Qwerty is boring

Why have a QWERTY keyboard when you can have a W-keery-piuto keyboard instead?

(For some that don't live their lives on keyboards and may not know, QWERTY keyboards are so named because the top row of letters, from left to right, are q-w-e-r-t-y.)

Yes, the Mac computer above is mine. You too can prettify your computers, cell phones, iPads, etc. here or here. But let's get back to my story.

The above MacBook Pro is a 2008 model and was purchased new in January 2009 with all the bells and whistles (translation: it is worth fixing). It worked awesomely until my overloaded computer burned out the hard drive. 

I went down to the authorized Mac dealer in town (we have several ... we also have several unauthorized ones, but I went to the real place and they were very professional and careful). 

When they told me how much a new hard drive would cost, my heart sank a little. Obviously the downward movement of your heart shows on your face, because the guy told me in a low voice that he could order me a non-Apple hard drive with greater capacity for about 10 percent of the cost of a new Apple hard drive. I thought about it deeply for about 1 second and told him I was in. He ordered the part and it got replaced a few days later.

I took the computer home, turned it on and used it for a few days. I turned off the computer to install some new software, but I couldn't turn it back on. Back to the repair shop.

The cable to the start button had broken. They have to replace the entire keyboard. Cost? Seriously high. I asked them to order it anyway, but Apple no longer has it in stock. It's only six years old and they no longer make parts for it.

The Apple guy suggests I take it to a local independent computer shop. (Apple doesn't have parts for Macs, but the local computer repair shop can order parts. What?) The local computer dealer orders a new keyboard from Shenzhen and the next day it's installed and works like a charm.

Perhaps now is a good time to tell you that the perfect eyesight I enjoyed most of my life has suffered from age-related causes. I got some awesome bifocally-type glasses in July, but I am not in the habit of wearing them yet. So that, plus the fact that I don't have to look at my keyboard much to type, explains how a whole month passed before I noticed that my brand new keyboard, that works perfectly, has the appearance of a wqerypiuto keyboard instead of an old-fashioned qwerty one...obviously designed by someone who needs to get his eyes checked too. I suggest he gets that done on his way to English class, since he obviously needs to attend one if he's going to continue making keyboards with the English alphabet on them.

I quite like my new keyboard ... an emblem to remind me that I live in a very weird place.