Technological Trials

We just had one of those (fortunately very rare) weeks when technology, which is usually a dependable, agreeable presence in our household, decided to all of a sudden turn around and bite us in the...well, wallet, in this case. I guess you could say Husband and I actually started the cyber-snowball rolling when we decided it was time to replace the "downstairs computer". This was a desktop computer, with the full set of space-sucking components--keyboard, mouse, monitor, CPU. Also, it was 8-1/2 years old, which as we all know is just ancient in computer years. Furthermore, due to a tragic series of vicious viral attacks, it had already been resuscitated from the machine graveyard....twice. We figured we were just pushing our luck asking this poor old guy to keep chugging along for us. So we patted ourselves on the back for being proactive and putting it out to pasture before it died once and for all. We agreed that we would purchase a laptop this time--smaller and more efficient. Then I of course performed copious amounts of research to decide exactly which one to buy. So far, so good. I reached a conclusion, ran it by the rest of the Board, (um...also known as "Husband") and ordered our new computer.

In the meantime, Husband continued to utilize the current desktop until Fed Ex delivered its replacement, and I emailed and blogged and Facebooked like I normally do, on the "upstairs computer" (my laptop). Business as usual....until the fateful Tuesday afternoon that the Dell box arrived on our doorstep, that is. I unwrapped the new laptop and did the obligatory oohing and aahing over its shiny, sleek exterior. I didn't plan to set it up, however, until perhaps the weekend, when we would have time to fully backup and wipe clean the old CPU and effect the file transfer to the new machine. BUT (there's always a "but" in my stories, have you noticed?) after finishing the admiration period, I retired upstairs to--I don't remember what, but probably post something about it on Facebook--and disaster struck. I simply picked up my power cord to move it a few inches out of my way, and the...electrical...box...thingy...popped loudly and shot angry sparks at me. After dropping the cord to the ground and inspecting it closely to make sure it wasn't going to ignite the carpet, I carefully picked it back up and spotted an exposed section of wires where--and here I'm employing my extensive knowledge of electrical...doohickeys--the short had occurred. (You like that? Real Official Electrician's Terminology...or something.) The computer itself appeared not to have noticed the drama, and was still humming along serenely...but now it couldn't be plugged in and charged.

How to address this dilemma? Why, steal--I mean commandeer--the new "downstairs laptop", naturally! This would buy me some time to try to scrounge up a suitable power source, if it even existed. The thing is, my laptop is almost 5 years old, which is, if possible, even more antiquated in "portable computer years" than the one we had just finished switching. The practical consequence is: the technology has of course changed over the past several years, meaning that even an extremely well-stocked Computer Megastore could not locate a power cord that matched my fried one. And Toshiba wanted a cool hundred bucks to send me a new one...for a computer I spent around $500 on in the first place...that I was planning to upgrade this summer anyway. Wait, let me think--throw money at an old, heavy, bulky laptop to get it to last a few more months...or channel that same moolah toward a brand-spanking-new, ultra-thin-and-light netbook?  Um, thanks but no thanks, Toshiba!

So the good news was that I would be getting a new computer at an earlier date than expected. And the bad news? A bit of a shock to the old credit card, that's all, nothing it can't handle. And here I sit, typing away on the "borrowed" laptop while waiting for Fed Ex...again. And hey, I've already practiced by configuring one computer this week--removing all the stupid unnecessary trial programs; downloading the preferred browser; installing all of the free anti-virus/spyware/malware (don't ask me what the difference is, I just follow directions and do what I'm told...by Expert Geeks); adjusting the Touchpad buttons so they Stop. Ticking. Me. OFF. When the next one shows up, I'll be ready to tackle that sucker and get it up and running in no time. (And yes, I DO want my Tech Support t-shirt, thank you very much!) But I would have to say, we are absolutely D-O-N-E. We've had our share of technical difficulties for the entire year, all crammed into one week. I expect a smooth, trouble-free 2012 from here on out...now where can I download that?