The Pangs of Withdrawal

Is there an support group for internet addicts?

My laptop died recently and neither all the king's horses (my limited knowledge) nor all the king's men (Dell's technical support guru) could revive it.

This dilemma tickled my husband and daughter who will most probably bury me in my glider rocker, feet propped on the matching gliding ottoman with this or another laptop resting comfortably on ....... my laptop.

AOL insisted on installing 'updates'. Since I'm on dial-up this several minutes or longer depending on the number of up-dates to be done. The computer normally shuts itself off afterwards. No biggie. I've gone to bed without babysitting it in the past, so I went to bed. Mistake! Big mistake. HUGE!!! When I tried to sign on the following morning, the entire bottom screen option menu was gone making starting, restarting or navigating my desktop and computer options virtually impossible. *Gasp!* AOL wouldn't load! I sat with fingers crossed as I'd watch the little yellow running man make his way to step 4 time and time again only to hit the virtual brick wall.

I called Dell and was connected to a man who had an adequate amount of computer knowledge but, a poor grasp of the English language. To say we needed an interpreter is a major understatement. The tech and I muddled through numerous attempts in 'safe mode' which was proudly displayed on all four corners of my screen so many times I was beginning to consider for my new background.

We tried a few things before he requested a credit card number so he could "talk me through" a complete restoration; a process that, he informed me, would take two sessions and approximately 6 hours. 6 hours! Um, no way! I wasn't about to spend six hours traveling so deep inside my computer that I might never see the light of day again and pay a small fortune the process. I told Mr. Guru I'd take my baby to the nearest Geek Squad for an over-nighter first. LOL

Just then my daughter and her fiance strolled in. Imagine this! He's a computer whiz AND he speaks English. Yeah, you see where this is headed, don't you? I put him to work the next day and, as you can see, I'm up and running.

Life is good!