The resurection of my beloved machine.
Obviously, the computer's back up and whirring along. Glory be to the gods at Dell's customer service and glory be to me for shelling out the extra dough last year on that warranty. There's a new video card installed and it didn't cost me a cent, which I'm not about to bitch about. Every so often, you get what you pay for. Them's the good times.
The guy who came over to install the card did give me a few moments of concern, the first of which is when he couldn't find a place to park in the lot out front. I was looking out the window and could see him there in the middle of the lot, dialing his cell. I picked up the phone and he asked me where to park. I told him to just back up and park in front of my Honda in the corner. Is it my fault that in following instructions he almost backed over one of my neighbors who was walking right behind his SUV? Granted, Mr. Tech shoulda checked his mirrors a little better, but I have to lay some of the blame here at the neighbor's feet. I never walk right behind a running vehicle, especially when I'm approaching from the blind spot. "Make sure they see you," is one of the driving rules that's kept me alive (and scored me an $186.43 bonus check and award pin for seven years safe driving last Thursday, thankyouverymuch). Whoever was more at fault, though, my neighbor gets to shouting at the guy, and after apologizing, the tech guy ends up getting defensive and eventually tells my neighbors to go to hell. By the time he gets into the apartment, his mood is pretty much fixed. Can't say as I blame him, but is this the guy whose hands I want inside my delicate machine?
The man was fast, I'll give him that, and in just a couple of seconds he'd flipped the thing on its side and had the cover off, chatting away about what assholes my neighbors are. I change the subject and after a moment he notices my work uniform which I'm still stylishly wearing. "Hey, you know Derwin?" Derwin happens to be my boss, so I say yeah and it turns out these two were busboys at the same local restaurant back in high school thirty years ago. "Say, is he still an insomniac?"
"He ain't snoozin' at work."
"Hey, does he work out at that gym on West 5th?"
"Not sure. Maybe. He did have a heart attack a few months ago." All of a sudden, I'm my boss's social secretary. I end up promising to tell Derwin, "Hi, from Paul from the Pickwick."
In seemingly less time than it should take, the cover's back on and he slides the computer back onto the desk, quickly hooking up all the cables. "Alright, let's see how it goes now. Okay, where's the 'on' on this thing."
This is the other thing that worried me. Not just that he didn't know how to turn the machine on, but that I had to tell him, "The button's on the top, so we'll have to flip it back over."
"Oh hey, yeah! Upside down, isn't it?"
Okay, the glossy top got scratched a bit, but that's no big deal. That's where my Tick action figure stands anyway. And regardless of the fact that Paul from the Pickwick literally doesn't know which way is up, the computer lept to life and hasn't given us a spot of trouble since. We're back in business, all thanks to the hit and run computer tech.
I'd say all told, he was in and out of here in less than 10 minutes. I'm amazed at how quickly my paralyzed computer was healed.
The next morning, when I extend Paul's greeting to Derwin, my boss asks, "Oh yeah? Where'd ya run inta him?"
"He came to my house and fixed my computer."
"What's he doin' these days."
"Fixing computers. He asked me if you're still an insomniac."
"Huh. He's a nice guy."
"Not a safe driver, though. I'm gonna load my van."
"Hey, if you see him again . . ."
I know for a fact that one of these guys has a pretty good knowledge of computers. Perhaps Pickwick Paul can get Derwin on Facebook and I can stop being the go-between. Maybe they'll meet at the gym on West 5th. Maybe they'll exchange phone numbers. Maybe they'll go to the Pickwick some weekend for brunch. I don't give a fuck. I'm just so damned grateful to have my computer back.
Computer, you who enables my iTunes, downloads my anime and reads my lj, I adore you. Consider your warranty extended, and what ever software you desire, it's yours.