Bleh. Let me start off by saying that I’m not looking forward to going into the Apple Store later today. I’m not going because I WANT to, mind you. For a few weeks now my Microsoft USB notebook mouse had been giving me issues, and I had resolved to pick up a Logitech cordless laser notebook mouse to replace it. Well, yesterday I found out the mouse wasn’t the problem. I had intended on installing some software onto a coworker’s laptop so he could use his Bluetooth mouse, and the quickest way for me to do it would have been to copy the software onto the USB Flash drive I keep on my keychain and use that to install. Unfortunately, when I inserted the USB drive, the Powerbook wouldn’t indicate it had mounted it. A quick check of the system logs revealed the truth: a hardware failure was being reported on the USB controller. So, I’ll need to take the Powerbook in to have them service it. I’ll be without the Powerbook for a couple of weeks while they fix it; in the meantime, I’ll have to use one of the spare laptops at the office as my work machine. On the other hand, I’m glad this problem didn’t pop up during E3, as my Powerbook was one of the prime media import/render machines.
I was home late almost every day this week. I was supposed to have dinner with my boss and another IT coworker (who was in town from Houma for training classes) on Tuesday evening; unbeknownst to me and Brent, Adam (the boss) had taken some Tylenol PM in response to some headaches and it ended up knocking him out until 10:30 PM. So, Brent and I, along with Anderson (who had been invited to join us), waited in a sportsbar in the Galleria for him, until such time as we gave up and ended up hitting a club. On Wednesday evening, Adam, Brent, and I ended up eating at the Cheesecake Factory in the Galleria for dinner. Thursday night, the three of us hit Houston’s at US 59 and Kirby for dinner. Houston’s is like the anti-Cheesecake Factory in that while Cheesecake Factory’s menu is like a novel, Houston’s fits on one side of a single page menu that’s about the size of a legal sheet of paper. Still, the food is quite good; their rack of pork ribs is among the best I’ve ever had. Then, last night, I met Louie for drinks after work. I had hoped to get some sleep last night to make up for it, but wouldn’t you know it, I woke up early and couldn’t get back to sleep…
As for today, I’m working on getting my music library and a few data files on the Powerbook synched back to the main PC (just in case Apple decides they want to wipe the hard drive on the machine while they work), and then sometime this afternoon I’ll go up to the Woodlands Mall to take it in to the Apple Store for service. After that, I’ll need to hit J.C. Penney to get some new jeans (I ripped mine yesterday, and then I’m taking Mom to Cheesecake Factory for her late Mother’s Day dinner. I also had to re-rip a couple of CDs to my iTunes this morning (specifically, Relics of the Chozo and Led Zeppelin’s Early Days: The Best of Led Zeppelin Vol. 1) because something about the encoding didn’t allow the whole files to be copied over to the iPod. Supposedly (from Adam’s experience) ripping them using iTunes 6 fixes the issue. We’ll see, though.
As for now, though, I’m going to go refill my coffee mug and continue working on these data transfers. Fun fun…