originally posted july 19, 2004
gimme shelter
My laptop technical difficulties are over. Time to return to another subject on my mind: where to live a year from now.
here's to you, carly
On July 2, after my last disastrous experience with HP's "Customer Care," I was resigned to believe it was hopeless. My poor broken laptop would sit forever in my desk drawer, and HP would never pick it up. Imagine my surprise when the next business day, I get a call from HP's executive offices in California.
Someone had read my letter to HP CEO Carly Fiorina. The man I spoke with was very apologetic about the experience I had, and assured me that this is not the way that HP does business. He put me in touch with Darren, a case manager who reviewed my laptop's colorful case history. Darren eventually decided not to repair the laptop as originally requested, but rather to replace it. The replacement arrived about a week later: a Compaq Presario x1000.
| The Old | The New | |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Pentium III/M 1.0 GHz | Pentium M 1.5 GHz |
| Hard drive | 20 GB | 80 GB |
| Graphics | 14.1", 1024x768, Mobility Radeon | 15.4" widescreen, 1920x1200, Mobility Radeon 9200 |
| Wireless | Wireless card | Built-in 802.11b |
Overall, I'm very happy with the way HP handled everything once they got my letter. I only hope that HP learns to respect the customer just a little more after this whole experience.
Although the x1000 isn't my workaday laptop (it's actually too wide to fit in my laptop bag, for example) it's quite a powerful beast. I can run Unreal Tournament 2004 on it without much fuss, and the built-in wireless capability is a nice plus. I tried to offer it to my family, since I already have a perfectly good laptop of my own, but nobody would take it. I don't blame them, since they seem a bit squeamish about calling HP support after all the stories I've told.
where to live?
i'm still living in the Brake House Lofts, a converted factory which opened in the summer of 2002. There's a sign advertising my building that obscures one of my windows. After I moved in last January, my landlord assured me that she'd remove the sign once all the units were leased. Until that point, I'd get free DSL to compensate for my blocked window. Eighteen months and $720 of free DSL later, there are two units available for lease. There's been an awful lot of churn in the Brake House. I feel like I'm one of very few tenants who actually renewed his initial lease. Everyone else found that they could rent a more reasonable apartment or buy a house for what the Brake House was charging in rent.
Last year, one of my co-workers and former Brake House tenants bought a house not far from Carnegie Mellon. For about what he paid to rent a second-floor loft at the Brake House, he got a five-bedroom three-story house that didn't need all that much work -- and he's been more than happy to fix up his new place. That got me thinking about where I should live -- and I've still got about another year on my lease here.
ditch the strip?
Living in the Strip District has lost some of its luster this year. I can still walk to work and to the many eclectic grocery stores around here. On the other hand, the police station two blocks away closed down earlier this year due to budget cuts. Since then I've noticed a marked increase in graffiti and a general feel that crime will continue to rise in the area. Last month a fight and shooting broke out just a block away from both me and the now-abandoned police station. Busy nightclubs in the Strip sometimes attract violence as well, although I've found evidence that these incidents occurred even when the police station was still open.
Fewer than 300 people live in the Strip, although that number would almost double if the latest Armstrong Cork building renovation project would ever get underway. The Strip just doesn't have the feel of a residential neighborhood, and maintenance workers would agree with that. Twice this year I have been kept awake by construction crews working right outside my building, undeterred by the knowledge that they're annoying a measly 18 yuppie tenants while doing construction on a major road.
halfway house?
When I was in school, I lived in dorms with a roommate. Moving into my first apartment last January was a very trying exercise fraught with anxiety. I felt like I was always shopping and preparing, spending hundreds of dollars on nondescript housewares that I never thought to buy before. Now it's the middle of 2004 and my apartment is fully stocked and very comfortable. At the same time, it feels frustrating to be spending over $10,000 in rent and getting nothing of value in return.
When my family came to visit in June, they looked through the classifieds and were amazed how much I could get for $100,000 or so. If not a whole house, they recommended that I get a condo somewhere in the area. Assuming I have the credit to get a loan that big next year, I plan to look into buying something or at least moving to an area like Shadyside. You're supposed to walk to your friends' homes and drive to work; right now, I do the opposite. I think I can live with a 15-minute commute for either a $4,000 annual rent savings or owning the place where I live.
weill fitness: early returns
Well, it's been well over nine weeks and I'm still devoid of progress on the Couch-to-5K Running Plan. However, through frequent exercise (by running, walking, or DDRing) and a more sensible diet, I've lost seven pounds in the last few months. I think I can continue this sort of lifestyle. I've also been meaning to join a gym to do some strength training. More on that as it develops.
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