My MacBook Air has been sick for the past couple of days. Yesterday morning I attempted to open up the Safari browser so that I could do some work, as I do most mornings. I've had this laptop for over three years. It was a birthday present from my lovely Carol, so it means a lot to me that it's in good working order. It gets a far bit of work, used for surfing the net and writing this blog. (Before you ask, this is being written on Carol's MacBook Air. I had to really think what the password was before I could get into it, but after some serious thought, I soon got it up and running successfully.)
I really had to scratch my head attempting to solve what what was wrong. I hadn't downloaded anything that might have conflicted with the browser. I restarted the MacBook,but still nothing. I didn't have anyone around with whom I could ask, such as my stepson, Daniel, who knows virtually all there is to know about computers and computing. After all, he should know, considering he went to Newcastle University to study the subject. But, as he's not here, I can't ask him. Then I had a brainwave. I know that Macintosh computers are used at Shenley Christian Fellowship, and that Ross Dilnot, Pastor, uses a MacBook, so I texted him and he said that he didn't use Safari and suggested I download and use Chrome. Which is what I did. It took a while to set it up and got it working successfully.
But later in the day I tried to get into the MacBook to do other work and then found the whole thing had frozen. It just would not do what I wanted. I attempted to reboot the thing, but nothing. It wouldn't even close down. So, after some thought, it occured to me that I ought to take it into the Apple store in Midsummer Place in the shopping centre in Miton Keynes. I could always just go in and enquite, but I might not be able to see anyone who could fix it, and maybe not until a few day's time. I thought it perhaps better to ring and get a definite appointment. I had to look for the telephone number using the smaller MacBook which had belonged to Carol. I found the number of the Apple store and then rang. Then I had to listen to what was obviously a computerised voice. Very convincing, but it made me think of either Alexa or Siri, the computerised voice 'helpers' on my Kindle Fire and on my iPhone and MacBook. You have to speak very clearly and deliberately, otherwise 'she/it' can't understand. It took a while to get anywhere, but you also have to know more or less exactly what it is you want and use simplified sentence structures. As it happened, 'it/she' couldn't understand and I was transferred to a human. A young man with a definite American voice. He didn't seem to know where Milton Keynes was and how far I was from the Apple store. I got an appointment for Friday at 1.45, and then I asked where he was. It turned out he was actually in America! I assumed when you rang the telephone number, which was definitely a Milton Keynes number, but would never think I was actually speaking to someone in America. Just shows the crazy technological world we live in. It was such a clear line, another benefit of how the technology improves things.
Friday morning. I packed up the MacBook Air in my newly-aquired computer case, which came from Amazon. I have to say I'm rather pleased with it. It's always a bit of a risk when you buy something on line, that what you see in a photograph on a website, a product doesn't always come up to expectations, which means you end up having to return it. Not so with this case. I bought a holdall from Amazon when I needed to take stuff with me to the John Radcliffe a few months ago when I had to have the stent procedure done, and that has turned out to be a good buy as well as more or less exceeding expectations.
I digress. I parked the car in the carpark near The Point. The appointment at the Apple store was for 1.45, so I had ample time to walk into the shopping centre and waste about half an hour browsing. I headed for Watersone's, not actually such a good idea, because me and books are like a magnet, and I have to be careful I don't buy something which takes my fancy. I already have a considerable stash of reading material, so anything I buy will merely add to that. But, as it happened, I didn't see anything that I would buy. I have ordered an Ian McEwan novel which I want to read called 'Machines Like Us' which sounded to me as if it would be something I would like to read, so I have ordered it through Amazon.
From Watersone's I walked through to Midsummer Place and ended up at the Apple store and signed in. It seemed extremely busy in all of the shopping centre. I couldn't see why, considering it was a Friday and the schools would have returned on Tuesday.
I eventually got one of the staff to have a look at the MacBook and he managed to get it up and running successfully, but when I got home some while later, it went back to not opening correctly, so it looks as if I will have to return to the Apple store to try again to rectify the problem.
I really had to scratch my head attempting to solve what what was wrong. I hadn't downloaded anything that might have conflicted with the browser. I restarted the MacBook,but still nothing. I didn't have anyone around with whom I could ask, such as my stepson, Daniel, who knows virtually all there is to know about computers and computing. After all, he should know, considering he went to Newcastle University to study the subject. But, as he's not here, I can't ask him. Then I had a brainwave. I know that Macintosh computers are used at Shenley Christian Fellowship, and that Ross Dilnot, Pastor, uses a MacBook, so I texted him and he said that he didn't use Safari and suggested I download and use Chrome. Which is what I did. It took a while to set it up and got it working successfully.
But later in the day I tried to get into the MacBook to do other work and then found the whole thing had frozen. It just would not do what I wanted. I attempted to reboot the thing, but nothing. It wouldn't even close down. So, after some thought, it occured to me that I ought to take it into the Apple store in Midsummer Place in the shopping centre in Miton Keynes. I could always just go in and enquite, but I might not be able to see anyone who could fix it, and maybe not until a few day's time. I thought it perhaps better to ring and get a definite appointment. I had to look for the telephone number using the smaller MacBook which had belonged to Carol. I found the number of the Apple store and then rang. Then I had to listen to what was obviously a computerised voice. Very convincing, but it made me think of either Alexa or Siri, the computerised voice 'helpers' on my Kindle Fire and on my iPhone and MacBook. You have to speak very clearly and deliberately, otherwise 'she/it' can't understand. It took a while to get anywhere, but you also have to know more or less exactly what it is you want and use simplified sentence structures. As it happened, 'it/she' couldn't understand and I was transferred to a human. A young man with a definite American voice. He didn't seem to know where Milton Keynes was and how far I was from the Apple store. I got an appointment for Friday at 1.45, and then I asked where he was. It turned out he was actually in America! I assumed when you rang the telephone number, which was definitely a Milton Keynes number, but would never think I was actually speaking to someone in America. Just shows the crazy technological world we live in. It was such a clear line, another benefit of how the technology improves things.
Friday morning. I packed up the MacBook Air in my newly-aquired computer case, which came from Amazon. I have to say I'm rather pleased with it. It's always a bit of a risk when you buy something on line, that what you see in a photograph on a website, a product doesn't always come up to expectations, which means you end up having to return it. Not so with this case. I bought a holdall from Amazon when I needed to take stuff with me to the John Radcliffe a few months ago when I had to have the stent procedure done, and that has turned out to be a good buy as well as more or less exceeding expectations.
I digress. I parked the car in the carpark near The Point. The appointment at the Apple store was for 1.45, so I had ample time to walk into the shopping centre and waste about half an hour browsing. I headed for Watersone's, not actually such a good idea, because me and books are like a magnet, and I have to be careful I don't buy something which takes my fancy. I already have a considerable stash of reading material, so anything I buy will merely add to that. But, as it happened, I didn't see anything that I would buy. I have ordered an Ian McEwan novel which I want to read called 'Machines Like Us' which sounded to me as if it would be something I would like to read, so I have ordered it through Amazon.
From Watersone's I walked through to Midsummer Place and ended up at the Apple store and signed in. It seemed extremely busy in all of the shopping centre. I couldn't see why, considering it was a Friday and the schools would have returned on Tuesday.
I eventually got one of the staff to have a look at the MacBook and he managed to get it up and running successfully, but when I got home some while later, it went back to not opening correctly, so it looks as if I will have to return to the Apple store to try again to rectify the problem.
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