Donation drive for a friend...

[seawasp]

ETA: The drive is over. Thanks very much to everyone who participated! The funds covered what was absolutely needed.


I have a friend named George Green (kharaku). He's made some... pretty bad life decisions, and he's stuck at the bottom right now; check his LJ entry here if you want details of the problems that make this an acute issue. To a great extent he's gotten himself in this mess, but at heart he's a good guy and some of his current problems are NOT his fault, so I'm going to do this for him once.

Short version: George's stuck in the Ukraine with essentially no money, and his laptop -- the tool he uses to do whatever work he can get as a web designer, writer, etc. -- was stolen from him.

He needs a new laptop; his ideal would be a Mac Powerbook but he's used others; the last one taken was an ASUS P50IJ.

I have set up a Paypal donation button below for people to contribute towards getting him a replacement laptop, probably from craigslist or some similar used location unless people are extraordinarily generous; any excess will go towards helping him have some resources to get the heck off the streets/out of charity places. If someone HAS an appropriate laptop they would like to donate, contact me and I'll arrange to get it to him.

I will leave this up for two weeks; if insufficient funds for a laptop  are given, I'll send whatever I have to George to at least give him something to work with.

Comments

[kharaku.livejournal.com]

is there any more info you need to get a dhl quote? does dhl online in america give a price? i think ryk has the shipping cost sewn up

[melchar.livejournal.com]

Okay, it's in the mail. ^_^ Sent via the US Post, Priority mail [medium flat rate box]
customs form = CW092326350US
for $56.15 [sent insured]

However there is bad news. As of May 16th, US Homeland [in]Security no longer allows laptops batteries to be mailed internationally. [The Postal worker agreed with me that this is stupid.] I had to open, remove the battery, rebox the laptop. So you will need to get a = 15 inch powerbook G4 rechargeable battery. Sorry. I also checked and was not given the OSX software.

[kharaku.livejournal.com]

strangely there's been no movement of it for 2 days :/

at least if the tracker is correct

[kharaku.livejournal.com]

it has reached ukraine, I am anxious about receiving it!!! :)))

thanks!!!!

[melchar.livejournal.com]

Yay! Slowly but surely. ^_^ If it gets to you in the next 2 days, then it really does fit the '6-8 day' window the USPS advertises.

[kharaku.livejournal.com]

Got it today! Haven't got it to accept wifi yet (which my old MacBook had problems with free wi fi here) but other wise perferect condition and I'm making sure to not take it with me anywhere that could present a problem!

[seawasp]

Excellent. So you're now in a position to leave if that's your plan.

[kharaku.livejournal.com]

beyond stashing it safely anytime i'm uncertain what might come I don't yet have a plan ; trying to find work atm...

[melchar.livejournal.com]

I'm very much relieved that you have it! Use it well and I hope it helps you a lot! [whew!] Best of luck!

[melchar.livejournal.com]

And please let me know when you get it, Okay?

[kharaku.livejournal.com]

will it work plugged in without a battery? finding anything for a G4 would be a joke aside from MAYBE going to kiev, they have an open market that might have something...

@Ryk
Is there enough in the shipping fund to send a battery?

@melchar
Will they allow you to ship the battery seperatly?

[kharaku.livejournal.com]

crossing finger it'll boot on AC power with no battery.

internet forums seem to be 50/50 on that

@ ryk is there anything in the fund to buy a battery from someone in the EU off ebay?

ideally i would hope it just boots without a battery.

i almost have never used my first or second stolen laptop not plugged in because the batteries on both held very little charge...

My Asus P50IJ would boot with no battery... I would HOPE a Mac can do the same...

I appriciate the laptop though! I'm sure we'll figure out something on the battery (I have no idea how, but I'm going to scamper off and pray about that).

@melchar again thank you for the help!!!

[kharaku.livejournal.com]

looking into prices for a power end converter. Forgot about that. (the official apple one is absurdly priced, and I threw the power adapter from my original mac out about 2 weeks before the ASUS was stolen.

that has to be buy not too far from here.

[seawasp]

To convert between our plugs and theirs with power? That shouldn't be too expensive.

As far as money, there's enough (almost) to pay for the shipping in there. Not enough for anything else, though.

[melchar.livejournal.com]

Is it there yet? [hoping]

[melchar.livejournal.com]

Since this is just a US gov't stupidity, if you can get an apple battery locally [or in the European market] -they- should be able to get it to you.

I'm still rather annoyed about this. I'd even found an anti-static bag for the battery and now it's sitting here on the desk. o.O

[melchar.livejournal.com]

Do well - be well - and visit if you ever get to the Bay area of California someday. ^_^

[melchar.livejournal.com]

I asked and couldn't ship the battery with the laptop or on its own. IMO this is just annoying.

The charger/power cord is with the laptop, so I hope it will work when plugged in.