Thursday, January 17, 2013

There's A WHOLE Lot of Swearing Going On Around Here

I did it again.  I ruined another laptop.

I killed my first one after just under 2 years.  It just completely croaked, as in, would not turn on ever again,with no warning.  Thankfully, I know a woman who is magical and she harvested my hard drive for me for a reasonable fee and we kissed the old laptop goodbye.  We, that is k-ster, the woman and myself(only 2 of us really know anything about computers-  I leave that for you to determine) think I fried the processor.

I believe that Windows was invented for not so secretly ADD folks who need to have at least 3 but sometimes 8 windows open at once to simultaneously manage the world.  I believe that a very modern computer circa 2010 should have been capable of allowing me to blog, check my email, watch Downton Abbey, wait for someone to chat with me on skype and sync my itunes all at one time.

Why else would there be Windows?

I don't need the capability to open 4 windows only to realize that I really can do only one thing at one time.  I don't believe computers in this century are that slow.

Clearly I was wrong.

The first death happened back in June.  It was right around the time I went to see my sister and had the distinct pleasure of using my mother's iPAD and not loving it because it's not a laptop and it constantly reminded me of this. 

When I got back, I hemmed and hawed and decided to abandon HP and I got a Dell.  "Dude, you got a Dell."  K-ster suggested that maybe and Intel Processor wasn't for me since I burned up the last one, so we went with umm, maybe it's AMD?  AMC?  Some acronym that I can't remember and it's not here so you'll have to trust me.  It's supposed to be a better processor.  I did my research and found a Dell laptop for a price I was willing to pay for what it would do for me.

What I didn't expect was that after 6 months, it would also blow up.  Based on the click, click, click that happened every time I tried to turn it on this week, k-ster and the Geek Squad girl (that's where you take DEll Products under warranty) concurred that it's the hard drive.  It shit the bed, as we'd say in this classy place.

AND, while I had this problem for a while and didn't want to send it away because it wasn't bothering me, I told the Geek Squad girl that the screen is missing pixels too.  Soon, I will have no screen, I guess.

So, she happily took it and told me they will send it away for 2-3 weeks to get the hard drive replaced and a new screen.

Seriously?  You're telling me it's cheaper to do all of that than to hand me a brand new computer?  One that isn't a touch screen and doesn't have Windows 8?  C'mon.  They are practically giving those things away and you're telling me that they will replace the parts on mine?

No way.

Since I knew this death was approaching, I was smart this time and put just about everything in India the cloud.  How did I know this was happening? It was doing the click thing for about a week and I found that if you bang on the hard drive area, it finds it and comes to life.  I know that is not a permanent solution, so I did it long enough to save everything so I wouldn't have to worry.

When I took it to the Geek Squad, she made me sign papers that I did not need backup.  At no point did she share that if I did need backup, it would be $100.  If it turns out that they can't find my hard drive to get the data, they will "only" charge me $30.   I signed away, certain I had everything important tucked away in Jaipur.

Guess what I realized this morning?  I didn't back up itunes.

This is where the swearing began and it hasn't stopped.  Since I use my ipod to teach at the gym, I need itunes.  I have music on my ipod now, so this isn't really an issue.  But it is such a royal pain in the ass to reload all of that music into itunes.

How do I know this?  Because I did it when I first won the old laptop and transferred from my desktop to the laptop.  Then I did it again in July when that laptop croaked and my friend found my stuff for me.  I have all of that still sitting on the external drive, so when I get my computer back, I can just get it off of there. Unless, of course, it has been corrupted.

But what I'm really mad about is that I just bought music!  I rarely do and I just bought the Les Mis(the broadway version) soundtrack and some other stuff.   Now, I swear that I've tried finding old stuff I bought on itunes and I never can.  The Geek Squad guy I talked to today said I will be able to go to purchased when I log in to itunes and it will all be there.   Do any of you know if this is true?

The swearing continues because I have to use either a computer at school or k-ster's desktop which isn't very new.  And it's not comfortable to use.  And I can't really do personal stuff like blogging at school.  It always surprises me when I realize just what I use computers for.  Yes, for email and blogging. But I use it every single day for school stuff, sometimes at home and school and often both.  I use it for my lia sophia orders of which I have two which is awesome but not so awesome when I can't use my own computer to place them.

And the swearing just got louder when I tried using an iPAD that I'm borrowing from school and it's not letting me use gmail.

Every time I think I've found a way to deal with my absent laptop, something gets in the way!

So, now I have to go searching for a comfortable computer to use that will be fast enough to get what I need to get done so I can do it and go home.  It's like sleeping at someone's house.  It's just no fun. 

Or I can get stuck using k-ster's and have him make faces at me because he needs to check facebook.

What a world we live in.

Sharing my misery here

1 comment:

  1. I have learnt the hard way not backing up my work before the laptop crashes. Luckily my husband is the geek and although he was not able to get everything... he was able to get some important stuff. I did use some questionable words when that happens, because not having one does throw you off.
    I am following you now and would love for you to follow along.
    Jillian
    http://puzzlemecomplete.blogspot.com/2013/01/inspiring-friday.html

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