Been following the thread and thought I should share this story. My brother hangs out in coffee shops, writing on his laptop and engaging customers in political discussions whenever possible, working to change the world one mind at a time.
About a year ago he was pounding away at his PB5300 when a friend sat down at his table with a cup of coffee which promptly got knocked over, spilling onto the keyboard. There was some initial tension between friends debating who was responsible, my brother for bringing a fragile laptop into an environment where it would be surrounded by liquids or the friend for not being more careful. Fortunately it didn't get out of hand. They decided that since coffee shops are now wired for internet access customers should expect the presence of laptops and act accordingly. The whole issue was resolved by the friend submitting a claim on his homeowners insurance policy. Now the really good part: It seems the insurance company method of valuation is different for computers than it would be for furniture or a car, where they pay only the current value of the item and argue about that. I don't know what the value of a PB5300 is (I ditched mine for a Lombard about 3 years ago) � but I know it ain't priced the same as a brand new high end iBook. Yet that is exactly what the insurance company provided. Result: my bro is in pig heaven. He has never bought a new computer - or anything else - in his life; he kinda prides himself on getting old stuff cheap and making it work better than it is supposed to, enjoys the challenge of upgrading and all that. Being gifted with the then-latest and greatest iBook in this fashion has given him a new lease on life, changed his whole attitude, increased his sense of self-worth, made him a better writer and sent him on a more fervent mission of effecting progressive political change. He even bought new software. So submit a claim to your insurance company and see what happens. -- G-Books is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Check our web site for refurbished PowerBooks | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-Books list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-books.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-books%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
