Magic iPad and Mercury Retrograde
I’m unsure of the position, but I find it akin to being the wise elder, except that I’m the tech elder of the clan. Or, to some, the Apple Tech Elder of the Tribe. To some, a wizard.
With holidays close at hand, being the elder wizard is more problematic.
I was stuck in a long line of cars, and I was listening to Texas Highway Country Music from France, a strictly internet “radio” station. Song after song, classic, new, old, and current hits. I was waiting for a light, and suffering with road construction. Compound the problem any way it can be reconciled.
Mercury in Retrograde, remember?
I’ve learned not to rely on the in-dash entertainment, and what I’ll do, spool up a radio station like that one, from France, straight local Texas music, and I’ll run with it. I realized, after the playlist got longer and longer, I was stuck in true holiday/Mercury Retrograde traffic.
Magic iPad and Mercury Retrograde
For such traffic and situation, in this example I was motoring aways to a storefront not four miles distant, and by the time I arrived, I could’ve walked faster than that drive. I had with me, two pieces of dead Apple tech, a defunct iPad and very dead iPhone. As the elder in the situation, it falls to me to see if the devices can be resurrected. I am, by position, the most savvy with that kind of tech.
My job, my duty.
I’ve found a storefront that is a franchise of a rather universal company that fixes broken items like phones and tablets. Couple of times, under a hundred bucks for tablet or phone screens, once for a balky tablet that didn’t always light up, and then, that fateful — Mercury is in Retrograde — afternoon?
While I first met him as a tech, he’s now the franchise owner, and he’s been a very reputable repair person. Can’t recommend him high enough. Good guy — straight shooter.
Magic iPad and Mercury Retrograde
It’s not an older iPad, might be two, three years out-of-date, but still, at one time, functional. Turns on, works, everything is fine except for a consistent “smudge” in the screen itself. As an iPad Pro, the screen is the super-duper, ultra-responsive, Bass-0-matic style that does everything. I didn’t notice the smudge until I was looking at a black background web page, and then, rotating the tablet, I could see that the smudge, what it looked like to me, stayed in one place. It wasn’t a really smudge, it was a defect or bruise in the screen itself.
Turns out, that’s “impact damage,” most likely, and there is but one fix-it, replace the screen assembly. Cost was shy of $400, and “parts would have to be ordered.”
Next up was an order iPhone, tech disappeared with the phone, came back a few minutes later, munching on a What-a-Burger, “Be another few minutes, just seeing what’s wrong.”
The phone had a bad power port, water damaged main board, and something else. Practically, it could be repaired, but at what cost? Even at that, the tech honestly suggested that the repair was more than the price of an upgraded phone.
Magic iPad and Mercury Retrograde
The score, if one is keeping score? The shop got zero dollars out of me in these transactions. Got my unending goodwill, but that doesn’t really go very far these days; however, the honesty and integrity of that store always sells it.
When Mercury is Retrograde, not a good time to invest in new technology hardware. That noted? Getting something repaired? Good idea. Fix it or replace it? I prefer fixing it, but at what cost?
Repair is a perfectly acceptable Mercury Retrograde option.
the Portable Mercury Retrograde
