computer meltdown pt. 2,000

we had some problems with the computer last night. obviously they've been rectified (well, somewhat). i have an appointment at the genius bar today (we went all the way down to the gold coast last night). i'm still trying to figure out if i should bother to go. we know that either the battery is completely dead or the power supply is messed up or the plug-in for the power supply is fucked up. my suspicion is that it's all three. we'll see i guess.
in other news i need to figure out an alternative to igo. they are just getting worse and worse and worse. they used to give you a credit for refueling the car (it wasn't very much- i think it was about $2) but now they give you no credit and if you don't refuel the car and it's below 1/4 of a tank they charge you a $25 fine. nice, huh. isn't positive reinforcement supposed to be more effective than punishment? i also don't remember being notified that this was the case now, which gives me the willies because that's something that banks do. i expect it from the bank. i don't expect it from a 'non-profit' organisation with a 'green' agenda. i guess this is just a sign of the times we are living in- shitty. the reason we didn't refuel the car is because there's a number on the credit card that's inside the car that you have to key into the gas pump in order for the card to work and it wasn't on this particular credit card, so therefore we couldn't refuel it. i sure as hell wasn't going to use my own money to do it. getting some fucking company to reimburse you for something like that tends to be an incredibly slow process. it took me three months to get a $300 check from capital one when i overpaid my credit card account transferring the balance and then closed my account immediately. so i sent something explaining the situation, making it clear that i was upset (although i don't think i was rude) and of course there was the obligatory threat to report the problem to the better business bureau at the end. that works like a charm i've found. stefanie and i use that one all the time. this is a good thing because that's what the better business bureau is for and shows that it's actually doing it's job.
i got a myspace bulletin that the warlocks will be at sxsw to play their new record in its entirety. shit. that'd be kind of fun to hear.
i am really loving the silver apples right now.
we are indeed firmed up to play a show at the volcan gallery next friday. i think i'm going to look into just renting a car for the day- it'll probably cost about the same as reserving an igo car for four hours and i also just found out that they go ahead and charge you for time that you cancel once you return the car. they used to only charge you for the time that you used. it seems to change every week. it's something new every month. there are always new charges being added on every month. they send me random invoices charging me for shit i don't always fully understand and the people at the call-center are kind of curt, a bit rude and rarely helpful or understanding. rather than go on a big, lengthy rant i read some yelp reviews and (unlike most negative yelp reviews i read) it was comforting. everyone on there has shared the same frustrations. i'm not holding out much hope that they're not going to charge my credit card for that $25 fine. what's more about renting a car- i can rent it for 24 hours and not have to worry about scrambling home to get it there on time- i can return it the next day without any worries. i just checked actually and it would be more financially viable to do so. their hours are a bit inconvenient, but i could just drop it off before i go to work and still be there in about 10-15 minutes.
so there you go really. i don't know. it's such a crapshoot too- at times like this it's so easy to say 'if we still had the van then we wouldn't have this problem' but that just is not true. at all. even if we rent a car once a month we're spending less money than we would be if we were driving that beast around and having to pay for gas. that's not even taking into account how much we spend on repairs and maintenance and city stickers and people-slashing-your-tires-because-they-don't-like-you-parking-in-front-of-their-house fees.
i'm not sure what else to discuss. i did just get an out-of-office email from the accountant at igo. i guess that means that i'm going to pay $25 and they're probably not going to refund my money. yup, the writing is definitely on the wall. it's ovah! i might even consider looking into zipcar. i've heard they are actually a lot more reliable. they are a bit more expensive but i also suppose that you get what you pay for. so it goes.
is it possible for me to get ahead? i am beginning to think that the answer is no. yes, it's time for this again. it's possible for me to quit music and therefore not have to worry about car-sharing plans/rental cars and other crappola like that. or at the very least it's possible for us to quit playing shows and just continue to release records that no one buys. in all honesty it wouldn't be the most unheard-of thing in the world. i don't know. i just really am getting fucking tired of this nonsense. my debt is just knocking at my door and i'm a bit tired of hearing it sit there and knock all the time. sure, everyone has debt. i'd just like to get back to the days before i had any. they were kind of nice. if i didn't have any now i would be living very comfortably, but noooo i just had to self-release my first record. there's no such thing as a free lunch kiddies. i'm not real sure what else to do. it looks like february is going to be a washout month for my tips as well- just all kinds of unpredicted stuff popping up. quite tapped out. i was supposed to have been able to have raised $300 for mastering by march. i guess that's not happening. a shame because i always hate sitting on a finished record, but that seems to be about the size of it right now. i will do my best not to feel sorry for myself right now. that's not going to help anyone at all, least of all me. there are a few small victories- we locked in our lease for the next fourteen months- we don't have to be out of our apartment until march 31st of next year. that actually would be a decent time to move. we've looked into moving into a hunter properties building on the other side of granville- i'd almost want to just not bother with a moving van or anything- just march down the street carrying our stuff. that'd be ideal, i think. i just can't help feeling like it's all starting cave in around me- our computer's all fucked up and the burden is pretty much on me to buy the next computer, which is impending. things i thought were viable aren't so appealing (as always) and i don't just happen to have $1000 just lying around to use. then there is the joke of these two impending releases. ready or not here they come. then there is the whole issue of the tour- which i have to start planning so we can start booking college shows in march so that we can see if we will be able to get enough of those for the tour to pay for itself. it can be done i say! i just have to make it through the rest of this year and get these things finished so that i can have a year to myself and not have to have some ridiculous release schedule looming overhead making me crazy. maybe then it will be possible for me to take care of some of my mounting debts. one can always live in hope.
anyway, that's all i have to say for now. i need to start taking things a bit more one-day-at-a-time. nothing is fucked. nothing is fucked.