Computer ramble

So my plans to blog more were derailed when first, my computer crashed. I will spare you the details, but suffice it to say that I vowed to start saving money for a Mac, since I never hear of Mac users complaining that their computer has crashed and they can't find their operating system any more (this computer is maybe 18 months old). My neighbor's suggestion is to just buy a new PC every year, which, for a savvy shopper, might be the same price as a new Mac every 5 years. I'm a lousy saver, so neither option is actually likely to happen for me, but I can at least dream. We tend to keep computers a long time, much like our cars, although I do not have a 18 year old computer (but we do drive an 18 year old car).

The second problem with my blogging occurred when our DSL modem gave up the ghost right before Christmas. We've had occasional lapses with internet connections in the past for a day or so, so we didn't do much at first, but after 5 days, we decided to call our ISP for help. Of course, that day was December 23, so after Wes spent a total of 3 hours on the phone determining that no, our ethernet cable was not the problem because our computers could all talk to each other but not to the rest of the world, the phone company had to be contacted to determine that the phone lines were ok. I'm sure someone from the phone company was just sitting happily at her desk on Dec. 23 waiting to check our phone lines. That was supposed to take 24 hours, but of course it took 4 days. Then we called back and they said they would ship us a new modem, for a fee of course. But by then it was Dec. 27 and I'm sure the warehouse was short-staffed for the holidays because it was another week before it was even shipped. We finally got our modem on Jan. 5, the last day of the Christmas season before Epiphany (if the Christian Christmas is your calendar of choice). I guess the gift of Internet was appropriate for the celebration of the wise men's gifts to the Christ child.

So we now have internet, and I hold my breath daily waiting for yet another computer crash. The "best" part about this crash was now my MS Money software will no longer read any of my backup files, so just as we enter tax season, my entire financial recordkeeper is inaccessible, for no apparent reason. Have I mentioned how much I hate Microsoft? I do think I'll definitely switch to Quicken this time since I have to start from scratch anyway.