It’s not exactly the most high-tech computer problem of all time, but it still had to be rectified: the letter “k” on our keyboard has come loose, and when we need to be writing about knock-kneed kangaroos in Kickapoo, Kentucky we need to have the letter “k” working properly. So Kathy made an appointment for us at the Apple Store at Mayfair Mall in Milwaukee to meet with someone at their so-called Genius Bar. For those of you who have never experienced this for yourselves, the Genius Bar looks a lot like the old fashioned drug store soda fountain, complete with stools, except that instead of dispensing cherry cokes, it dispenses expertise in all matters related to Macs.
Our appointment was for 6:20, but the bar was a bit behind schedule (the store was wall-to-wall people) but they have these screens which flash all kinds of tidbits about Macs alternating with updates on what customer would next be served. Kathy B. was “next to be served” and by 6:35 we were in business, waited on by Jamie, one of three Mac geniuses on duty that evening.
Jamie was great not only for knowing an amazing amount about Macs, but also for talking to us in English words that we could actually understand rather than in the indecipherable computer lingo with more numerals than letters. And in maybe the most important distinction of a true and genuine genius, he seemed to have not the slightest interest in making us feel more stupid than we already felt. He was there to answer our questions and to solve whatever problems he could, short of getting our snow blower to run.
While there we also purchased an external hard drive which was necessary because of all that had accumulated on our poor overworked laptop. (If I understand correctly, the laptop has a total memory of 80 gigabytes – and we were down to 300 megabytes left. I guess that’s bad, but I don’t begin to understand those numbers- it’s like someone crossed calculus with the dewey decimal system.) I am the main culprit of our woes, since I’m the primary picture taker in the house and we’re up to 13,700 pictures in iPhoto. I guess that makes me the cyber/photo equivalent of the weird old lady on the edge of town with 110 cats in her house. Anyway, Jamie the genius found just the right external hard drive for us and even volunteered to set the thing up and dump all our photos into it so we could walk out of there with our laptop back in shape. So we went off to the food court for supper and by the time we returned the laptop was ready. (But with the “k” still unfixed- that will happen another day once the part comes in.) The guy quickly showed Kathy how the thing worked and after a last cordial chat we were on our way home.
10:30 that night, I’ve plopped myself in front of the laptop, typing up my “O Tannenbaum” blog entry and bringing up iPhoto from the new hard drive – only to end up with a gray screen and the ominous words NO PHOTOS at the bottom of it. I suddenly felt as though I’d contracted a case of the flu – or been punched in the stomach – or both. Kathy was pretty sure that it was okay, but she couldn’t bring the pictures up either. (I was sure that Jamie had intended to load the photos on the new hard drive but perhaps screwed something up – and then trashed the photos left on the laptop, leaving us no option for getting them back.) At about 2 in the morning, Kathy suddenly woke up with the realization of what she had forgotten from Jamie’s instructions. . . the Option key. She came downstairs, got out the laptop and brought up all 13,000+ photos without a hitch. She may not be quite in Jamie’s league, but I am very blessed indeed to be married to someone with such computer smarts – plus brother-in-law Mark who is always ready and almost always able to help us. And for those especially complicated issues, thank goodness for geniuses like Jamie.
By the way, the Apple Store does not hand out the designation of “genius” to just anybody. I asked Jamie if anyone working in the store was considered a genius and just rotated in and out of the genius bar, but in fact that designation is only earned when you’ve survived a grueling gauntlet of extra training which includes weeks of intense study and exams, a month at Apple headquarters in California, plus a stint at another Apple Store to watch already-designated geniuses in action before finally having that title affixed to your own name. I don’t know if personality is considered as well, because it seems like you could so easily end up with a bunch of Mac geniuses with the people skills of an electric eel. I hope most of them are blessed with Jamie’s kindness and patience, because those are qualities that come in handy when dealing with mere mortals like us.
pictured: Kathy with Jamie the Genius at the Apple Store at Mayfair Mall.