We're back!

Me and the Mac, that is. I took a trip to the Apple store yesterday and had some shaggy-haired super-hip Mac Genius (seriously, that's what they're called) assist me in defunking my beloved desktop companion. I was a little panicked thinking, What if they can't fix it? What if I'm computerless and all my memories from the past 5 years are lost? and the worst case scenario... What if I have to get a PC? *Gasp!
Thankfully, after waiting for 15 minutes while people watching the most diverse and interesting group of people I've seen in a while, they called my name. My Genius plugged her in and she started right up! In my state of near-panic, I was so excited, I looked him straight in the eye and said, I love you. I was only halfway serious (I mean, he did save me from a PC) but needless to say, my serious tone left a him a little taken aback. So to shift the awkward silence, I told him I was confused about why it wouldn't turn on when I tried several times from home. He did some Geniusy stuff and assured me that whatever was wrong should be fixed now. When I got home I plugged the ol' Mac back up and pressed the so-cool hidden power button. I heard the magical "Bwahhhh!" and then... nothing. Just a blank white screen.

That got me to thinking, whats different about the Apple store than my own house? Besides the obvious blue-shirted Geniuses walking around, (I don't wear blue, its not really my color), I decided it had to be the power cord or power supply or something, since I only carried the desktop to the store. So I unplugged my Mac from the cheap power strip I bought for $4 at Fred's and tried another outlet. Voila! It powered up without a hitch! I have since designated one wall outlet to my computer and left the power strip for the printer and internet router. Apparently my computer wasn't getting enough juice to boot up.

Lessons learned: Don't buy cheap power strips for nice electronics. Don't tell a Mac Genius you love him, unless you really do.