely (from standby mode) and I feared the worst.



As I sat on the shuttle to the airport, I re-seated the battery, hit the power button and it fired up as if nothing happened.



That my friends is what a laptop should be able to do.



Yes, this post is a ringing endorsement and a blatant plug for what I have found to be the best business-class laptop going.



And their waranties are very affordable too. Even more cost-effective than BigBox's "Black-Tie warranty." Let's face it - even at home, accidents happen. We've replaced many customer laptops that crashed to a kitchen floor after someone tripped over the A/C cord or someone spilled a drink on it.



Think about your investment and how long you would like it to last. My ThinkPad is what I'm writing this on. Still going stong and performing as good as the day I unboxed it.



Well, actually as good as the day after I unboxed it, when I removed Vista and put XP Pro on it. :)

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MysticalChild
18:17 May 10 2010

That will definitely influence my decision in the future because I have a tendency to drop laptops.

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RedQueen
01:53 May 11 2010

In my opinion, ALL laptops should be built as if they were all going to go through that kind of punishment- that way they would always be ready no matter what you throw at them. But cheap is as cheap does, and as my momma always said, you get what you pay for.

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faeriemoon
07:48 May 11 2010

My Lenovo R61 has traveled across the country with me and back., a few times. It's been through the punishment of nursing school and being squished in a bag between text books which would break a camels back. It' gone crashing to the floor and doesn't skip a beat. Including last night. I didn't even panic. I picked it up and it hadn't even shut off. It's still going strong 3 years after unpacking it.

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Bones
04:48 May 19 2010

Here's a question for you. What if, while hiking and crossing a creek, it (the laptop) accidentally takes a plunge and gets wet? Or, while traveling in a waterproof case it absorbs too much condensation from it's surroundings or from humidity in the environment? I doubt a warranty would cover it's replacement, would it?

Just curious... ;)

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birra
05:00 May 19 2010

I would have to look into it, but if it has accidental damage coverage, it should be covered.



Need an answer quick?

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Bones
05:11 May 19 2010

If you're not too busy, sure. I can always order one within the coming week. I have about a week to get some stuff done when I get to my destination, before I set out.

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