Downs

I had a very bad technology day.

It started when I got to Carbon Valley and discovered that my computer wouldn’t connect to the wireless so I couldn’t print out my handouts for my science fiction discussion. Fortunately, I had saved it to my work share so I co-opted another computer and finished folding the brochures as I was introducing my topic.

For the last couple of days my new kitchen computer has been crashing every time I plug in my iPod. Basically, I plug it in and suddenly can’t move the mouse, use the keyboard, or anything else. However, no error message appears. My iPod always seems fine after the experience but I have to turn the computer off via the power butter.

I really like having my iPod to listen to when I drive in to Boulder for church so I decided to sit down and figure out the problem. Previously, I had tried a Windows restore point to back when I knew I had successfully sync. That hadn’t worked. So, I started today with disabling everything but the essential start-up items in case there was some application conflict. That didn’t fix the problem but I rebooted my computer while I still had the iPod plugged in and discovered that the computer would come up but immediately crash as it was trying to load the BIOS. I mentioned this to Jaeger who seemed as surprised as me and he suggested I try just a random USB storage device. I popped that in instead of the iPod and discovered it had the same problem. Without the USB storage device or the iPod, the computer boots and works fine. Note: both the mouse and the keyboard connect via wireless USB so it can’t just be a general USB problem.

One of my thoughts was to update the BIOS since Dell had a slightly newer version on their website. However, since this computer is still completely under warranty, and I hadn’t made any fundamental changes such as installing Linux, I decided that maybe I should let Dell’s tech support tell me to try that so if it failed horribly, it was their fault, not mine.

I found Dell’s tech support chat easily enough and launched into my problem trying to give enough detail that I wouldn’t get the “reinstall Windows” answer. However, it appeared I jumped the gun as the support person couldn’t verify that my computer really belong to me. She was able to see my order for the computer but the actual service tag had someone else’s name on it (I had bought it refurbished through the Dell Outlet). She told me that I needed to call customer care and they would be able to “transfer ownership” and then I could come back and get tech support for it. I reluctantly agreed to this plan and made the phone call. Unfortunately, it turned out that Customer Care could request that the service tag be updated but there is allegedly a dedicated service tag department that had already closed for the weekend (at 2:30 MDT). The rep reluctantly informed me that it was unlikely I would get any help before Monday. Having actually worked in tech support and dealt with annoyed people before, I tried to keep my conversation polite but I believe I was a little shorter in my standard responses than normal.

So, that’s the current situation. I’m still debating whether I want to just go ahead and update the BIOS myself and see if that fixes anything (assuming I can find a way to update it other than USB . . . ) or just resync my iPod with Adara, my laptop.

Ups

• My science fiction discussion went well today. I had fun whether or not anyone learned anything However, I’m glad it’s over as I worked a lot of extra hours getting ready for it. Since readers advisory isn’t really in my job description, I didn’t feel I could take much normal work time to prepare for the discussion.
• Normally, I would have been cleaning the house during the time I wasted trying to talk to Dell. However, Calvin pleasantly surprised me and allowed me to vacuum while he was home. He played out on the porch, which has a child gate, and popped in every so often to check if I was finished.
• Calvin is on a roll when it comes to going to bed. The last three nights he barely touched his bottle before he indicates he wants to lay down in the crib. I lay him down and he quickly falls asleep. I credit “dog” for this miraculous state of affairs. Tonight, I didn’t even bother giving him watered down milk, I just gave him a bottle of water. I think I’ll stick to the bottle another night or two and then try eliminating even that transition item.

Calvin Moment

• After I finished vacuuming we went for a walk outside. There were thunderstorms in the distance but our area was only cloudy which was a welcome change from the oppressive sun we have had earlier. As we were walking, Calvin kept saying, “daddy, daddy” which really confused me. Finally I realized that the thunder in the distance sounded a lot like the garage door going up as Jaeger returned from work.

Simplification

• Didn’t get around to anything. In fact, I was suppose to put a box out for a charity to pick up and I completely forgot. *sigh*

Food Diary

• Breakfast – Oatmeal with berries and soy milk
• Lunch – Lentil Soup and 2 chocolate pieces
• Supper – Asparagus Stir-Fry over Brown Rice
• Evening treat – 3 chocolate pieces