You Say Died, I Say Murdered

Friday afternoon, I got that text that no mother wants to get from her college son.

"I think I might need a laptop."

Let the record show that The Pony has been offered a laptop on numerous occasions over the past several years. The very youngest that his current (well, formerly current) laptop could be is 4 years old. I'm thinking it might be a little older. That's because I remember distinctly asking The Pony if he needed a new laptop for college when he went away in August 2016, and I would not have done that if he had a fairly new one.

I also remember that the last one he got was custom-ordered by Genius, who came home to set it all up for a Christmas present, so it would be ready to go on Christmas morning. So I kind of feel like it was even earlier than Christmas of The Pony's junior year of high school.

Anyhoo...part of The Pony's National Merit Scholarship to the University of Oklahoma included a $2000 cash stipend for a laptop. He didn't want it at the time, so that money is sitting there in his college savings account. It's not like getting him one is a financial hardship. Hick will be happy that we don't have to dip into our retirement nest egg, which you may recall, is the grouping of rocks down behind the house, left to be mined at a later date, that the man who bought our other rocks wanted.

"After my final Wednesday, I tripped and spilled a bunch of water on it. I got it off and a friend from IT helped me try to dry it out afterwards, but it's not booting up and she thinks it might be fried."

Well. That's unfortunate. But not like we've never experienced this before, what with Genius and the coffeed laptop. A laptop ain't safe in a house of hydrated Thevictorian men.

The Pony DOES always have a cup of ice water with him. So I don't have any reason to doubt that scenario, other than just a general shenanigan-dar that teachers develop. The Pony is very fortunate that his last final was over, and summer school doesn't start for a couple weeks. Because he's taking an online class along with a regular class. So the only hardship is in physically getting a laptop into his hands in time for that.

The Pony is kind of particular. He does a lot of computer gaming in his off time. And his major is Chemical Engineering, so I'm pretty sure there are certain things that laptop needs to be able to do that a basic one off the shelf at Walmart won't. We both put in a text to Genius, starting with NEED NEW LAPTOP. If nothing else gets his attention, that would. Also, we included that Genius wouldn't have to do anything to set it up, because The Pony's friend in IT could do it. So all Genius had to do is look over some laptops online, and see if their specifications will run what The Pony will need.

Here's where problems arise. The Pony can't receive packages from FedEx or UPS at his university-owned apartment complex. The clubhouse used to accept them, but stopped within a few weeks of The Pony moving in. He had nothing to do with the policy change! He said another resident complained about a situation, and the solution was to stop all such deliveries, and holding the package for residents to pick up within a couple days. They DID, however, put in lock boxes for U.S. Postal Service deliveries, alongside the mailboxes. According to Genius: "No company is going to ship a laptop through the post office. It will be FedEx or UPS."

Genius suggested that The Pony get a high-end laptop sold at the university bookstore. That's where Genius got one when his quit the day before an important presentation. Lucky that Genius backs up his work. I think that's the laptop that later got coffeed. Genius said The Pony could probably even have it billed on his bursar account.

Anyhoo...The Pony looked into it Sunday, and said the laptop would actually come through the IT Store, which won't bill to the bursar's account, and in fact he only got things billed that way before due to his National Merit scholarship, like certain textbooks.

So...the quandary now is getting the money to The Pony to buy a laptop, after he goes to look at three of them on Monday. These are in the $900-$1400 range, and there'll be tax, and Genius suggests a service plan. Just because. I can't say that I disagree.

Hick and I will be gone to a casino on Monday, as my Mother's Day gift. There is no cell phone reception in that casino. We're leaving at noon, and I kind of doubt The Pony will even be out of bed by then, much less have looked at three laptops, and know the price of the one he chooses. I figure I'll just do a remote deposit in his credit union account, which should only be PENDING for a couple hours. I can reimburse myself later from his savings account that's here locally, and not in Oklahoma.

My very own Shiba is at least 11 years old, ancient by laptop standards, a doddering decrepit companion, runs Windows 7 Professional, and tells me every time it starts up that something is no longer supported. At least it's not infested with ants...

Yet The Pony's laptop is the one that died. Huh. More like was murdered, I'd say. We can't rebuild him, but we can replace him.

It's really hard running other people's lives from home! Even harder from a casino.