friday, 18 june 2004: massive windstorms in the lower mainland knock out power from the fraser valley all the way up to downtown vancouver.

probably as a result, the backlighting on nori's laptop screen ceases to function properly.

nori calls toshiba's call centre. man who can't speak english tries to convince nori that the laptop was purchased in america and that she would have to have it repaired in the states. the man does not understand that alberta and british columbia are in canada. nori tries explaining the problem to the man. the man does not grasp the hardware failure and tries to get nori to adjust the screen settings on her computer to no avail. nori finally asks where she can take the computer to have it repaired, and the man lists off three addresses, compusmart in downtown vancouver being one such toshiba-affiliated service shops.

saturday, 19 june 2004: nori calls compusmart. punk on the other end of the line is patronizing and rude. tells nori to bring the machine in and that parts and repairs will take four working days. nori must wait for realtor to deliver documents and cannot leave the house. asks punk for the store's hours.

sunday, 20 june 2004: compusmart is closed. nori discovers that if she shines a bright lamp on the screen, she can still sort of work on the computer. she works, squinting.

monday, 21 june 2004: nori drops off laptop at compusmart and tells dude at the counter her contact information. she pays a $45 deposit. dude at the counter says 'when the problem is diagnosed, someone will call you. this will take two days.'

'if you need to order parts, can i reclaim the computer and work on my thesis while we wait for the parts to come in?'

'sure. sign this waiver that says if anything else goes wrong with your computer, we aren't responsible.'

...

tuesday, 22 june 2004: nori looks at the work order form and discovers that her phone number was mistyped. nori calls compusmart and has them fix the error. nori verifies that nobody had attempted to call the wrong number.

wednesday, 23 june 2004: compusmart does not call.

thursday, 24 june 2004: nori calls compusmart in the morning. dude says 'someone will look at it today and a technician will call you this afternoon with a diagnosis of the problem.'

'this afternoon?'

'yes. this afternoon.'

thursday afternoon arrives. nobody calls. 20 minutes prior to closing, nori calls compusmart. 'what's up with my computer? i was told i'd be called this afternoon.'

'let me check. oh. yeah. they haven't had a chance to look at it yet, but it's next on the list (nori rolls her eyes). they'll call you tomorrow with a diagnosis.'

'you have any idea when?'

'you could try calling at about 11.'

*YAAAAAAAAARRRGH!*

nori heads to campus, a 25-minute bus ride, for the sole purpose of checking her e-mail and venting on this blog.

...

if it's going to take 5 days to make a fucking diagnosis, tell me it's going to take 5 days. don't say 'someone'll call you in 2 days,' have nobody call me, then tell me someone'll call me in the afternoon when i finally have to call, then NOT CALL! i understand if something's taking longer than expected to fix, but they should have phoned me and said 'hey, it's gonna take another couple of days' instead of having me stay at home waiting for a call that ultimately never comes!

this tale of frustration continues tomorrow.