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My thanks to Lisa once again for being my guest on last night’s inaugural episode of SecondHand Radio on Talkshoe. Had a blast talking with her and we even had a special Webkinz caller! OK, it was Dave.
You can find the episode here, where you can download it for your listening pleasure. It should soon be in iTunes, and you can subscribe to the podcast, as well, in any feedreader under the sun. And I’ve also got a widget in my blog’s sidebar, where you can listen to the show, too.
If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve seen more than a few swear words from me in the last few days. Fucking computers are pissing me off. I had a friend ask me for help with their computer. Every time they’ve asked for my assistance before it was a really simple problem and an equally simple fix.
Not this time.
Their POS computer - five years old - was not doing much of anything. It’d start up and show the MS Windows XP loading screen. Forever. I booted it up into Safe Mode, which took forever to load…seriously, upwards of an hour to boot into Safe Mode. I thought I’d do the simplest thing - use the System Restore function (which has saved my ass many a time) and come out the hero once again.
No go. The other night I went over there and spent THREE HOURS trying to make this happen. Everything took 45 minutes. To get past the Windows Loading screen? 45 minutes. The Windows XP welcome screen? 45 minutes. I knew this computer was on its last legs. I was just praying to be able to get the files off the hard drive and burn them onto a DVD.
I got tired of waiting, finally, and told Candy that she should let the computer run all night, if necessary. “Just don’t turn it off. I’ll come back tomorrow.”
And I did. After only sleeping for 90 minutes, I drank copious amounts of coffee before setting off once again for Candy’s house. And spent another three hours waiting for the fucker to boot up. A couple of times I got to the System Restore screen but when I rebooted it never came back to Windows.
Fuck that shit. I opened up the computer and took out the hard drive and brought it to my house, where I plugged it into a desktop machine as the slave drive. And THEN I spent hours trying to get the data off the damn drive. Finally Marty came to my rescue and told me about some software that would do the trick.
And it DID do the trick. Course, by now I’d spent nearly five hours on Wednesday - many, many Diet Cokes later - before getting to that point. But I nearly cried when I saw the files I wanted on the crapped out hard drive.
Extracted all the photos and her Quicken data to the desktop’s drive and then burned them all onto a DVD. Everything seemed great.
Until Thursday night, when I brought Candy her DVD and tried to copy them onto her laptop. Fucking Vista. The file explorer kept locking up in the middle of reading the DVD. I rebooted a number of times, copied a bunch of the photos over before it would inevitably lock up and I got the increasingly familiar “Not Responding” message on the file explorer.
Finally, at 9pm Thursday night, an hour before my radio show was to begin, I said, “I’ll have to come back this weekend.” I don’t have any earthly idea what the freaking problem is. It should be very straightforward.
I’m going to virus check her Documents folder tomorrow, since I haven’t yet yanked it out of the desktop here. Can’t imagine the photos have viruses in them, but you never know. It shouldn’t be a compatibility issue between XP (what I have) and Vista (what she has) because they’re 99.9% JPGs and TIFs. Maybe some of them are corrupted, I don’t know.
All I know is that, while I would never charge money to a friend for my services (though she did offer), I’m feeling incredibly frustrated at the amount of time this is taking me. If it’s not one thing, it’s another.
My other thought is that it might be a DVD format issue, but her laptop sees the DVD just fine, recognizes the folders in file explorer, etc. So that can’t be it.
I haven’t yet Googled this latest problem, but I’m about to. I am admittedly very inexperienced with Windows Vista, but it does seem rather user friendly for the shit I’m trying to do. And the familiar Windows Key+E combination brings up the file explorer as normal.
Because of this fucking computer issue, I haven’t had time to read any blogs over the last few days and I’m frightened to fire up my feedreader because it very well may explode. I hate getting this behind on blogs, feel like I’m slacking in my friendship duties, but I assure you I haven’t forgotten about you.
Oh, and I went to the doctor yesterday to see if I could get some Chantix to help me quit smoking. I’ve heard great things about it. But I did notice when I looked it up online that it has some potentially serious side effects involving depression. For those of you new to the Karl game, I already suffer from major depression and bipolar disorder, so this is a big concern. I don’t need to feel suicidal when I quit smoking. In fact, I’ve had therapists and psychiatrists strongly recommend that I DON’T quit in the past.
