1.2 GHz G4 Powerbook, my mainstay for mobility and the core machine of an array of three other machines dies today. ignominious, blanked gray screen demanding a restart that will not take place. stupidly take it in to the local authorized (and monopoly) Mac repair place, Argosy West, run by Gary Beverly, one of the most arrogant and disagreeable persons that I’ve had the misfortune to run across. seldom anything but a condescending comment. last I’ll see of it for more than three weeks and $1.5K later.
hadn’t made a primary backup since before leaving for California three weeks ago. whups. so the data on the drive along with the drives integrity suddenly leaps to the foreground. older data is backed-up with triple redundancy. after the two historical drive crashes (1996 and 1999), aside from having alternative off-site storage for a third rotating backup, I am religious about regular backups. period.
the month starts. hottest temps, dry. and a fire on the southern horizon that occasionally resembles a volcanic eruption. it’s threatening to become the largest in Arizona history. no danger here, but as always, people start to get nervous with dry grass and tinder all around the area. just takes a cretinous smoker or off-roader driving without a spark-arresting muffler. instant conflagration. the party weekend looms.