The Daily Teaser — 10-5-2015

Ye gods, but that’s SOMETHING … 

I told you — yesterday — I’d dropped a terabyte capacity external drive: complete with some 800 gigabytes of media and family photos.

I’m … 

Well, the word ‘unhappy’ is the one that sums it up best.

Or, at least, most politely.

At any rate, I’ve managed to find a local local computer repair place: one that’s happy to try getting what it can off the drive.

I’m thankful I’ve a little cash to at least put down a deposit, there.

Otherwise?   I’d DEFINITELY be onto a losing streak.

~≈∏≈~

The Daily Teaser — 9-6-2015: Les Paul

RIGHT at the moment … ?

Right at the moment, the word in my head is ‘BUGGER’!

I have an external drive: that I use to store my iPhoto library, AND my back-up TV shows.

Some 800 or so gigabytes of data.

To be strictly accurate?   I should say ‘HAD.’

I was planning to settle, last night, with the first two episodes of Penny Dreadful: something Sky’s been showing for a while, now, and been getting good reviews for.

Without thinking … ?   I moved my chair.   Which hit a stool.   Which knocked a door.   Which closed.   Hitting a printer on the table with my computer.   Which knocked the external drive.   Which landed on the floor.

After that?   After that, the ominous clicking sound from the drive — and it’s refusal to show up in the Finder — told what what it was knackered.   I extracted the drive from it’s container, and put in the spare bay of my Mac Pro.

It clicked ominously, and refused to mount.

What I’m HOPING’S happened is that falling off the table means the arm that moves across the platters of the hard drive has been damaged: and is easily repairable.

I don’t know that it is, though.

If it is, that’s all good.

If it isn’t, I’m not going to worry too much about losing the TV shows.   Those would be easy to replace.   Expensive and tedious, but easy.

The photos, on the other hand, including those of my nephew?   Are gone.

I’m not happy, understandably.

Especially when you consider the reason I was shopping on Amazon, last Friday — when I started having problems with Amazon Prime — was to buy a 2 terabyte internal drive, to replace this external drive.

I’m having a bad week.

BUGGER … !!

~≈Ÿ≈~

The Daily Teaser — 7-6-2015: Cricket, Lovely Cricket … !

Well, it’s Sunday: officially Sunday, I should say.

And … ?

Right at the moment, I’m up and about: and (mentally) preparing my self for work.

After finishing at 12:30, last night.

And … ?   Well, it has to be said, I’m feeling relatively non-tired.

How long that will last?

I really couldn’t tell you … !

~≈Â≈~

The Daily Teaser — 6-6-2015

Ye GODS, but Amazon are sneaky bar-stewards … !

I’ll happily admit, they’re good at what they do: I’ve been using Amazon’s shopping site for a while, and — generally —don’t have a problem.

But at some point?   I’d signed up for a free trial of their Amazon Prime service.   It allows for free video streaming, music streaming … and for free deliveries of stuff you’ve ordered.

Which is why I’d signed up for the free trial.

But … ?   Well, yesterday, I tried ordering an internal hard-drive, along with a couple of other bits.   Only to find my card getting declined for a lack of funds.   Funds I’d believed were available.

It turns out they weren’t.   Amazon had automatically charged me £79 for a year’s subscription: without sending me a reminder email, or warning that the trial was over.

Now, from what I can tell, they do tell you, in the Terms and Conditions that they’ll do this.

But how many of us sit down and read those?

I’m … annoyed.   Yes, you’re right, I could well have read the terms and conditions.

But equally, Amazon could easily — oh so easily, I suspect, and much more preferably, from where I’m sitting — have sent out a reminder email: to tell me the trial was coming to an end, and asking if I’d like to continue using the service at such and such a price.

They didn’t.   I spent about half an hour, yesterday, phoning my bank to see what had happened: then then getting a refund from Amazon.

That’s due in within the next few days.

Now … annoyed?   Yes.   Angry?   Incredibly.   Frothing at the mouth?   You bet!

I could well have read the terms and conditions.   But in burying the explanation of what will happen in the terms and conditions, and in NOT sending a cancellation email?

In behaving like this, I believe Amazon* have indulged in the worst kind of sharp practise.   And would do themselves a huge favour, publicity-wise, in changing this practise.

Because I’m not the only one.

~≈Ê≈~