I pride myself on being a geek. I may not be as brain-spry as I used to be, but I’m still pretty good at things like my computer or phone. Indeed, I’ve learned my lesson when it comes to laptops, specifically 2-in-1s. Never again. My latest one, the third in a line of identity-challenged laptops (Is it a notebook? Is it a tablet?) finally bit the dust over the weekend.
The issue? There are two hinges on the 2-in-1s I’ve owned instead of one long hinge. The first two had problems with one or the other hinge eventually causing monitor issues. (mostly splitting the screen from its housing) I noticed this last one not closing evenly on both sides about a week ago. Then, a few days ago, the screen began to darken at the bottom, to the point where I could not easily make out certain things depending on the page or app (or, yes, game).
“Enough is enough” my eyes would have said if eyes could talk. They were very unhappy with me. So, off to that BigBox (with similar initials) store we went. I knew what I wanted and I dazzled the salesperson with my knowledge and determination. He did a great job of being polite, and knowledgeable and never rolled his eyes at this little 60-something with faded purple hair. We were in and out of there (with a regular laptop) faster than you can say “I need a new computer.”
I brought my new electronic friend home and set straight to setting it up. It didn’t take long before it was coughing up hairballs and I was chatting with a professional “geek.” The chat turned into an escalation and a phone call and all sorts of diagnostics until it was past my bedtime. I was reassured that in the morning my computer would be right as rain.
There was no proverbial rain the next day.
What was wrong, you ask? Well, every game I opened stopped responding. There are games I play every morning to help keep my brain spry-ish, and one I play just because it is related to that mouse in Florida and it makes me happy. Don’t judge me.
On a separate issue, the screen was dark at the top and faded to the bottom. So, I packed it up, undid anything personal I’d added to the computer, and requested a return. Then I hopped in the car and went back to BigBox. They took it back with a smile, understood where I was coming from (besides just over the bridge in the next town north), and answered any questions about the next computer I picked. It’s bigger, but not much heavier, and it was $100 less! I named it HapPy. (the one I returned was named Sam-my, in case you were wondering)
So, I also bought my husband a pair of Bluetooth headphones.
Oh, the picture with today’s post? That’s my new mouse on top of the computer. It bit the dust last week. (And it’s not even Mercury Retrograde! Go figure)
Now that everything is up and running as it should, I have things to do: settle Catan and terraform Mars, to be exact.
May the (geek) force be with you!
Llama
One Crafty Llama 
Leave a comment