I remember, way back when, getting my first PC at work. As an accountant, it was supposed to make life so much easier because we would have electronic spreadsheets to do all our calculations. No more ten-key adding machines and pads of 13-column paper! And as a writer, wow, we could type in our words and then play with them, fix them, change them, cut and paste them! But today it seems like I’m a slave to all that technology! And God forbid anything should go wrong with my computer or my Internet connection, because it’s so darn complicated that I have no idea how to fix it! My computer died a couple of months ago. The techs at my local geek place said it was a bad hard drive. The computer manufacturer said it was virus in my software and refused to replace the hard drive under warranty. So I did a system restore instead. Mind you, all this took days and days of writing time! I didn’t lose any of my documents, but I lost all my e-mails and my address book. But finally, I had a restored computer. It worked for 3 weeks. Then, same problems, freezing screens, programs not working. This time, the manufacturer agreed it was the hard drive and yes, they’d replace it, but it’ll take about 3 weeks between sending it, repairing it, and returning it. Okay, I’m down with that! I’m using my netbook so at least I can still keep working. Then, on Sunday, the netbook suddenly refuses to enter the Internet! Something about conflicting IP addresses. After two days, I finally get someone to tell me what’s wrong and how to fix it. Bless you, Belkin Man! But really, what it points out is that without my computer, I can’t work. And that to me means I’m a slave to my technology. Maybe the old typewriter wasn’t so bad!
So, what’s your worst Internet or computer nightmare? Leave a comment and your contact e-mail address and I’ll enter you in the drawing for an autographed copy of
Show and Tell, the second book in my
Fortune Hunter Tales. I’ll also add you to my newsletter for updates if you aren’t already a member. BTW, today I’m taking my Mom to Sacramento to visit an old friend of hers that she knew in England. So I might not be able to get in and answer any comments for a couple of days (see, more slave to technology!).
Just a reminder, don’t miss the
Take Your Pick excerpt on my website, but wear those oven mitts, because it’s explicit right from the get-go!
Take Your Pick is available from
Loose-Id.
And of course,
Dead to the Max is finally available on
Amazon Kindle with a text revamp, and thanks to Rosemary Gunn for creating that fresh new cover look.
Loose-Id.
12 comments:
I've had quite a few nightmares with my computer. The one that features prominently in my mind was when I worked all day on a book, editing it and polishing it to return to the editor...only to have my flash drive get corrupted and lose everything I had worked for.
That was aggravating. I had to work on it again, setting me back at least two days. Not to mention losing all the other files I had on that drive.
The lesson here: Someway, somehow--always back up your work!
So sorry you lost all that work, Rose Marie! How frustrating! I agree on doing those backups! I didn't lose any of my work, but I did lose all my emails and address book. I'd done a backup on that, but when I went to restore it all, there was something wrong with the file. Ah well, at least with gmail, I had most of what I needed!
The worst thing that happened to me was with the computer I had before this computer. I knew it was on its last legs it was pushing 5 years old. After years of kids getting all kinds of virus's and spy ware and stuff on it it finally gave me the blue screen of death.
What gets me now is that the owners manual for the newer computers are downloaded on the computer what good is it going to do if you can't get your computer to open up.
I like having a book manual full of phone numbers and addresses of who to get in touch with if you need help.
My internet provider has been sold and between the two IP's my email is really screwed up. Supposed to be sorted out by 9/30.
kissinoak at verizon dot net
Sad to say, Jasmine, the main
problem with my computer is me!
I'm a most illiterate computer
user! I've had my Compaq for some
while and Honey has spent time in
trying to teach me to properly
use this machine. Yet I am still
on a very basic level. My way of
handling the problems is to call
down the hall for Honey. Bless his
heart, he comes down and shows me
what I need to do AGAIN! Oh,well!
Pat Cochran
someone accessed my personal info for a website, but luckily I ended it before anything really bad happened and reccently my computer stopped working while loading new updates and is still down. :(
Dina
dlsmilad@yahoo.com
I must admit that I rely on my kids and my husband when I have a problem with my computer. My greatest nightmare would be that my computer break down and I have to figure out why on my own.
I just had to give up and buy a new one. Not a real computer whiz here.
A couple years ago we lost EVERYTHING when the hard drive fried itself. We ended up sending it to an interstate company and after parting with nearly $1000 we eventually got back the photos that we thought were lost forever. Now, of course, we backup backup backup.
I've read the Fortune Hunter and Fair Game but haven't managed to get hold of Show & Tell yet so fingers crossed!
hankts AT internode ON net
I finally got a new computer last week and I'm really enjoying it. My old one was so old it had Windows 98 on it. When I would try to open a site with a lot of graphics it would take forever, and if the site had music, crash city. Now that I've got the new one I can see why a couple of sites that I liked to go to crashed my computer, they have music.
Gigi, you're so right, the manuals are on the Internet! And when you're computer won't work, you can't get to them! Very irritating. And it's irritating that even if you can get into the internet, that the phone numbers are buried. They want you to do everything on line, but if your connection is slow, that takes forever!
Hope they get your IP's sorted out, Estella
I'm like that, Pat! I have to call Honey to fix things, too! Unfortunately, these ones he couldn't tell me how to fix. but amazingly, solving the issues myself has taught me a lot.
Ooh, so sorry about the new updates stopping your computer, Dina. My trouble started after I loaded the new Adobe Flash! Hope you get is fixed soon. And glad you shut down that site being accessed!
Isn't it funny that our kids know more about how the computer works than we do! I commiserate, Lil!
And Kimmy, I'm with you! If this last fix on the hard drive for my computer doesn't make it work trouble free, I'm buying new!
Oh Kaetrin, so sorry on that $1000, but the irreplaceable photos are worth it! And I'm so glad you enjoyed The Fortune Hunter and Fair Game!
And congrats on the new computer, Linda! Isn't it wonderful when it all works!
Thanks to everyone for stopping by and sharing!
Just an update for everyone, my computer with new hard drive should arrive back at my house today! Cross your fingers they reloaded the software or at least gave me some recovery disks! Thanks!
And oh my God, Kaetrin, you were my random winner! Please send me your snail mail to skully at skullbuzz dot com, and I'll get the book mailed off to you.
Thanks, everyone!
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