My doctor did, in fact, say no to the Chantix for precisely that reason. I’m already on numerous meds for my mood. She recommended the patches and the gum, which haven’t really helped me in the past. Not individually, anyway. Every time I’ve quit successfully it’s been Cold Turkey. Yeah, it’s a real bitch those first few days, but it all evens out after that, I’ve found.
She ordered me the patches and gum, which I would gladly try. Course, they’ll take a week for me to get in the mail (I use the VA for my medical needs) and I’m planning to quit at midnight Sunday (going into Monday). Oh well. Cold turkey it is.
I’ve got a widget in my sidebar now so you can see the countdown to the Quit Time.
Thanks for all of your comments and supportive emails. Keep ‘em coming.
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Filed under 2HT Radio, Local Goings On, quitting smoking |24 Responses to “Effing Computers”
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You go Karl! Everyone loves a quitter……a quitter of smoking that is! I never got into that thing. My mom smoked like a chimney when was a kid and then wondered why I was always sick with sinus and ear infections. I now have an inner ear imbalance of fluid because of multiple, recurrant ear infections as a child. Two days ago, said imbalance gave me a day full of vertigo. I couldn’t walk, I almost fell twice, I think my kids took video of me flailing around and posted it to youtube when I wasn’t looking! Thanks mom! Love ya
You get one cigarette per 10 hours of frustrating computer troubleshooting. That’s how you’ll quit.
First you have me cheering for you to quit, then you have me cheering for you NOT to quit. Damn, that’s GOOD, persuasive writing. On the computer note, I think there’s nothing more frustrating than a computer that won’t work because aside from all the writing and reading you’re missing think of all the videos you’re missing, yes, those videos. Can’t wait for you to be back. Miss having you around. You’re kick ass, Karl. Kick ass.
Good luck as of monday mate! I’m sure your computer will suffer terribly…
Good luck quitting smoking!
And I know nothing about computers. Except the power button and how to watch Netflix movies on my mine. Other than that I am like a deer in headlights.
And the episode was pretty good. I missed it, gah. I did catch it later, but it seems I never get anyone on time to listen live. I’m a goober like that.
I just left a similar comment over at Britt’s, but you might want to see if you can find Cinnamon Fire Jolly Ranchers anywhere - my mom swore by them when she quit for the final time. Totally helped with the cravings, apparently. And if you like cinnamon, they’re a lot tastier than the patch…
Good luck!
You can do this Karl. Honest. But only you are in control. No one can guilt you into it or anything. When you’re ready, it’ll happen.
I quit 7 years ago (after many MANY “trial quits”). You’ll feel like crap for awhile, but in the end, it’ll be worth it!
And then you can get to the REAL “making out!”
BTW, don’t use food as a replacement. Altoids were TJ’s favorite thing (as you’re just going to replace one addiction with another) but you need to 1) get lots of mints or gum or carrot sticks - whatever you can tolerate and 2) keep those hands busy…even if it means masturbating daily. (Oh come on, you knew that was coming, didn’t you?)
I’ve heard Chantix causes ridiculously crazy ass dreams too.
As you and I conversed on Twitter, these computer issues can be a major pain in the ass.
Glad the software I recommended worked to get the files off. As for the data that was burned to DVD, try opening it up on your local drive to make sure they are no corrupted. If they are not, then Vista is treating the DVD as something foreign and unknown. Also try loading the DVD on an XP computer to make sure the data is in tact.
Quitting smoking… I wish you the best on this. I’ll be honest.. it’s not easy, but with the right support and tools, it can be done. I’m over 5 years smoke free and it’s great. I still have the occasional cigar a few times a year, but that’s it. Can’t wait to read the next few dozen blog posts.
You’re a good friend! She should at least take you to dinner or something (maybe she can buy you a box of the nicotine gum to get you started?).
Funny about Jen mentioning the Fire candy. Too bad they don’t make sugar-free version. I don’t know if regular cinammon disks will cut it.
You know what else helped me quit — Wellbutrin. I switched from Lexapro to the Wellbutrin for my depression and it really killed the urge to smoke. They sold it under a different name as a quit-smoking drug before Chantix.
what about wellbutrin? i hear that’s just amazing for quitting smoking. i imagine your doctor would have pointed that out, though. my mom took it to quit, and another friend, and not only did they do so effortlessly, they also lost weight.
