Colin Charles Agenda

It seems more than half the adult Australian population is overweight (thats a BMI between 25-29.9) or obese (that’s a BMI of over 30). Worse, most are in denial:

“Overweight or obese men and women are increasingly likely to see themselves as having an acceptable weight,” the bureau says in its latest report on obesity.

I’m not in denial. BMI is currently 26.54, which is alarming (by my standards, anyway). An ideal BMI is at most, 24.9, which realistically means shedding about 6-7KG. And more importantly keeping it that way.

It was that way in November 2007. Trip to Kuala Lumpur, coupled with all the trips around the world, has made me put on that much. Sigh.

Goal: Reduce 5KG by Q1/2008.

To achieve it? Cut down on food intake (well, watch what goes in, anyway), exercise (jogging seems viable). Seeing lots of vegetarian friends, thats always a thought, but there’s too much good tasting food in this world, to go completely veggie, IMHO.

When buying my Dell Inspiron 640m, I wanted to ensure I was getting a good warranty. It turns out, I finally had to use it, and all I can say is that its been a pretty great experience!

The left mouse button on my touchpad decided to give up the ghost, and just stayed depressed all the time. It worked fine, but not getting tactile feedback was annoying. So I submitted a problem report at 4.20am on the 23/01/2008. I got a phone call back at about 6pm, on the 23rd, asking me when would be a good time for Dell to come over. I stated Friday, and made a note that the LCD hinge on the right hand side felt loose, and maybe it deserved a replacement. They made a note of that.

On the 24th, I was called, to confirm that I’d be available on the 25th, and it would be great to choose a booking time. I chose 11am-2pm. On the 25th, at about 12.10pm, I get a call saying the technician will be around soon, and he’ll call when he’s about a half hour away. I say thats great, and head out for some lunch at Soda Rock.

Back by 1pm, the technician comes at 1.30pm, and starts working. He’s done by 2.15pm, having basically taken out my laptop to bits, and reassembling it. I got the palmrest changed, seeing that the entire thing had to be replaced to fix the mouse. The LCD hinge alone can’t be replaced, so the whole casing itself got replaced (save for the LCD, of course). This meant that all my stickers disappeared!

The laptop looks like new now. It even got a clean (all the dust inside, removed). Surprisingly, the keyboard hasn’t given up the ghost or anything, but the technician told me that it probably will give way in time, and they’ll be around to fix it ;)

How do I feel? Thrilled with Dell, I am. No regrets with their warranty service, and I probably will now only buy Dell hardware for machines that I care about.

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