Crash Be Gone

We finally ordered a new computer. A month ago. When she first arrived I placed the box on the counter and for three days Vinnie and I would walk past it with a sideways glance. Neither of us wanted to open the box and boot her up due to the Dell Disaster we have been coping with for the last four years. The Dell, on several occasions, has caused us to consider divorce because nothing is more stressful in the age of technology than a crashy computer. It was kind of like the saying "If mama ain't happy, nobody happy," when your computer crashes and blue screens several times daily ain't nobody happy, especially the guy whose paycheck relies on the machine. And yes, we called Dell many times over the years, in fact the only overseas calls I have ever made, we even paid them an extra hundred dollars to receive phone support after our initial coverage ended.

Needless to say, it was either Vinnie get a new computer and be 90% more efficient at his job or get a new job, or heaven forbid, I get a real job. We did not have it in us to do the Dell thing again, even though others we knew have loved their Dells. Between the unhappy blue screen of death and the terrible support, Dell has lost a customer.

So, we ordered this Lenovo thing, laptop actually, and we were both so gun shy we forced her to sit in the box like she was knitted underwear from Great Aunt Martha. The day we finally let her out and started her up she wouldn't boot up properly. Vinnie just started walking away mumbling something about "Just send it back, send it back, I can't deal with another piece of shit." I, having more faith than a farmer waiting for rain, decided to stick with her and got her up and running in a new pair of Asics.

After being certain she could get her gears turning or bytes biting, whatever the terms are these days we let her sit again until last night when the big internet test took place. I don't think if tigerdirect.com placed a limit of 30 days on our possible return that we would even have gotten to the internet hook-up this year. She looked mighty fine on the counter next to the Kitchen-Aid mixer and surprisingly has survived the creation of quite a few baked items since she arrived. We really didn't want to push our luck but we really needed to know if she was worthy.

Her location was altered and the internet cord attached in the appropriate place. Then the great debate began as to how to get connected. We had a disc, but we didn't think it was the right disc. We figured some type of settings needed to be typed in but we didn't know where. Really, we assumed it had to be difficult so we made a quick call to our internet provider for some technical support and next thing you know I can type, search, read and browse without having to reboot, shut down, restore my previous session because of a crash, or scream. Vinnie told the support tech not to tell anybody that all we had to do was plug in the other end of the cable to the router.

Right now I am in love with her speed and consistency. I think I should borrow her shoes.