Sure enough, they didn't call me by the end of the business day, so I called them. They found one of the screws wasn't set right, and it's a known problem from the factory, so they ordered a new bottom case from Apple. Estimated shipment is tomorrow, so I guess we'll see. Maybe I'll have a new MacBook from them in parts. *sigh*

Some things never change. As I've said earlier, I absolutely love my MacBook. It is also the worst Apple product I have ever owned. The display bezel bends in and makes a snappy sound when you press on it. It smudges everywhere. Little things don't work quite how you expect. The software is still a little finicky due to the Intel transition. And the damn thing keeps breaking.

My MacBook, over the past week or two, has started to randomly shut off. Not a graceful shutdown, nothing to warn you of its impending demise, all temperatures normal, just shut the hell off. Screen goes blank, I hit the power button, machine turns on again. Most of the time. After looking around Google and the Apple Support stuff, it seems that a few people have run into the same thing. I did everything I could think of. Ye Olde Mac Standarde PRAM-reset, did a full PMU reset, reinserted the battery, reinserted RAM, and nothing. 2-5 times a day, in the middle of work, in the middle of a CD burn, in the middle of idling next to me while I used a desktop machine, black screen. I save early and often just because of the number of times I've lost power while working on something SuperImportant™, but you can't catch everything. After losing a particularly nice piece of code, in my humble opinion, I made the decision that I had to take it in.

Back in the old days, before the shiny Apple Stores and when we had to slum it with mail order and CompUSA, you could call Apple Support, and they'd send you a box to send your laptop in. Not the case anymore, they tell you to go see a Genius, and they'll set you up for repair. I roll into the Bellevue Square Apple Store around 8:55pm on Friday (35 minutes before closing), and just like the last time I went to an Apple Store, they said that no geniuses were available at this time. We moseyed up to the bar anyway, and waited for some lovin'. Someone was nice enough to help us take a look, and after he futzed with his computer for a while, he told me that my MacBook was eligible for 'capture', as my serial number matched the range on his machine. Capture is different than a repair -- usually, this means that Apple knows of an issue, but doesn't know why the issue is happening, so they want to take your laptop and stare at it for a while. This likely means that I'm getting a new MacBook, and all the BS that entails: OS reconfigure, restore home directory from backup, whine a lot.

In short, I have a link to track my repair status now. It's still waiting to arrive at the repair depot. The guy said it could be a week or a week and a half. I hope I get it back in time for my trip to Minnesota for our big wedding reception.

Sometimes, I'm tempted to get a PC laptop and stick Ubuntu on it.

I get over it, though.