Re: Well, this was not a good night (update)

Re: Well, this was not a good night

Similar thing happened to me years ago at my old paper.
I traveled everywhere with my bag and it always had my laptop in it. But I kept my notebooks, etc. in there, too. I went to a school about an hour away for a feature story and got back to the office and realized I left that flipping bag in the gym. I didn't have time to go back and get it, so I called the school's basketball coach and begged him to run and get it for me and bring it to their game I was covering the next day. He said, "Oh, it will be fine. I'll grab it when I go in tomorrow morning." This man lived five minutes from the school.
At the basketball game the next day I went to the game and went up to the coach and he told me he couldn't find it. He said the janitor told him someone ripped it apart and threw it away (as in, the janitor stole it). No reason to tear up a computer that wasn't even a month old.
My insurance covered it being stolen, so I was able to get a new one, but talk about a major inconvenience.

Oh, the janitor's name? John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

 

Re: Well, this was not a good night

Am not surprised with the Barons, JD; but you have my sincere regrets in having to deal with the Barons...

 

Re: Well, this was not a good night

Apparently I have a killer Dell warranty. The kid who broke the computer pointed this out when he studied the copy of the sales receipt I gave his boss. It covers all kinds of accidents, including "Birmingham Barons crew knocks it off the counter in the press box after the game." Everything but act of God.

On the horn with Dell in the morning, I walked the tech person through it all again, and he said he's sending me a new hard drive. He said he thinks that's the problem. So, I won't be able to get my data off this one, right?

Not only is that part of it a money issue, but it's a time issue. My hearing is Tuesday morning. I pretty much have to start rebuilding my case tonight when I'm finished covering the tournament. I also have a six-hour drive home. I also have the rough draft of the feature that's due this week. By the time someone would try to get the data off my hard drive, I'd be screwed. And if it's the hard drive, there's no point putting it in another case, right?

Too much to do, and not enough time to do it. Plus, nobody's putting a new computer in my hands so I can cover the regional, so I lose that income, most likely, unless in a short week (tomorrow's a holiday) Dell can get that hard drive to me before Friday. It's all wearing on me. I don't even want to think about the hours I spent on that feature and on my unemployment hearing.

If there is a rain delay today, I am going to scream.

 

Re: Well, this was not a good night

JD, it's moments like this when you have to envision a somber John Blutarsky in the garage:

"My advice is to start drinking. Heavily."

Well, when you can.

 

Re: Well, this was not a good night

Already on my third plastic cupful of Dr Pepper today.

 

Re: Well, this was not a good night

I wouldn't wish this on an enemy, JD, let alone you. I hope you get every last red cent back.

 

Re: Well, this was not a good night

JD, that's awful news, but the one good thing is those Dell warranties usually will come through for you in a timely manner. Good luck with everything.

 

Re: Well, this was not a good night

JD, if there's any justice in the world, the kid who broke the laptop will get locked in the bathroom in the outfield auxilary press box, like our boy from Ole Miss did four or five years ago.

Seein' the Hoover Fire Dept. break out the axes was epic ...

 

Re: Well, this was not a good night

I still think slappy was responsible.

 

Re: Well, this was not a good night

I, too, have had good luck with Dell warranty service.
Just remember, JD, you're a newsman, you'll get it done and you'll make deadline.

 

Re: Well, this was not a good night

JD,

Can you ask the court for a delay on your hearing? Courts grant continuances for all kinds of reasons.

 

Re: Well, this was not a good night

Armchair_QB is right. I was originally supposed to have a telephone hearing for my unemployment appeal in February until I wrote the state and requested an in-person hearing. It got pushed back to March. Then, my employers requested a postponement because one of them had medical problems. That pushed it further back to May.

And, if you can get a postponement, I'd suggest looking to see if your state has any kind of free legal help. My father pointed me to a program in Maryland called the Legal Aid Bureau. It provided me with an attorney free of charge. Believe me, having her by my side both figuratively and literally made a HUGE difference.