Passing Game

You know, the more I think about it, the more I kesian Ryan.
About a month back, his big bro, bought him a sleek brand-spanking new Compaq Presario Notebook to go with this new life. New career.

I have to say – being a PC-hater – that is one sweet looking laptop. Almost Apple-like.

Last night, I visit him for some chillout sessions and to return his laptop, with bad news. Despite my best efforts, I really have no idea what happened to his computer. I can’t even reformat it.

“Dude,” Ryan tells me, as we were chilling out by the poolside, “I’ve barely got to use it at all since he got it for me,”

It has been about a month since the notebook failed to function. It all happened a month ago at Prangin Mall’s Starbucks. I remember calling him, “Wei! Wanna be a bunch of yuppies and hangout in Starbucks with our notebooks?!” I asked.

“Yeah man,” he agreed and I came over to pick him up soon after. Ju, Roby, Tuck, Derek and Liew will meet us there too.

Barely 5 minutes after we took our seats, he unveiled his new baby. Mirror-like shiny, free from dust and still has the new-smell. I followed suit, I unleashed my iBook for the first time in public since mid-2006.

And then it happened. As we were debating weather we needed to get some sort of password to access the WiFi at Starbucks, and bang, his comp suddenly just blanked. He never even had a chance.

“WTF?!” Ryan looked perplexed and certainly did not see that coming.

I finally log on to Starbucks’ Wifi, “What happened wei?” slowly loading up my Friendster page.

“Dunno, it just went blank,” he says

Rule No. 1 when using a Windows-based system, if there are any fuck-ups, first thing you do is RESTART. And so he did. If it’s still screwed, man you’re in for a ride.

He restarted the comp. After the usual RAM count and all, followed by the XP loading window -- for a fraction of a second -- the classic (and most dreaded) blue screen blinks and then the comp restarts itself. Then again and again. And again.

“It’s stuck in a vicious cycle,” I told him, at the poolside, “Even when I attempt to reinstall XP, it hangs at that same point and subsequently it restarts, again.”

I would be damn pissed if my comp fucks up. I can’t live without a computer, “It’s damn funny lah,” he somehow still manage to see the lighter side, “I’ve passed it to you, then John, then you again. Now it seems like it’s going back to John again.”

“Why not you just call up the service center?” I suggest.

We agreed. Thus we started rummaging the bag, “There! I found it,” says I and proceeded to dial the 1-800 number.

“Nombor yang anda dial, sudah ditamatkan perkhidmatannya.”

Shit.

“WTF? Dude, the number no longer exists man,” I told him as I hung up the phone.

Now I know why the comp hasn’t been serviced. Because, judging by the loop it’s stuck in, it’s proper fucked. And it might cost quite a bit to fix, but luckily, it’s definitely still under warranty. So it’ll be free.

Flashback to Starbucks at Prangin Mall, “I think it’s some nasty-ass virus lah, your comp no problem?” he asks.

My answer was plain and simple, “I use mac mah…” followed by an enormous grin.