Could Have Been Worse

[SimplyCosmic]

Hi.

Maybe some of you would like to share some of your "It Could Have Been Worse" stories. One I have, for example, isn't deep or anything, but it might give you an idea of what I mean.

When I originally got my PC last year I was using dial-up service. Very slow, unstable, a pain in the butt to get on line, to stay on line, took forever to download anything...etc.
Okay so I was using this computer I have (my first) (my only) (bought second hand for $200.00, including a printer) (a Compaq P.O.S.) Stuff came in at about 28 thingum-gummies, if we were having a good day. Okay, so I was using this creeping clanking heap of just barely functioning circuitry for about four months when all of a sudden, somehow, the Windows program got "corrupted" Couldn't get but just past the Start Up screen. Couldn't access ANYTHING. All we'd get was that wierd scary notice, you know; the one that says you've committed some sort of illegal act? (which we didn't even ENJOY committing!) (but anyway...)

I ended up having to use a Quick Restore CD thingie, which it took us a month to get, once we finally found out that that was what we needed, and once we found out where to get one of the kind of restore CD's we needed, and had the money to pay for it. So I got it, and used it and it wiped out everything in the computer's memory. Which is what it's supposed to do.
So now I had the PC working again, sort of, but I couldn't use it...couldn't get the Windows program back, which had been erased along with everything else, I bought the PC used; see? No valid warrenty or anything. Some how or other, I don't remember how, I ended up gettting the Windows program from somewhere for free...Various folks were called, a really really really crappy old old old PC was supplied by my brother-in-law (which he totally ripped my mom off for) (charged her $200.00 for what amounted to about $50.00 worth of scraps, but at least we could get on line with it a little) (which is where we found that Windows program...I think) (or did we put that on some disk thingie, & transfer it from the old even bigger P.O.S. PC or something?) I don't remember)

Anyway, come to find out, even after I had the Windows program in, from where ever I got it, I still couldn't get on line...turns out the Quick Restore had also erased my modem stuff/thingie/device/whatever-you-call-it. So now what?

What? The point of this story is what.

I found out about something wonderful, called DSL. Turns out I didn't need a modem to use DSL. Turns out, if you have enough RAM in your PC, you can get a box that goes outside your PC, hooked into the phone lines and etc, you can have up to four PC's on the same box (ether net hub), for the same amount of money every month and still have the use of your phone, AND, once you have DSL downloading changes from a serious committment of time, into a matter of seconds/minutes and zip, zip, any program you want to download is in.

Okay, so I got the DSL. Got the service set up. Got the box thingies put in (my Beloved Offspring (boy genius) did all the putting, plugging, wiring stuff...luvs to him) (it must hurt a person's head to be that smart) (he doesn't complain about it much, though) (unless his feet are cold. THAT he whines about) So then...off I go, on-line at last; right? WRONG. turns out I didn't have enough RAM on my computer to use DSL. Seems I needed to add more RAM to my PC...which was more trauma...what the &*#! was RAM ? Oh, Random Access Memory...I see (???) Anyways, it seems you get more RAM by adding,/changing RAM chips. What are RAM chips? Where do you get them? What kind did I need for this PC? Etc, etc, etc.

I found out about RAM chips. What they are, where to get 'em cheap (but good) what sort I needed for my PC...and so on.

It took another week for the RAM chips to get to my house via cost-least mail service...and much threatening and pleading to get my son to put the new RAM chip in my PC....which he figured out how to do correctly in spite of lousy (incorrect) directions from my brother-in-law (the rip-off artist)

And finally, finally one early Spring morning, that was done.

Oh what a joyous day that was, my new e-pals...Joy, joy, joy...I pressed buttons and keys with trembling digits...lights flashed, hard drive buzzings commenced, and low and behold after three long months, I was finally back on line!!! I sobbed, I babbled, I cooed!
It was a horrible long struggle, but it was worth it. And at the end of all that struggle I had a better-than-ever, stronger-than ever, downloading-fast-as-lightening, chock-full-of-new-greater RAM-goodness,super-freak PC!

If the *#*! Windows program hadn't gotten corrupted to begin with I might still be plugging along with the old, slow low RAM, dial-up serviced P.O.S. PC I had to begin with, and still ignorant as h*ll about all that "techie" stuff I learned along the way, none the wiser.

So see? Really, bad as it was? It could have been worse.


Anyways, I would love to hear other people's stories...no doubt about way deeper stuff than my little tale of woe...Please do think about sharing?


Bye for now

Diana