Oy vey.
I slept a little later anyway, until just after six, and went out and got my Dunkin' Donuts coffee supply for the day. (R was very icked out when I microwaved the cold coffee, but it was just as good. I'm not fussy about coffee. But the DD coffee is the very nectar of the gods, even heated up. I digress.)
As it turns out, I did not reformat my computer today; I'm going to do that on Saturday. I spent today diagnosing its various ailments and tracking down everything I'll need to reinstall after the reformat, including stuff I've downloaded or webpages where I'll need to download them again, and especially making sure I have all passwords, registration codes, and so on. In the course of my day, I had to make three tech support calls. Four if you count the County Clerk's office, where they were all in a tizzy because of the mis-printed sample ballots, which they knew about. They assured me that the voting machines are correct for Tuesday, and while I was on the phone, I asked if K's emergency ballot, which was cast at the American Consulate in Berlin since her absentee ballot never got there, would be counted, and they said it definitely would be. Score. (Hee.)
So, tech support. First I called the Giant Telephone Company, since there was something odd on my bill, and a very nice lady not only helped me, she even called me back later in the day when she got some new information. She had a vaguely Southern accent, so I'm assuming she was somewhere in the USA. (I wonder where this is leading, hmm?) Second call, to the manufacturer of my external hard drive, not only confirmed that it is not just merely dead but really most sincerely dead, but was with a very helpful fellow who told me how I could possibly at least retrieve my information and spoke with me as if I were an adult human with a brain. Once again, since I had to wait until 8 am Mountain Time to make the call, I'm assuming he was somewhere stateside.
Then, after lunch, I had to call the people at NORTON ANTI VIRUS. Why do I capitalize their name? BECAUSE THEY SUCK. And they are the best, if not the only, game in town, which sucks even more. (Notice here how the normally gentle and polite Telephone Chai morphs into the foul-mouthed angry and yelling You're Not Helping Me You Moron Chai.)
First, I had to register at their website before I could even make the call so I could get a most euphemistically named "priority" number. Then I was on hold for an hour before someone picked up. But I had expected that, and I hoped that the long wait meant I was waiting for someone I could communicate with. Alas.
"Mike" was certainly speaking to me from India, was condescending, and nearly unintelligible. At one point, I put R on the phone, hoping that she could understand him. She couldn't. Then he got disgusted with me (!) and transferred me to a woman in customer service, whom I could not understand at all. She, while saying, "Oh, I'm sorry we couldn't help you" etc., was pretty snotty herself. What was the big dilemma that caused me to call NORTON ANTI VIRUS?
I wanted to know how to reinstall the program and reactivate my subscription after the reformat. Nobody knew. Nobody could figure it out. My subscription doesn't expire until April, so what am I supposed to do, huh? Well, here's what I did. After I got off the phone, I went out and bought a new copy of the program. Now at least I've got it on a disk, and not a download. So who wins? Clearly, NORTON ANTI VIRUS does. They treated me like crap and I bought it anyway. Because you've got to have anti virus software. They win.
Also got the call from K this morning that she has safely arrived in Amsterdam (another !) to spend fall break with her Berlin buddies; I was starting to get nervous this morning that she hadn't called yet. (She got there yesterday.) Whenever I tell people that she's in Amsterdam they all give me this knowing look, like Aha, you know what goes on in Amsterdam! Yes. I know. Marijuana is legal there. Oh heavens, what to do if my 20 year old college junior -- gasp! -- smokes marijuana! Whatever shall I do? Hey, my biggest objection to marijuana use here is that it's illegal. It's legal over there? Listen, when I went to Maine, I ate lobster. If I were in Amsterdam, I might toke up myself.
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I'm watching Joey
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