Testing by the Computer Gods

Just when I thought I knew a lot about computers...the past week Mike and I have been thoroughly tested by the Computer Gods. And I mean tested!

I won’t go into all the gory details, but suffice to say that it began with my laptop. Out of the blue I began getting messages that my wireless application needed to be configured – yet I was intermittently able to get a wireless signal and I’ve had wireless for 4 years. Sometimes I saw the error message in our office, sometimes in the dining room. I took my laptop to a computer fix-it shop and was shown that my wireless connection rocker switch was switched off. (In retrospect I think I actually switched it off while trying to troubleshoot the problem and that was not the real problem. But I was so happy that I slipped the computer guy $20 and left the shop happy, with a signal, and was only down $20.)

The next episode involved Mike’s laptop which began cascading all windows MULTIPLE times and indicating a virus had slipped though his McAfee protection. Mike ran a McAfee scan, but wasn’t sure everything was resolved. So back we went to the same computer fix-it shop. His laptop spent the night while the same computer guy ran diagnostics and cleaned the laptop. It came home fresh and fast – albeit to the tune of $150 + change.

Just when I thought all was well, my keyboard just quit working. But I was able to plug in an external keyboard and work that way. I reloaded my drivers and wa-laa – my keyboard was working again.

For a day, that is.

The following morning both the mouse and keyboard were on the blink. I cried for a while. And stomped around and was mean to Mike. I don’t like broken computers. And then Mike called Dell. He was on the phone for maybe 6 hours straight and then an additional hour or 2 after that. It was a whole-day affair. Nice way to spend Memorial Day, huh? I’m not sure what all he did with his new tech friend, James. I hid out in the living room and tried to stay away from the office. Plus, it was freaky rainy out (yet again) so I read the Sunday paper one day late.

Last night when we went to bed it appeared that all was well. I didn’t even want to check. I just thought that after that much time my laptop must be fixed. Fast forward to this morning when I hit the on button. The mouse and keyboard worked and I had a wireless connection. But no email and no internet. WHAAAA!!

So guess who spent time on the phone with Dell’s rep, Steve, today? It was my turn. And it was painful. About 5 hours of pain. And there’s more to come. Tomorrow.

I backed up my files and email .pst file. Plus, I downloaded several drivers that I may need. And tomorrow I’ll try to find Steve so we can re-load the operating system. Hopefully that will correct the corrupt email and internet files.

Well, I guess my details got gory after all...so if anyone reading this post is friends with the Computer Gods, would you please put in a good word for us tonight? We need it!