I need a computer for communication with the outside world, both email and my Magic Jack phone. It is also essential financially. I check my accounts, move funds, pay bills and of course there is my blog (my baby). It started as a means for friends of mine around to keep up with what and how I was doing in Mexico. To my amazement, I have picked up readers all over the world. Who ever you are in Brazil, Alaska, and Russia that reads this stuff, I would appreciate it if you would send me a message. My email address is lagunalary@aol.com . I really did not know how I could survive without a computer. I was about to find out.
The past few weeks have been hot. We are still waiting for the heavy rains. One day last week, I used the computer in the morning working on a still unfinished blog. Some take me a month; this one I will knock out in a few days. I had bridge that day and suddenly had to shower and leave for bridge. I forgot and left the computer on. Elvis happened to stop by (forgetting that it was my bridge day), I thought I would be home shortly, but bridge went on, and on, and on. He wound up waiting an hour for me to get home. By the time he left, I just had time to change to go out to dinner with Patty. We finished dinner late and she came by here for one more glass of wine (maybe two). By the time she left I was really drunk, but did have the presence of mind to shut off the computer. It has been on in a very hot room for 14 to 15 hours.
The following morning I tried to turn it back on, but just got a black screen. I left it running hoping something would pop up later. When I got back to it, it was really hot and still a black screen. I unplugged it and put it near a window on its side to cool it off. When that did not work, I stuck it in the refrigerator (not very long, really) Still nothing. I called a friend of mine and he said maybe I needed a new fan underneath (mine died a long time ago) and to get some compressed air to clean the vents. But I decided to take it immediately to the computer store who fixed it the last time it overheated (last summer). The shop is about 12 blocks away and when I got there the steel door had been raised about a foot off the sidewalk and a fan was set under it. I yelled, but no one answered. There were three numbers on the door to call in case it was closed. No one answered the first two numbers and someone's mother answered the third number. In her broken English, I got the impression that her son was at school, but she would call him and have him get back to me. I went across the street to one of my favorite restaurants that I seldom visit because it is so far from my home. I had just seated myself in a lovely patio of trees and flowers and ordered an ice tea (while still studying the menu). My phone rang and it was the computer guy who told me to go back across the street and yell under the door or just bang on the door as someone sleeps in the back.
Finally a tall bald American man appeared and said, ¨´Yes, What do you want¨" I explained my problem to which he said he knew nothing about computers, but the computer guy usually arrives between 10 and 12. It was now 11:00. I told him I would be across the street having lunch and would try later. By that time the door was fully open and another American was seated at a desk, He said that he too knew nothing about computers, but "Cheynne" should be there between 1:00 and 3:00. I left my number and asked that he call me. In the meanwhile I took the bus to Office Depot and bought a new fan and a can of that compressed air. I tried both and turned the computer back on and sure enough I had a screen. I was thrilled for about 15 minutes and then it died again. I tried the spray can (no one told me that you have to give one squirt in the air to get rid of the water before turning it on the computer), so some water did go through the vents. The computer guy did call and say he would be there the following day sometime between 10:00 and 12:00.
It remained dead. The following morning I called to explain that I would be there a little after noon as I had a Spanish class at 11:00. Sure enough he was there. He asked it I had taken the back off yet. My first thought was to say "Are you crazy?" but instead just answered NO! He played with it for a while and pronounced that it looked like the video card was fried. He could fix it, but it would cost almost as much as a new computer and would still be an old damaged machine. He gave me a list of what I needed for a new computer and then told me "Do not get Windows 8, you must find an old Windows 7", He said that if the mother board was still intact, he could transfer all my information and systems to a flash drive and install it in my new computer. He wanted 250 pesos for the flash drive, but said if I gave him my old computer he would not charge for the transfer. He sounded like a deal to me.
My friend had just purchased a brand new car a few days earlier and I was pretty sure he would be out tooling around in it. I called and asked if he would be anywhere near a Wal Mart or an Office Depot. He said they were just on their way to Costco and would pick me up on the way. We went first to Costco. I was shocked to find that they were not buying anything but a hot dog and a pizza (One of the little luxuries of having a car, I guess). .Costco had no Windows 7 computers and neither did Office Depot. Walmart had two models with Windows 7. (I never did find out if Windows 8 is a bad system, or if it was not compatible with my old one).
You would think an old model would be on sale, but no, instead they were offering a gift of some sort of electronic device. I had no idea what it was and knew I would never figure out how to use it, so I offered it to my friend who drove me there. I selected what I thought was the better of the two and the girl wrote something down on a pink pad and told me to pay at the cashier. Armed with the receipt, the girl left for the back of the store. We waited at least 45 minutes for her to return. She had to find a guard with a key to get to the warehouse (Was it in Guadalajara?). My friend dropped me back at the computer store. No one answered any of the three numbers, but it was still open and I left it with the tall bald guy who lives there.
To my amazement the kid (he is just 17) called to say it was ready before 11:00 the next morning.. What I did not realize is that he wanted another 800 pesos to "format" it. Nothing to do but pay it. When I got it home, I first had to get my internet to recognize the computer. It wanted a security code. If I ever had one, I did not remember. I called Telecable and for all the awful (but true) things I have said about them, I got an English speaking person within 5 minutes. He told me to type "1" twenty six times as the security code (Is that dumb or what!). At that point my computer wanted me to register myself. I struggled with it for half an hour and also realized that I had no icon for AOL or Magic Jack. I called the kid, but no answer, so I called another computer guy who was recommended to me. He spoke perfect English and said he would have someone there in ten minutes (maybe 20). Unfortunately the guy he sent spoke a little English consisted of "HELLO, how are YOU" I tried to explain my problem (he had to check with his boss) and finally I got my AOL (in English) and Magic Jack (or so I thought). Another 300 pesos and he was gone. By that time I was sick of the whole scenario and decided to go to a bar and get very drunk.
The next morning I turned it on and decided it was time to check email and my Magic Jack messages. I then discovered that I had no sound. I suddenly realized that the computer had never utter a word. No tune when you turn in on and no "You've got Mail!!" I knew enough to check the speakers and had them at high volume. It also had a mute, but it was off. I called the first kid and he had no idea and said I would have to bring in down to him. Twelve blocks each way in the hot sun! It seems that if you press function and F10 it mutes the entire computer. Who knew?? Happily I took it home, but when I connected Magic Jack I found that the phone still had no sound. I found "menu" and got to the sound controls and finally I can hear on my phone.
It will be a while before I figure out this Mexican key board. It has an extra letter "ñ" and the punctuation marks are in strange places. Some are under letters and instead of the capital key, you use a special key marked "Alt Gr" (who knows?) There may be errors in the postings, but then none of them are perfect. Besides all the hassle and trips to the computer shop, it is the cost that really upset me, but it could have been worse. What if I had lost everything on my old computer. Not only photos, but I have about 600 pages of two unfinished (and as yet unpublished) novels. I had Carbonite that is supposed to save all your information, but none of the computer guys here seemed to know anything about it. If Pamela is still reading my blog (she tried to teach me all about computers over 20 years ago) she will not be surprised to learn that decades later computers are just as confusing and frustrating to me as they ever were.
!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""2
No comments:
Post a Comment