I’m thinking of taking up smoking so I can quit and look like a badass.
Hi…I’ve decided to delurk. I am a nurse and I can’t begin to tell you how many patients I’ve had that have come in on suicidal ideation/72 hr holds because of Chantix. Be thankful that you aren’t going to be taking it. I will be sending you good, non-smoking thoughts come Monday.
As for the computer thing, you must have the patience of a saint. I would’ve thrown the stupid thing out the window!!
Just so I can comment a THIRD time on this post (I’m going for an Olympic Record! Screw Phelps)…
@ Becky and @ Karl — Chantix is what happened to The Absurdist.
Good luck! And no working on effing computers after Sunday night.
Blondefabulous - Heh, those are nice kids you’ve got there. Links to the video, please?
Whall - I’d kill myself. I’m taking a day off from that computer nightmare and it’s really helped my sanity today.
Papa - I’ll be catching up on blogs between now and Monday. I swear it!
Freelance - I think the computer will be okay. Course, I might throw my friend’s through a window.
Sarah - Thanks, glad you liked it. I sometimes wish I knew less about computers. I know enough to be dangerous.
Jenny - You’re not the first person to bring up the Jolly Ranchers. Gotta see if they have ‘em in sugar free.
Kris - Yeah, I’m not so worried about a gum addiction. Much better than the alternative. Looking forward to the making out.
Miss Britt - I’ve heard wondrous and horrid things about the Chantix. I don’t need any more suicidial thoughts.
Marty - Good idea. Think I’ll bring my laptop with me tomorrow to fix this fucking thing once and for all. Maybe just do some old fashioned file transfers via Google Talk.
Finn - Yeah, I’ve been on Welbutrin before (aka Zyban). They didn’t want to switch up my meds, though, which I guess I can understand.
Crys - Think I’m gonna have to exercise my ass off after a week or so. There’ll be so much residual stress that I’ll have to do something to work it out.
Whall - I already think you’re a badass.
Becky - Hiya! Always nice to see someone come out of lurk mode. You’re right, I don’t think I want the Chantix. The last I need is to be more depressed. And I haven’t ruled out throwing the thing out the window.
Whall - Didn’t realize that. What happened?
Penny - If I don’t have that problem fixed this weekend, I’ll have to start a new vice. Like maybe heroin.
Sorry about the computer problem. I’ve been there many times myself.
Thanks for having me on your show last night. I’m sorry I wasn’t up to my intellectual best after only 3 hours of sleep and heavy duty pain killers. It was fun broadcasting from my bed though
I’ve heard Chantix is nasty, nasty stuff. I was already on Wellbutrin when I quit so I think that helped me out tremendously. I also quit COLD TURKEY with NO patches or NO gum. I’m hard core like that.
It’s all about behavior modification and all the psychobabble bullcrap.
Oy…the computer? Dude just picked up a new hard drive for my desktop for $66. Hopefully that will fix my problem. Good luck with your friends computer.
Delmer - Yeah, I’m sure most people have been there. Argh!
Lisa - Thanks again for being on the show Thursday! You were great, even with the sleep deprivation. New hard drive for $66? Wow, they’re really cheap nowadays.
Keep me posted via email how things turn out and if you need any more help.
Marty - Thanks, I’ll do that. I’m wondering if it’s the actual DVD that’s the problem. I scanned the recovered folders on the desktop - no viruses. I’m bringing my laptop along with me when I head back over there.
Marty is a great friend to have. He helped me out with a movie issue my president was having. The only quirky computer problems I deal with anymore are my own. At the office, if it starts to suck up my time, I call my outside tech. That’s why we’re on contract with them. I always check it out first before I call them, but I don’t get into the nuts and bolts at work anymore. At home… I buy new guts. Faster and cheaper in the long run. I’ve rebuilt the green machine twice in a year. The second time I coulda spent a day trying to fix it, but it’s just too frustrating for me when all I wanna do is check my email, read a few blogs and go to bed. I like how powerful it is now so I don’t regret the expense vs time factor at all.
You’re a saint for helping your friend like that though. You’re a great friend to have!
Winter - Yeah, I have no trouble doing things like installing hard drives or video cards. Couldn’t build an entire computer by myself, I don’t think. Marty’s great.