Eric's Beijing Diary

Power supply went out on my laptop Monday night. I took it to the HP warranty center Tuesday morning, and they turned my laptop over and read my serial number like they always do. Oops! My warranty had expired. I knew they were going to say that; I bought this thing in December of '05. Do you know they charged me 591 RMB for a new power supply? Ghastly. When I got back, I was at the coffee bar doing my work, and all of a sudden an MSN notice popped up saying that Eason had come online. When I told him what I had paid for the thing he was apoplectic. I told him that I understood you could probably get a cheaper one at the electronic supply markets over in Zhongguancun, but it would not be quite the right one. You could blow your motherboard using the wrong power supply. But Eason insisted I could get the exact model I wanted. Within a minute, he had given me a link to one online that was exactly what I needed for 100 RMB. Then he told me something that really made me want to get my money back. A few days earlier, he had accidentally knocked his laptop off his desk. He told me I could have his power supply. I told him he should get his laptop fixed, but he told me that the screen had cracked. Not to get off the subject, but do take care of your laptop screen. Believe it or not, it costs more than your laptop. Well, I went back to the HP warranty center. They were actually pretty nice about giving me my money back, partly, I suppose, because I had some back so soon, and also because they certainly understood that the price was pretty high. I guess that would be one reason to buy a laptop in China if you are planning to live here for awhile. It is easier to get warranty work done. But if your laptop is no longer under warranty anyway, then it doesn't matter. Laptop power supplies always generally automatically between 110 and 220.

Eason wanted to meet me in Xizhimen to give me the power supply, so I told him to meet me at the Moscow restaurant for dinner. Raymond works in Xizhimen, so I invited him too, and he brought a young man from Germany who was doing an internship with some agency. I have the impression that most people go to the Moscow restaurant mainly to see the building rather than just to eat. Don't know if they have any real Russian chefs there, but I didn't see any Russian customers. Raymond talked about the building as if it were an ancient landmark or something, but it was actually built the year I was born (1954), so it's not really that old. Hails from the Soviet era, before the rift between Russia and China. It reminds me of the banquet room in the Great Hall of the People. Massive pillars and great, high ceilings.