When I first got this computer two and a half years ago I remember being worried about it. I think the first or second time I turned it on the screen wouldn’t turn on. It stayed black and made a crackle noise while everything else did it’s thing. I turned it on and off a couple times and it worked and then I don’t think I had any more problems with it. Last night, I turned the computer off — usually I just let it sleep and watch the white power light slowly pulse from normal to dim and back again. This morning, it crackled when I turned it back on but the screen stayed black.

After turning it on and off in rapid succession a few times (just joking) I decided I’d better unplug everything, move it to the floor and try it again with it upside down — remember, I used to re-align my Commodore disk drive by bouncing it on the bed (although, I didn’t have a little lego man living in my drive like Robin did.) It was so dusty underneath it was embarassing. I called Jenn in and asked what I should do. I figure I’ve got a better chance of her doing it for me if I ask for her “advice” instead of her “help.” In a few minutes she was sitting on the floor with me, the eMac and a bunch of Q-Tips cleaning it out for me. I took off the little door where the extra memory goes and poked around a bit then tried it again. It powered up with the screen looking lovely and we were both happy. But for a little while this morning while I was eating my toast and tea I was dreaming of a new iBook.