Technology Overload

Things have a way of building up till your head wants to explode. For this past week, such events have been my life.

The first trouble appeared on my horizon on Thursday of last week. My flat screen computer monitor was getting slower and slower at restarting up from sleep or shut down mode. It finally got to the point to where it would tick and tock like my grandfather clock. It progressed to there it would take two minutes of ‘ticking” before it would turn on. Then it just went into “ticking mode” and the screen stayed blank. I’ve been told it is most likely capacitor problems.

Without an internet to research, I went to Wal-Mart early Sunday morning for a cheap monitor. All they sell now are widescreen monitors. I decided to get a decent sized one priced at $149.00. I took the smaller $98.00 first choice monitor out of my cart and replaced it with the more expensive one.

Get home and hook the new monitor all up. I also changed out my computer sound system. My first Gateway purchased back in 1998 was supplied with a wonderful Boston Acoustics subwoofer and small satellite speakers. The last month the sub woofer developed buzzes and rattles. The sound system that came with my Dell computer system circa 2002 was vastly inferior, but I saved it just the same. That is now hooked up.

That new monitor was horrible. I’m so used to my old square screen. It drove me nuts to see everything all stretched out. When something is not right it just grates on me. My last good nerve was worked, I packed it all up and returned it to Walmart Monday morning. I’m from the old school and always feel guilty about returning anything I buy. A woman ahead of me was trying to return something she had bought last year!

There was no trouble, I got a full refund. I went back and got the cheaper $98.00 monitor.

It is still not the equal to my old monitor, but I guess I better get used to it. A search on line only brought up one or two models that are still made like that old one.

Our rowing club bit the bullet and ordered two brand new Cox-Box units. Technology hit again. The new models have a “new and improved” connection for the microphone unit. Bingo, the old mikes are not compatible with the new units. Long story short, we ended up purchasing two brand new complete units at a cost of over $1,200.

I was designated in procuring these needed additions to the club. The units were ordered last Tuesday morning, and arrived VIA UPS on Friday morning. We were not able to row Friday evening due to thunderstorms. I had the units all charged up and ready to go for our Sunday afternoon row.

My heart sank when one unit would not work on our sweep. It just emitted static and crackling noise. Jason our coach thought it was not charged up all the way. I KNEW I had charged it, but we will see.

This morning I unhooked the charger from the unit minutes before leaving for rowing practice. The readout showed “full charge” for two days.

We go on the water this morning and that damn box is making so much noise the cox could not make her voice heard above the static. I’ll be the one to return the unit to the manufacturer. How much aggravation could that be??

I called the customer rep on the 800 number. I have spoken to her in the past. She told me to go on line and I can get a return authorization number. All I have to do is fill out the form on their website.

I did not have a good feeling about this. I was right. There was no way to get a return authorization for warranty service that I could find. The deeper I got into the form the more they wanted to charge me on the charge card number I was required to leave. I tried three times to submit that form and each time I was unsuccessful. That would not have been so bad, but with each failure the form was totally erased.

I just sent out an e-mail to tech support for their input as to what I should do. For something that was defective from day one, they are the ones who should be kissing my butt……

After my rowing Sunday, I was all set to cook up a nice juicy steak . There was a message on my answering machine from Billy. For my long distance I use my Sam’s club calling card. This entails punching in lots of numbers. I was too wore out from the row and the malfunctioning cox box to even think of passwords and phone numbers. I still have a ton of minutes left on my cell phone so I took the easy way out and called Billy from my cell. All I had to do was check my “phone book” and hit the green button and the number gets dialed automatically.

Billy was telling me about his latest adventures when my land line phone rang! That was a first for me!!! It was our friend Leroy!! I let Billy go and chatted with Leroy. I will not go into detail, but Leroy is one of those people who will drain you of every ounce of positive energy you possess. By the time I hung up I was totally drained. All thoughts of a nice steak were thrown out the window. Instead it was the old stand-by of a peanut butter sandwich.

While shopping for the monitor I figured I would get more minutes for my trac phone. My minutes carry over, but my time expires in a couple weeks. Wal-mart no longer sells trac-phone cards!

All this new technology is well and good, but these minor frustrations that build up and up are what cause people to snap. The best therapy for that is to burn paint. Let me get back to the propane torch and scraper… I got paint to burn….

I just took a picture of the paint removal project for this entry. What a nice surprise to find pictures of Daggy and Stump. Animal pictures always cheer me up. This shot of perfect relaxation was no exception. It brought me a much needed smile!!!