New Year, New Look

Not too terribly exciting, as I am not of the artsy kind and therefore cannot make myself any sort of masthead that isn't a template. I just thought I'd do a little rearranging is all. Now to tackle the living room!

Or not.

It's only the 7th of January, and it already seems like we should be facing February about now. All the fog outdoors has fogged my brain. All the Christmas decorations are down and stowed for another year. I didn't make any new year's resolutions because I just don't do resolutions. I always flop at them, so years ago, I decided I wasn't going to set myself up for failure anymore. And I like it like that. Besides, it's a crappy time of year to try and motivate me to do much of anything, let alone get me to start exercising or eating healthier or anything not fun like that.

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I've spent some quality time the past couple weeks with the customer and technical support folks at the company that made my laptop. You see, I love this laptop soooo much, I've gone and worn out the left mouse button. It's still covered under warranty, so I started with the online chat option for technical support. I logged in. The pop up window told me the average wait time was about 28 minutes. Whatever. I did other things for 28 minutes.

A chat window pops up saying "Balraj" was the "Agent" who would be chatting with me. Two seconds later, the session closes on it's own. Grrr. I open another request for a chat. Another 28 minute wait.

Next chat that opens for me is with "Agent Santosh". (Do you think maybe this company outsources their tech support?) I spend TWO HOURS online with "Santosh" getting him to understand that this wasn't a software issue, but a hardware issue. The button is broken. The touchpad works fine. Everything else works fine. It's just a broken button. All I want to do is get it fixed under my warranty!

Finally, I think he gets it. I am informed I will receive a box over the next few days in which I will pack my laptop to ship it for repair. (Oh my goodness! I'm already having a panic attack over the concept of being separated from my computer!) I am also informed I will have to REMOVE my hard drive before shipment to keep it safe. (Pass me the paper bag! I need help breathing!) I'm usually a handy person, but I draw the line at messing with my computer. He tells me detailed instructions will come with the package, telling me how to remove the hard drive and he assures me it's quite easy.

Fast forward to today. I have the box. I decide it's time to get the repair done. I get out the instructions for removing the hard drive. The two screws holding the cover on are removed. I set the cover to the side. The instructions tell me to slide the drive to the left, then pull up on the tab to lift it out. I try to slide. It won't budge. I try and try and try. It won't budge. I'm wondering if I can use the screwdriver as a lever to move it? I'm too afraid to try. I don't want to break my 'puter!

There is a phone number on the instruction sheet telling me if I experience any problems, I am to call that number. So I do.

I get through to someone on the phone much faster than I did online! On the phone, I got "Usha". Usha asked me all sort of questions such as, "Are you looking at the front or the back of the computer?" and "Did you remove the two screws from the cover?" I keep my composure the best I can because I know she has to ask these questions since not everyone will do those obvious things. After almost an hour of discussion with "Usha", she comes to the conclusion that maybe I need to find a local technician to help me get the hard drive out. I thanked her for her time and hung up.

I think I'll have a local technician just fix my computer. I fired off an email asking if they could just send me the part. I'm waiting to hear back.

Wow, was that a rant and a half.... Sorry.