Hi! Come on in and look around!

Welcome to my window on the world. A snapshot of my life and experiences. I'm a photography junkie and a scrapbook addict. I capture it all here, and share my journey down this amazing road called LIFE with you!

Monday, December 31, 2007

Oh The World Of Computers and such

My computer is "in the shop". The one I normally work on. The letter 's' fell off and then when I was trying to fix it, the directions said take another key off so you can get the plastic piece underneath it, configured correctly. So I took the 'd' off...only to discover that this is a bad idea. Now, both the 's' and the 'd' are off. Let's face it, we use those letters alot. That's why the keyboard is configured the way it is.

My dh said that he was a little worried for the Geek Squad guy at Best Buy. He thought I might eat him as he was trying to put the 'd' back on. These little plastic things that sit under the key are made in China by people with very tiny hands. You can just imagine a large overweight guy with fat fingers trying to manipulate this thing and shaking at the same time. I was probably giving him the evil eye without realizing it. But honestly, I'd already done all that, and to make matters worse, he was doing it backwards, inside out, all wrong. OMG!

I checked on the internet before trying to see if I could get this thing fixed because I wanted to try and fix it myself. This resulted in the 'd' popping off the keyboard and shooting who-knows-where. DH had to find it for me! I learned that the computer manufacturers do not sell these letters or their "seats"-shall we call them for lack of a better word. But a techie at Dell figured out, after numerous service calls about this problem, that there was a market for this. Although, in my whole life on computers, I've never had this happen before. I think it was a manufacturing defect in the 's'. But, there weren't any e-bay people, which is where this guy landed, selling Gateway letters. And the reason you have to take one letter off is to figure out which little plastic seat you need.

You can also buy the whole keyboard, which is around $64, instead of the $150 the local dude wanted to charge. To which I responded with my newly found knowledge, and the techie was impressed. He said, "I see you have done your research." DUH if you know me.

All this craziness to say that the computer is still under warranty. BUT have you seen the disclaimer you have to sign at Best Buy for them to send off your computer? It says that they are not responsible for incidental damages while your computer is in their care. I had to ask the little techie guy about that because how could I be responsible if they were in possession of it. DH is used to me. Then, there's the disclaimer about some sort of deposit and also another thing about if repairs are above a certain amount. Techie had to fix that because my cost is zero under warranty and I'm not giving them any room to maneuver when I can get replacement keys or a keyboard myself for less than they are going to try and squeeze me out of! But since it is under warranty, that is a non-issue.

Poor techie did ask me if I had bought the extended warranty at Best Buy. To which I had to reply, "Everyone knows that if something is wrong with your computer, it will die within the first 30 days." DH loved that one. Techie knew it was true and he left it alone. Honestly, I was under duress facing CT assignments, bills coming due, schedules for work all on my laptop. I was trying to be polite at the same time, irritated as all-get-out!

Anyway, this leaves me with much time to scan and put photos on disks to be used in 2weeks to start digi scrapping like a fiend!
Happiest of New Year's to y'all. Check out the Rasberry Girl blinkie that Jill Zwick made for us. I'm totally jazzed!

4 comments:

Melanie H said...

You poor thing, I hope you get it fixed and back soon.

Happy New Year sweetie, I hope 2008 is a wonderful year for you.

Monique said...

OMGosh what a nightmare, at least you're well informed. Those companies are always gouging people who don't know better, glad to see you did research before hand... hopefully you'll get your computer back soon without any hassles. Have a great day!

Carjazi - aka Diane said...

Sorry to hear about your puter. I'd be in trouble without mine. Glad to see you're standing your ground with the big company.

Happy New Year.

ScrapShana said...

TOO funny! I know in the moment it wasn't, but to read about it sure is! Good luck getting everything back in working order!