Finding Equilibrium

My computer came home today. It's still in recovery from its ordeal, as is its owner. I've never had to withdraw from heroin addiction, but I'm not sure that it could be much worse than my last 3 days. I haven't slept well, I've been disoriented, and today, I developed body aches. OK, maybe yoga helps explain the last one, but you never know. I know I should have something profound to say, like these past 3 days have forced me to rediscover the world beyond email and word processing files. Well, they didn't. They just made me a stressed out mess and I'm happy to have my friend back home. I need my computer and I don't care who knows it.

By the time I arrived at the techie's office this afternoon, he had removed all of my valuable music and data files - and I didn't ask how long that took. I felt guilty enough. I spent the next 2 hours watching as he carefully restored the operating system on my computer, making sure it lived up to its name and could in fact operate. I was back in business.

I asked him to install the Kodak software, to make sure that I didn't end up in the same mess again. "Sure," he said confidently as he took the disk and popped it into my machine. "Install," he instructed my newly-configured machine. It started to install, and whamo! Blue screen of death. We both stared at the screen and then started cursing.

He managed to stop the installation as it started up for a second time, thereby preventing the endless FAT32 loop. We breathed a sigh of relief that all of his work was not erased in a brief moment. Then, we took the disk down the hall and put it in a shredder, high-fiving as the blades whirred through the plastic and metal. I believe I heard the disk say, "I'm shredding, I'm shredding. Oh, what a world, when two humans can destroy my evil." Farewell, Kodak disk of death.

The techie transferred all of my files back to my computer and gave me specific instructions about iTunes and Windows updates. I wrote them down, because I've been so disoriented since Tuesday, I don't trust my memory. Following his instructions, I've spent the last 4 hours updating Norton, Windows, and reinstalling iTunes. Words can't describe how happy I am to see all of my music back in my iTunes library.

I've discovered the one glitch in this whole process: The techie did not install MS Office. So, I still don't have any of my programs. I thought about going to Office Depot and buying MS Office, but then reminded myself that I don't have any money. I finally broke down and called my father, the King of Computer Programs. I'd hoped to make it through this ordeal without involving my dad, because I was sure that he'd ask a bunch of questions that I wouldn't know the answer to. He'd get frustrated and then I'd be even more stressed out. Because I was able to report that the computer was working again, he was very reassuring. He said this kind of thing happened to him once and he'd overnight MS Office and a few other programs. Dads can surprise us sometimes.

I think I'm finally finding equilibrium. I'm still worn out from all of this, but I feel certain that tomorrow will be a better day. Yes, I'm still looking for a job, my TV is still fuzzy, and my vacuum cleaner doesn't suck, but tomorrow, I can start the day by checking email and reading the news while I drink my coffee. Getting back to normal takes small steps sometimes.

Two friends listened to my story and immediately backed up their valued computer files. There is a certain satisfaction in serving as a cautionary tale.