Amazing things happened over the weekend! Heartbreak over the “broken” computer turned into triumph! The computer LIVES! Somedays are just a mixture of good and rotten. My Friday was such a day.
I love getting up in the morning to blog. Purposefully, I rise at 4:30, make coffee, feed Ollie, and sit down at the computer. I usually check to make sure the world isn’t on fire, check the banking to make sure I haven’t been hacked, and then get on with the blog. I’ve been blogging since September 24, 2000. You can look on this website and go back to my very first day as a “real” writer and read through the trials and tribulations of my journey through widowhood.
It takes a little bit o fine tuning to get this schedule to work. On most days, I do turn out the lights pretty early. Without the problems of insomnia or restless leg syndrome, I fall right to sleep. The flip side is that if I oversleep until 5:30, I do feel as if half my day is gone. Silly, I know.
Friday started as any other day, except for the first terrible event. When I turned on my computer, it had a mind of its own.
5fu5fu5fu5fu5fu5fu5fu5fu5fu5fu5fu5fu5fu5fu5fu5fu5fu5fu5fu5fu5fu, and so on.
Whatever I tried resulted in 5fu.
I unplugged, waited 20 seconds and replugged.
5fu.
I tried to move the mouse.
5fu.
I unplugged the keyboard AND mouse.
5fu.
Finally, I had no choice but to contact my sweet son, T. He’s been in the computer business since he was a boy. Working for a group of doctor’s, his expertise keeps all the medical scanning equipment up and running. MRI’s, CT Scanners, and other medical equipment that I haven’t even heard of are all hooked online these days. Decades ago, when computers were new, he started his career. He’s tops at what he does. Lives and the doctors that save them depend on him.
Another part of his work involves dealing with frantic employees that can’t get their $%#%$#% computer to do what they want. He hears it all, day in and day out. He reads between the lines and makes things better. I would guess most of the problems he deals with are not even caused by what the employee thinks they are. He has an analytical brain perfectly suited for problem solving.
I never text the kids early in the morning. They have their own kids and lives to get going. But, last Friday, I needed computer help. It wasn’t my health emergency, but rather my computer’s. That’s more critical in my book.
When I saw his text that said “Oh No”, after we had tried ten different procedures, my heart sank. With a three year old dishwasher awaiting a motherboard, it seemed my 2.5 year old Dell All-In-One desktop (dearly loved) would be going to the bone yard. For another $800+, I’d need a new computer. It was just that simple.
Sadly, I used my i-Pad to order another. Thank goodness for Amazon.
All day, this was wearing me down. How could a computer be so new and just break? I had not spilled coffee on the thing. I hadn’t had any sort of power surge. Were things these days built to last two years and fry? My appliance repairman has his own experiential evidence to prove that theory. There had to be one last thing I could try to fix this.
And then, the lightbulb in my brain brightened.
You-Tube.
With that thought, my trusty i-Pad and I and went to work. Entering the model number, I asked for a fix. In seconds, I was watching a video on how to fix all kinds of computer issues. I could add more space or replace the fan. I could remove the hard drive and replace it with a bigger one.
The first step involved popping off the back cover. Just like the technician on the video told me, it would sound terrible. Like I was cracking the entire thing. Assured that it wouldn’t break, I just needed to start at a corner and lift.
I WAS a little scared to to this alone. Not to fear, my Mysterious Marine came to the rescue. After planting two trees and two rose bushes, he wasn’t done helping a damsel in distress. Nope. All he needed was a few screwdrivers and it was on it.
With the cover off, the computer was exactly as shown in the video. With the removal of four screws and a small cover, the tiny battery was exposed. A common flat battery that we’ve all seen many times over. The video suggested that to reset the computer, the battery needed to be removed for 20 seconds and then replaced.
Carefully, we did this while marveling at the beauty of the motherboard. Then, Snap-Crackle-Pop and the computer was back together.
When plugged in, it worked. Just! Like! New!
No need to spend hundreds on a replacement. Amazon will be getting a big return and I’m back in business. All it took was a look-see on You Tube.
As a widow, unexpected breaks can be devastating. From a broken air conditioning unit to a failing irrigation system, life as a widowed home owner is often frustrating and overwhelming. But, You-Tube holds answers for so many fixes. From programing a garage door opener to repairing a computer. With a brand, model number, and brief description of the problem, you too, can fix your clogged sink, leaky toilet, or even a computer that likes to type 5fu over and over.
With that, I hope your Memorial Day was grand. Short of replacing a roof or digging through layers of roots, there isn’t much an old widow woman can’t do. There are those things for which we aren’t strong enough. That’s true enough. But, with a little research, we can diagnose what’s wrong and understand the proper fix. That way, when someone arrives to do the job, we KNOW what needs to be done.
Whatever you do today, think of a small project that bugs you and find the fix on You Tube. You’ll be amazed at the different things you can learn to do yourself. It’s empowering and pretty darn exciting. Of course, a special thanks to my Mysterious Marine. Gardening AND Computer repairs. Pretty darn cool!
More tomorrow.