Weak Squad

Ah computers. The bastions of the 21st century and the bane of my existence.

Let me start at the beginning.

- On the morning of December 25th, 2008 my computer was whirring away as usual. As happens on occasion, it dropped its internet connection in a manner that requires a restart. So, i restarted my computer and to my surprise, it gets stuck on a startup screen. I freak out a little inside.

-I hold the power button down, it turns off, and I press the power button again. The screen comes to life and I pray harder than I ever have that it will at least proceed past the "VAIO" screen. This of course does not happen and the words "Would you like to begin starup repair?" appear on the screen. The freskout is upgraded to a minor panic attack.

-I then turn the computer on and off at least 20 or 30 times in the next 5 days with absolutely no luck even with System Restore. On top of that, I am unable to recover my data because the computer is not recognizing my external hard drive. I am now borderline major panic attack/minor myocardial infarction.

- I take my computer to the Geek Squad desk at Best Buy which proves to be as useful as a wet towel on a deflated balloon. They tell me that the only thing that can happen now is for me to get a new computer and they will help me try to recover my data. My status is now officially a full blown heart attack.

-I have given up all hope and retreat to Best Buy with my head down and purchase a new Dell laptop for around $1000. I bring it home and spend the next 5 hours downloaded and installing the essentials (VLC, Microsoft Office, Photoshop, MIT Certificates, etc.) My heart attack is downgraded to an uncomfortable ulcer.

-My mom comes home, insisting that I can make Sony send me a box to send back to them and they will fix my computer and send it back. I peruse the Sony tech support website and find no evidence of this, but do manage to find the tech support chat. I begin a chat with SHAWN who points me to a support site with that says "remove the battery, plug in the AC adapter and turn the computer on" (keep in mind that I am looking this all up on the new computer). I think "this is stupid" but I do it anyway and, as my life goes, it works. My ulcer becomes a migraine.

-So, in the course of 8 hours, I have gone from no working computers to TWO working computers.

This is my first Day of 2009. It's only uphill from here.