I had a little accident a few days ago. I was absorbed in revising a few chapters in my novel and stayed up too late. I decided to print the chapters on which I’d toiled so diligently around 2:30 a.m. one day of my vacation. I stood with my laptop in my arms and took a single step toward the printer. I tripped over my sleeping dog. This may make me a bad dog mom, but I’d forgotten he was snuggled in a blanket at my feet.
The good news is that I didn’t hurt my pooch, fall, or drop my computer. The bad news is that my computer did slip, and I slammed my hand against the screen to prevent it from hitting the floor. The result was the immediate appearance of multi-colored lines along the bottom and slightly to the right of the middle of my screen. In order to make the lines go away, the screen must be replaced.
If you read my blog a lot, you know I like to fix things myself any time I can do so. This is not one of those times. Actually, I should say that I didn’t even try to replace my own screen. I did consider trying my hand at it, but I decided I didn’t want to risk permanently ruining my year-old laptop. It’s far too new to chance it.
I’d hoped I’d be able to limp along with it for a while. I’ve been using it in its damaged state for the past week or so. In order to read the screen, I was forced to minimize my document to half size, which gave me headaches and made me angry.
I reached out to an old friend a few days ago. Her husband works in a technology industry and fixes computers on the side. I told her what happened and asked if he’d be interested in making the repairs for me. She took down my information and had her hubby contact me to work out out the details.
He asked me a few questions and told me he needed to do a little research. He reached out to me a few hours later with a price quote and work time estimate. Both were reasonable, and I’m extremely pleased he agreed to make the repairs.
He’s not just someone who fixes things, he’s someone I trust. He repaired my old laptop several years ago when it was infected by some viruses. I was nearly to the point of asking him to overhaul it when my husband bought me a new laptop a year ago.
I met my techno expert in a box store parking lot this evening and gave him my poor abused laptop. Because he’s an amazing computer genius, he thinks he’ll have it fixed and ready for me to pick up tomorrow evening. I couldn’t ask for any better turnaround time than that.
In the meantime, I dug out my 11 year-old laptop. I used it until about a year ago, and now I remember why it needed to be replaced. Most of the functions have stopped working. It has to be booted up three times before it will connect to the internet. It randomly freezes in the middle of typing a word. Several of the keys don’t work. The touch pad doesn’t work, which means I’m forced to use an external mouse. Last but not least, it beeps at me every now and then with no explanation.
Even so, this old Gateway was a great laptop. It was tough and reliable for many years. I miss it in a strange way. Using this old laptop is like visiting an old friend I haven’t seen in a long time. I’m happy I kept it for a backup.
I hope to write my next blog post on my new computer with all of its fancy working keys and ease in connectivity. However, I think this old Gateway will always be my favorite because it was the first computer I ever owned. There’s just something special about your first computer.
Thank you for reading Ozarks Maven! If you’ve enjoyed my little seeds of wisdom and joy, please subscribe to Ozarks Maven, Like Ozarks Maven on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter @OzarksMaven.
I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Comments