On Computers, GYN Appointments, and...A Little Bit of Hockey

New computers tend to be a pain in the ass--at least MINE always have been. I have been having issues--both minor inconveniences and major problems--on these new machines. And slowly I'm getting everything worked out.

First, my desktop. It worked as soon as I got it put together. I got it online with no problems and set up Microsoft Live Mail in no time flat. After that, things got a bit iffy. At some point, it occurred to me that I wasn't hearing much, if any, sound coming from the speakers. I did the whole troubleshooting routine, to no avail. This meant I needed to talk to tech support.

Despite what Dell may have said, I don't think they have moved their tech support back to the US--at least, not ALL of it. If you buy an XPS or Alienware, then there is no doubt you have US support--and at the prices charged for those systems, it BETTER be the case--but not so much for those of us with value to medium priced systems. And so I have to deal with someone with an Indian accent. But, I began our conversation by telling him that I will have to ask him to repeat himself frequently because of my hearing loss. He was okay with that, thankfully.

Anyway, after discussing my problem, he asked if he could take control of my computer from where he is. WOW! Talk about a surreal experience! We did various things and the conclusion is that the motherboard needs replacing on this machine. (Something else needs to be replaced, but I'm not sure what it is.) This took place in the early hours of Thursday morning and by noon I had a call telling me that the parts would reach the tech that will be doing the repair job by Friday noon. Of course, NO ONE understands just WHERE my town is, so THAT didn't happen. Around 1:00 AM on Friday, I got the call telling me that my replacement parts were in Milwaukee and the tech couldn't get here until this coming week. Fine--what else COULD I say?--and we negotiated an appointment time. The tech was willing to come on Monday, but I had an appointment, so we settled on Tuesday. I'm expecting to have ALL hardware issues fixed by Tuesday afternoon. Period.

So, on to the other things I'm having issues with. I'm having a problem with MS Works--which was supposed to come standard and pre-installed. It DID come installed, however, I never received the CD. And when I tried setting up MS Works, I NEEDED the CD to complete the installation. I have been dealing with Customer Service on THIS issue--and it seems to be resolved: I will be getting the CD in the mail. My OTHER problem is the keyboard/mouse that I bought. Now, you would thing there should be NO problem with a Microsoft product being used with a Microsoft-based PC. WRONG! This combo freezes, lags, and all-around drives me crazy! I have the feeling that I WILL be sending it back and getting a Dell brand--something I should have done in the first place. My last keyboard/mouse gave me NO problems at all. But, I WILL troubleshoot first and then make my decision.

I LOVE Firefox and Thunderbird--and I have used them for years. However, they are the WORST programs to migrate to another computer. After two days of trying, I FINALLY got Firefox installed and working right on the desktop. Sadly, I STILL haven't gotten it installed on the laptop and neither machine has Thunderbird yet. I don't know why this has to be such a difficult thing. I guess I could just give up and use IE and Live Mail, but I don't like to admit defeat. Besides, I have all of my contacts and saved mail on Thunderbird and there is NO WAY I could rebuild my bookmarks if I gave up on Firefox.

The only other issue I have had with the laptop so far: It took me a few times before LoJack installed. Other than that, it has been fine, so far.

I MUST praise some things about Windows 7. I think I will be very happy with the improvements as soon as I get used to everything. Setting up the wireless home network was SO easy that 'even a caveman could do it.' I was impressed with the fact that I am able to print from my laptop without being connected with wires/cables. All in all, I think this will be a favorite purchase for some time. As soon as everything is working right. ;)

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So, I have talked about my new GYN and my upcoming appointment. And that appointment was made for tomorrow. And then I got the phone call on Thursday--canceling my appointment. The only explanation was that the doctor 'took an emergency leave of absence.' There is no idea as to when she will be back, so I couldn't re-schedule the appointment with her. This left me with a few choices: Find a new doctor, wait for this doctor to come back--IF she comes back, or make an appointment with the nurse practitioner. There really was no choice for me--I NEED to see someone quickly because I'm running out of my meds--so I chose to see the nurse practitioner. And that I will be doing on 5 February. I'm really, really afraid I'm going to have to find a new GYN--I'm not having a good feeling about this office.

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And we get to hockey. I won't talk about the Red Wings. At this point, there is no reason to. If things don't change soon, they are on course to NOT make the playoffs this year--something that HASN'T happened in the last 18 or so years. It started with them losing two full lines and two top D-men to long-term injuries--ALL AT THE SAME TIME. They still need to get four players back in the line-up--and they won't be full-strength till after the Olympics. It's been quite an awful season.

What I WILL talk about is the Rangers--our local junior team. They are quite on fire and have bounced between first and second place all year. Right now, they are in second place, trailing by only one point behind the first-place team. We attend every game we can--I think we have only missed two games this year. And I am one of those people who wears her team jersey to every game, proudly. ;) I am very good, though--I am NOT loud, but I appreciate the team and all their efforts. And they put on a very good show. I have enjoyed every game we've been to--even the few they have lost. It will be great fun to see them in the playoffs--I hope we will be able to see some of those games.

There HAVE been several bad points to the games, though--and they have involved fans. Several opposing teams have had some very obnoxious fans, but there are a few that are just as bad--if not worse--for the Rangers. One fan, in particular, stands right over the opposing team's bench and locker room door. Throughout the entire game, he taunts the opposing players in an extremely loud voice. And he thinks he is great while doing it. Unacceptable, as far as I'm concerned. The other fans--who were pretty good last night--are new to the games. They are family of a new player on the Rangers--a local boy. The first game he played in, these people were so terrible, I almost said something. To begin with, they thought their boy was not getting the proper amount of ice time--even though his shifts were every bit as long as every other player's. They complained every time he was taken off of the ice, they bad-mouthed the coach, and they bad-mouthed the kid's teammates. I was absolutely appalled. I have been watching the kid and even though he HAS skill, he isn't as good as his family thinks he is. This past weekend it seemed as if he was struggling too much to 'prove' he is as good as his family thinks--and that kept him from playing his best. He seemed to calm down as the games went on, so he may do well despite his obnoxious family. I certainly hope this is the case.

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And I will end with the weather. We have had rain for a couple of days and now we are waiting for the cold/snow to come. It looks as if we will be paying dearly for the warm temps we had this past week. But, it IS winter.