Cra$h

I am not technologically inclined. In fact, I am what you might call "technologically challenged." This may explain why my computer has crashed twice in the last 5 months.

I always swore I would not become one of those people who are totally dependent on technology. You know, the kind who can't leave the house without their cell phones or feel completely cut off from the outside world without high-speed internet. Haha, well guess what...I cannot leave the house without my cell phone, and when I'm without internet access for more than a few days, I go a little nuts.

The first time my hard drive crashed, I was without a computer for about two weeks. They were just about the longest two weeks of my life. It didn't help any that I was helping to teach a freshman English class and had to communicate with my students through e-mail and the University's online Blackboard system. They said it wasn't my fault; the only thing I could have done to crash the hard drive would be to drop the computer, and they were sure I hadn't done that. Well...

See, I have a bit of a temper, and when I get to a certain point of pure frustration, I like to throw things... I didn't actually throw my laptop, but I may have picked it up and dropped it on my desk once. Or twice. I never actually told them that either. Ultimately, it cost me two weeks of running from my off-campus apartment to the library (often more than once a day), and around $350 for a new hard drive, so I think I learned my lesson. I swore after that I would be extra careful and gentle with my precious laptop, and I have been! However, about a week and a half ago my computer refused to start, saying there was a corrupt file.

Noooooooooooooooooooooo!

Lucky for me, I have a friend who is absolutely brilliant with computers. He works with them, he's majoring in them, basically he speak fluent tech. I, on the other hand, know exactly one computer trick: Ctrl+Alt+Delete. He ran some tests on my computer and told me that since my hard drive was so new, he highly doubted that was the problem. Even if it was, the hard drive was still under warranty. The tests revealed...a corrupted file on the hard drive. I really thought I was going to cry. Luckily, it was still under warranty, and the guys who fixed it the first time said they could do so again, but they would have to send the computer to the hard drive manufacturer then wait for them to send it and the new part for it back, which would take about two weeks. Or, I could pay $20 to have it back in two days. After throwing down $350 for a new hard drive, $20 seemed like a drop in the bucket.

After three days, I called to check what was taking so long. No answer, and no return phone call. Four days, five days, six days...after they'd had it for a week, I called back again and--thankfully!--I was able to pick it up later that day. They told me there was a file left over from the first time it crashed that the new hard drive was supposed to repair, but somehow wasn't able to. In other words, yay! It really wasn't my fault this time! My computer is now password-protected so no one can use it but me, and it rarely--if ever--leaves my desk.

I know this is a little backwards, but...
Crash once, shame on me.
Crash twice, shame on you.
Crash a third time, and Shelly is junking you for a new computer!