Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

NASA got Discovery off the ground without any trouble. I, however, had a day full of technical difficulties.

I got impatient when the computer seemed hung up, and I hit the power button to restart the computer. When I tried to restart it was when it really started acting funny. It brought up a special screen asking me which mode I wanted to start in, and after I chose one, it went through the motions but wouldn't stop going through the loop of restarting again and again.

"Honey, I might need you," I said, thus winning the Understatement of the Year Award. The Gryphon is an IT professional, and I rely on him for all my technical woes.

He came up and took a look, then tried a few simple fixes. None of them worked. He got on his laptop and determined a possible fix might involve reinstalling a file from my original systems disk, which, naturally, was nowhere to be found. It should have moved with us from my old place, but it was nowhere near my other computer disks. We'll probably find it tomorrow, inside a box marked "S" for "stupid." Or better yet, in plain sight on a table, smirking at us.

Of course, naturally, the computer we had intended to use as a backup was languishing downstairs, unusable, since we'd never had the problem repaired that had prompted us to buy the new computer in the first place.

The Gryphon said, "OK, let's take it back to the computer shop where we bought it." He called his workplace to let them know he'd be late. We loaded both my current computer and my previous computer into the car. Might as well get them both fixed. We couldn't have known it, but this was only the beginning of our saga.

When we got to the computer store, it was still closed, so drove to a nearby diner to get some breakfast. The Gryphon, who had already eaten, just had a corn muffin, while I had blueberry pancakes. Then we headed back to the store.

The Gryphon explained the problem and I produced my receipt, verifying it was still under warranty. The guy we spoke to had also sold us the computer in the first place. He said some technicians were out so he couldn't promise when it would get done, but we asked him to put a rush on it. After checking in the back, he discovered the technician was almost done working on the other computer and should be able to get to it soon.

At this point, we didn't know what was wrong with it and were hoping for a quick fix, so we hung around the computer shop, talking and looking at their merchandise. The guy we'd originally spoke to left to go to the bank.

Finally, the technician, whom we could see was working on the computer, came up and asked us if he could help us. "Yes, you're working on my computer, and I'd hoped for a prognosis."

"Well, I don't think you want to stand around and wait on it, because it's going to be all day." Apparently, it was a hard drive failure, so he was cloning my hard drive to save my data before installing the new one into my computer. But he promised it should be back within 48 hours.

This did not, of course, help me with the day's assignments. I had already called in a couple times to let them know I couldn't do my morning work and had no idea about afternoon or evening. I've been picking up extra work because of various people being on vacation.

"Let's go to Plan B," The Gryphon said.

I nodded. Then, after we were outside: "What's Plan B?"

Plan B was to call his manager at work and find out if it would be possible, for a short period of time, to loan me one of their old systems, which they were busy replacing with brand new ones. His manager said that, provided no sensitive data was on the computer he lent me, that would be fine.

We drove to his office, an hour away in New Jersey. The idea was to get a system ready to go. While he did so, an office mate showed me some paintings he was giving away. I chose one for our apartment, a nice flowery landscape for our bedroom.

Now these computers were using Windows NT, which is what I was using two computers ago, on an eMachine I bought on an installment plan from Fingerhut. But this didn't distress me too much, since I had been able to do my work on it back then. Slow and creaky, maybe, but funcational.

The Gryphon rummaged through his disks and found Windows 98 to install. This took a little while. He also had to clear out some data. Then we needed to accomplish two more things: to download AIM, which I must use to communicate with work, and RealPlayer, which is also necessary for work. AIM worked but RealPlayer would not, even though the computer supposedly met the system requirements.

Determining that the computer needed more RAM, The Gryphon took it apart and gave it a brain boost. It still would work. Naturally. The universe was not yet done having its fun.

Trying computer after computer, we kept encountering troubles. One didn't have a sound card; another couldn't handle his commands. Most had atrociously low RAM. By this point, we'd been working on this much, much longer than we'd anticipated. Or rather, he was working on it and I was huddled on a nearby chair, shivering in the air conditioning and failing in my efforts not to appear distressed.

Finally, he found a promising prospect. It already had a sound card, Word and AIM. All I would have to do would be to download RealPlayer. We figured we were set. He was late for a meeting, so with many apologies and a hug and kiss, he went off down the hall. I loaded the computer in the car.

The ride back was uneventful, though silent, since my CD player, back from being repaired, had not yet been installed. I cranked up the air conditioning, worrying the extreme heat would damage the already elderly computer riding on the passenger seat floor.

When I hooked up the computer, it refused to cooperate with my monitor. The screen was flickering, and then at certain points, the computer stopped showing any image at all. I began to believe that it would be impossible to do any work, so I called in and told them they should consider reassigning the rest of my work for the day. I told them I would let them know if the situation changed.

After a phone call to The Gryphon, he realizing it was a problem with the monitor settings, he walked me through fixing it and I had visual. I thanked him profusely.

Once more on my own, I downloaded RealPlayer, which -- you know what's coming -- wouldn't work. I determined I must require an older version, so I did a Google search for "RealPlayer 'previous versions of'" and found an old, stripped down version that my substitute system liked.

While RealPlayer was doing the installation thing, I went downstairs to get a sandwich. The doorbell rang. A guy in an Apex Security hat stood there with a smile on his face.

"I'm an at-home worker," I explained. "No time for a pitch."

"It's not a pitch. We're just giving people a chance to try out our new security system..."

His voice trailed off, but not his smile, as I firmly shut the door, with another, "Sorry."

The computer was then technically operational, if a bit, shall we say, special. With only 64MB of RAM, work crawled at a snail's pace. I had to minimize the number of windows open, use WordPad instead of Microsoft Word, and alter my work habits to match the slower speed of the poor struggling substitute computer. Like a substitute teacher being pelted with spitwads, it had apparently been unprepared for the realities of its duties.

Although it took me somewhere between one and a half and two times as long to do my assignments, I did manage to get them done, and since they were shorthanded at work and knew the situation, they were forgiving.

I was so glad to see The Gryphon when he came home, and not just because I love him. He dropped a silver package on my desk: more RAM. I don't think I had ever loved him more.

While he performed a little brain surgery on the substitute computer, I took a Boo-Boo Break, Boo-Boo being one of the many nicknames for my doggie, Una. I sat in the bedroom and petted her while The Gryphon completed the surgical operation.

After it was done, the computer worked so smoothly that I jumped for joy. I completed the rest of my assignments for the evening and then happily shut the computer down.

Of course, all my programs are on my usual computer, so I can't use DreamWeaver, for example, to update Musings. Instead, I'm typing into an edit window in Tripod, using HTML. And I can't create any new graphics, so I'm borrowing an old one. I apologize if this looks ugly. Considering how my last 24 hours have gone, though, I'm happy for anything at all.

Copyright 2005 by Alyce Wilson

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