Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

When I got the call yesterday that my computer was fixed and I could pick it up any time, I figured my technical troubles were nearly ended. But the universe wasn't going to let me go that easily.

This morning, I was starting a morning assignment, after which I planned to pick up the computer. I was only about five minutes into starting my work when the power cut out on me. The Gryphon was still there, so he grabbed some shoes and went down to check the fuse box. It wasn't any of the breakers; our power was simply out.

The computer had switched onto backup power on the UPS unit, so I saved my work and shut down. The Gryphon called the power company. Although he never spoke to a person, a recording alerted him that they knew about the problem and were working on fixing it. The estimated time for it to be fixed was at 9:30, about an hour and a half later.

So in what has become a familiar practice, I called work to tell them to reassign my morning assignment due to a power failure. While I waited for the power to return, I caught some extra Z's.

Of course, The Gryphon had opened the bedroom window so that some cooler air could come in, which meant all the street noises were now audible. I could have slept in longer, but somebody started banging on something, doing some sort of construction work, and Una seemed to think they were knocking. She was doing her "someone's at the door" bark. So I sighed and got up.

I took Una for a walk, hoping that by the time I returned the power would be back on. Along the way, I noticed several news helicopters hovering overhead, maybe about a mile away. I couldn't figure out what they were hanging out over, but I thought maybe there was an accident somewhere.

When I got home, the phone was ringing. It stopped just as I got the key in the inside door, but I shrugged. As soon as I entered the living room, I could tell the power was back on. Little red lights were blinking on the various electronic devices, and the familiar hum of the refrigerator was back. I figured the phone call must have been the automatic phone call from the power company which The Gryphon had requested, to let us know the power was back.

I hopped online just long enough to notify The Gryphon of the good news, then I drove to the computer shop and picked up my computer. I was so grateful to see that baby come out of the back.

As the cashier was ringing me up, a guy came in covered in sawdust and dirt, carrying his laptop computer, which needed repaired. As he spoke, he leaned on the top of my computer, which was sitting on a low counter specially designed to hold computer equipment.

While the cashier cheerily updated my contact info and rang up my bell, I kept sliding sidelong glances at the sawdust guy, having paranoid thoughts about sawdust blowing in through a gap in the casing and frying something important, or of him carelessly making a sudden hand gesture and knocking the computer onto the floor. Fortunately, the universe was not quite so cruel; this time, it had apparently only been taunting me.

As the cashier rang me up, he noted that I'd had an upgrade. This was true, because when the technician had me on the phone yesterday he suggested doubling the RAM. The price was reasonable, so I said yes, since the replacement of the hard drive had been under warranty.

But what I didn't know was that I had a bigger hard drive, too. The technician, who'd over heard the discussion, called from the back room that they'd been out of hard drives the size of my original one, so they'd given me a larger one at no charge.

He also gently reminded me that it's a good idea to make backups of data on the hard drive, and I assured him that The Gryphon, "my IT professional boyfriend," and I were pricing backup software.

Finally, I was ready to go, and someone from the shop helped me load the computer into my car. I drove home to see the helicopters still hovering. According to the local NBC channel's web site, they might be getting aerial footage of a search for a missing pregnant woman, taking place in Cobb's Creek, about a mile away.

I hooked up my beautiful AOpen computer, and I'm back in business!

Copyright 2005 by Alyce Wilson

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