A Mac Adventure

For some time now our Mac has been slowing down and we have had issues with the cdr/dvdr drive.  I had called about the drive before our warranty ran out last year, but since the nearest place was in Austin and it would mean we would be without our computer for a time as well as the driving there and back twice in a short period of time, we just didn't make it in to get it fixed.  Lately, it all seemed to get worse, so I called Apple to see if they would just sell me the part and maybe I could replace it myself.  You can laugh if you want to, but I could probably find a youtube video on just exactly how to do it.  I'm just sayin' ;)  Anyway, the phone call didn't go exactly as I'd planned.  Because I had called in about it and they had recorded it on our account and it had been within the warranty period, the guy I talked to got permission to open a ticket to fix it fo free!  I know right?!  Yay!  Doing a dance of exuberant happiness!  Okay, so, I had a choice of taking it in to an Apple store or having a certified technician that contracts with them work on it.

I went with the technician because he is located in Georgetown.  I called up Tyrosys Corp. and explained what was going on per the instructions from Apple.  Grant, the owner, was able to look my unit up on their records and verify everything and we agreed that I would bring it in on Monday, leave it there and come back Tuesday morning-ish;) to pick it back up.  I got there, with only a slight commotion where the kids were concerned.  (Ailey is also a seatbelt Houdini and I had to stop to address that concern.)  Grant had told me on the phone to call him when I pulled up so that he could come out and carry the computer in for me.  Yeah.  I'm a fan. :)  I followed him in to make sure of the arrangements and told him that I noticed the screen was a bit hazy and he confirmed my suspicions that it was probably dust.  I asked how that generally gets taken care of and he said that it gets cleaned when you bring it in for its yearly maintenance.  Hold up....what?!  I didn't know we were supposed to be doing any sort of yearly maintenance!  I didn't get that memo.  Oops!  I was used to the yearly upkeep of a pc, which means you hope it runs well for the first year, makes it through the second and then you most likely will have to get a new one after that...  Okay, so I told him that since it was there and he was gonna have it apart anyway to go right on ahead and maintain it. :)  So, I left it with him and had to stop at Taco Bell for a potty break and lunch for all four of us under $8.  Yep.

That night was pretty weird without the computer.  No emails, no surfing, no ability to work on lesson plans for co-op, no netflix, no zoodles for the kids, no facebook for Sam....weird I say!  Our computer is way too integrated in our lives....gonna have to ponder on that, I think!

Tuesday dawned bright and early thanks to my two girls who had apparently made plans with each other to both be awake before 7.  Really gonna have to work with them on that! Since, Braden's homeschooling on Monday went nearly up to bed time because we didn't get any done that morning, I decided to do several parts of it before we left to go pick up the computer.  It actually worked out well and we got a good amount done.  Then, we all loaded back into le van and headed back to Georgetown to go and pick up our very much-missed computer.  This time it was smooth sailing all the way there.  It helped that I had the ipod with the kids favorite music on there...like toby mac and their collection of vbs songs from all the vbses they attended this past summer.

When I went in, he got the computer and gave me a run-down on everything he did.  Apparently, we had a whole colony of dust bunnies inhabiting our computer.  Ahem....oopsy!..sorry 'bout that!  3 years of no maintenance = dust gone wild!  We also were at 62% fragmentation.  Nice.  He repaired that.  Yay!  He also informed me of some other good practices that would help our computer live a longer and fuller life.  The fragmentation was due, in part, to our having our computer fall asleep if no one was using it after a couple of minutes.  Basically, we had our computer in a narcoleptic cycle that was throwing it into what amounts to computer bipolar disorder.  Another oops.  After that, Grant also gave some suggestions for future upkeep, like upgrading to more memory and getting an external hard drive to back everything up and then to upgrade our hard drive in the future.  He gave me a price list and I must say that it is all very reasonable.  I really love it when I find a place/person that gives me straight answers, does honest work and has decent prices for fixing things.  I found a mechanic, I have a favorite vehicle oil change/inspection garage and now I have a mac repair/upgrade/whatever-else-needs-to-be-done-on-our-computer guy.  I'm on a roll!

Before, I give all the details about this company, I do have to add that on the way back, Ailey was again practicing her Houdini tricks and I am considering investing in lots of duct tape.  Okay, moving on....

If you have a mac (or a pc, cuz he works on those, too:) and you want a calm place (unlike the Apple stores, which are always crazy busy and super noisy) to take it in to get it diagnosed/fixed/upgraded, here's the link for the Tyrosys website:

Tyrosys Corp

and here's the address and phone number:


2913 Williams Dr., Suite 220
Georgetown, Texas 78628
Phone Numbers:
512-686-0469 main
903-640-4951 fax


They also have a Dallas area location:

406 N. Center Street
Bonham, Texas 75418

Phone Numbers:

903-640-4900 main
903-640-4951 fax

Don't forget to tell Grant I sent ya! *

*(Disclaimer: I was in no way compensated or am I likely to ever be compensated for this unabashed plug for Tyrosys Corp.  I just happen to like the service I received and thought someone else might like to have the same kind of great experience I had.  AND telling him I sent ya just lets him and his staff know that word of mouth advertising is at work!)