Okay, so I can’t be mad at the Toshiba helpline gentleman - it was under international warrenty warranty (thank you previous computer owner - for both the added info and the spellcheckin’), so he would not have necessarily been looking at a page with blinking lights saying "AMERICAN COMPUTER…AMERICAN COMPUTER".

Good customer service all around!

Those who know me are well aware of the fact that though I may *seem* to know what I’m doing when I’m on this little silver and black machine, at the very core, I’m useless. When everything’s going well, I can impress people with how fast I type and a bunch of quirky interesting sites that only true geeks would know about…or so they think.

But then something goes wrong.

And my world falls apart and I feel like I’ve lost a limb. That sounds so horrible that I’m that dependent on this technology but it’s where I do my work, where my school work is stored and how I spend a good chunk of my free time. So…when my "in house" tech support (aka - the marvelous and kind tech-guru Adam) can’t solve it, I feel utterly helpless.

I checked the Toshiba site first, to see if they could direct me to a place to get this thing fixed. But that rant has already been documented. So, my computer made it’s way to their recommended service center two days ago. Feeling confident and self assured in my independence and wily skills at getting things done, I waited patiently for their call yesterday. Nothin. So, this morning I waited patiently still. Ah hah! 10am rolls around and a young man’s voice is on the other line.

"I’m sorry to tell you, but we can’t do anything because this is an American model and we only service Canadian Toshibas."

I’m sorry…WHAT?

Yes, that’s right, this *is* an important piece of information that was missed not once, but twice. Once by the lady at their reception (who was very nice, but obviously new and probably thinking the same thing as me "what the heck difference does it make??") and once by the man on the Toshiba helpline. I have less understanding for him. He pulled up my warrenty warranty information. He is on the helpline. But, again…not to hold a grudge, I’d let bygones be bygones. As long as they weren’t going to make me pay that $50 consult fee (two days to tell me you can’t do anything - I don’t think so).

I prepared myself ALL morning. I’m pretty laidback and I don’t really like to fight, especially with strangers who have my computer in the back. But this was one of those things where I knew I’d have to stand up and not budge. Well…turns out I didn’t have to. The manager was very nice and very apologetic. Not even a mention of the standard fee, and only a request to get the reference number to her for the phone call I had with Toshiba. W-H-E-W!!

The new place was actually only 5 units down. So, I walked my poor broken machine over there. In less than fifteen minutes I was out the door with a new power cord and sense of loyalty towards this young man who fixed my laptop up in no time. Turns out my big fears about motherboard issues and ridiculously unbelievable costs didn’t happen either. The powercord was busted, and the computer is dirty on the inside (big surprise, my cats looove to lay by it because it’s warm). Less than $100 to fix and I was on my way.

So, there are a lot of horror stories out there about greedy, terrible computer technicians who take advantage of the fact that us no-nothings are illiterate and don’t know the difference. I’m really pleased (and RELIEVED!) that my story is different and my computer/wallet are okay.

So, yesterday was a big day in the worlds of these two companies. Their strategic alliance, which soured a few years ago has done a complete turnaround - Pixar is now a part of the Disney (you can read more about this rollercoaster history here) More than what the stocks do, more than what the box office does, I will be interested to see what happens within the next five to ten years now that there is no new bar to try and exceed; the bar has been reigned in by the previous holder of the standard.

It’s encouraging that Lasseter will still be in charge, at least on paper. I just truly hope that politics and traditional mindset does not cause the originality and creativity which oozed off the screen while a Pixar film was shown to be lost. Because of the past. Because of what "Disney" stands for. I know, I know - this didn’t happen before, so why should it happen now…well, because Disney had nothing to do with the writing/producing/editing parts of Toy Story, The Incredibles and Monsters Inc. Now they do.

All I have to say is if Pocahontas II: Back to Civilization is released using computer animation, I will consider that a sure sign that all is lost.

First - apparently Typepad doesn’t keep drafts if you flick away from the posting page…well, not apparently, it just plain isn’t so. DOH!

Okay, so for the second time around, I would like to make a few comments on the dinner discussion that took place this past evening (bear with me if there are typos - I’m typin’ fast before the memory of what I had written seeps out of my head!). Court and I had been previously advised to keep the creative separate from the technical at least for the time being. But like lots of other interesting (and certainly very valuable in other contexts) nuggets of advice, we decided that since we know our ‘dev team’ (or rather dev and pm/dev) already why not just meet up and discuss?

So, Court, Adam, Slava and I headed to Williams for the second organized pow-wow regarding our business venture. We chatted, caught up and had a great time (I think it always helps to maintain an amiable mood by including a wee dog wearing a sweater in on the fun). When we got to talking about Globetrotrz, I was amazed at two things:

1) Court and I were able to bounce the ball back and forth quite well for only having been discussing this for a couple of weeks. The elevator pitch is on the tip of our tongues - with a little more finesse, we will be able to put together in two sentences what right now is about a five minute collaborative affair. We are also very much on the same page, which is a comforting place to be when you are trying to partner up with someone - but at the same time, we’re not afraid to challenge each other and question what the other is saying. (Of course now that I say this, I suppose I’m asking for a big blowout over whether or not to use the color "pink" anywhere in the UI).

2) Adam and Slava were incredibly helpful and worked through the vision extremely quickly. Not only did they understand where we were coming from, *already* they provided us with more of an idea for how to outline an appropriate foundation. Since neither Court or I have ever done this before, it was nice to be able to say "What do you need from us, to be able to do what you need to do?" and get some real answers - to which we will be responding in kind by Sunday at the latest. Both of them are not only easy to talk to, but they are admirably committed to ‘doing this right’. They have decided mutually that coding this website from scratch is the best thing to do - I’m both amazed and incredibly greatful.

Unlike the last meeting, I did not take notes because this was more about everyone getting into the same room, having a good time, and if it felt right talking ‘a li’l shop’. There was no pressure, no deadlines, no requirements - just free thinking and a relaying of ideas which helped to build other ideas and eventually led to a couple of very important conclusions. In the end, I think we walked away with some goals (get feature requirements by the weekend) and a sense of confidence that we’re on the same page and working in the same direction.

Oh look, Adam’s already added to our basecamp account with more ideas and things to think about. Must go…I have a lot to think about!

Highlight of the evening - it’s a tie between the fact that Court wasn’t carrying a lunch box, and the decision to code from scratch. Very amusing and exciting, respectively.

Lowpoint of the evening - noticing how gunky the cup was from Adam’s espresso…eewwww

 

I’ve felt peer pressured into "modifying" my photo albums…though I’m sure those doing the pressuring already had some photos saved to their desktop as future incriminating evidence.

In honor of you…le sigh.

;^)