Specifically I changed the hard drive from the 120GB/5400rpm model to the 100GB/7200rpm model.Then I looked Wednesday, and the hard drive was still the 120GB/5400rpm model, but they put me at at 2.16GHz processor and added the requisite $300 to the order…. But they screwed something up in the process and somehow lost my place in line, putting my ship date back to March 16th!!The guy on the phone was *so* apologetic and said he’d give me a discount off the price (plus free 2-day shipping), and we said our goodbyes, mine being a bit more depressed than his.Then late last night an e-mail appears in my box stating that my order has shipped and is en route.

about the USDA’s recently revised food pyramid(s) versus Harvard’s pyramid (a good read, I might add, though it’s only available in print, I believe!)…. With this new-fangled Internet thingy, not to mention cable and satellite television, we can get our news, entertainment, and heck, even tangible goods from just about anywhere on the planet.

I opted for the high end model (at the time, 1.83GHz) and figured I’d better put the 120GB, 5400rpm SATA drive in it. Since then, it’s been “due to ship” sometime by or before February 15th.Today, as you probably know, Apple announced that the whole MacBook Pro line would be given a speedbump (yes, this is prior to them shipping anything!), so I called the Apple Store to see about all this.I chose to wait the extra 30 seconds on hold and actually talk to someone, and she was very helpful in reporting a few things: Yes, it’s true, my 1.83GHz model will be upgraded to a 2.0GHz model without impacting my ship date.My ship date will be impacted anyway, and I’m supposed to get an e-mail from them today or tomorrow indicating my “revised” ship date.If I want to change ANY part of my order, they have to cancel it and put a new order in, meaning my ship date will be pushed back yet another couple of weeks.The interesting thing, of course, is that last point was the only time she indicated anything about a time frame.

My friend, Ron Marks, posted a great note in his blog that really highlights the fact that, as a society, we’re way too over protective and litigious than we used to be (and yes, obviously the two go hand-in-hand)…. protect them TOO much, though, and I truly believe you actually wind up *hurting* them, and in a very big way.