My New Computer – Blessing or Curse?

MacBook Air, notepad, candle and cocoa

I see a lot of photos like this on Instagram. Pretty, right?  I love the idea of making something functional beautiful. But looking at that pic right now, I just want to scream – and laugh because whose work space ever looks like that?

For the purpose of this post, I actually photographed my girls’ MacBook Air because it’s sleeker and better looking than my clunky Dell laptop.  Yeah, I’m still a PC user.  I just can’t seem to get myself to transition to a Mac even though EVERYONE I’ve ever spoken to says it’s the only way to go. I’m stuck! Stuck in a business world mindset that still prefers a PC.

Although my business days are long gone, I find adjusting to a Mac to be too much trouble.

Honestly, after last week, I’d go back to pen and paper and toss all technology to the curb if I could.

My New Computer

Here’s what happened – I had the good fortune of getting a new laptop -still a PC, still a Dell – nothing fancy. Just new and a lot lighter than my old one, which was actually hard for me to pick up with one hand. Saying that out loud actually sounds ridiculous.

This should’ve been a good thing, but oh how it wasn’t. The trouble wasn’t with my new computer itself, it was the transferring all of my “stuff” from old to new that presented the problem. I didn’t dare attempt this on my own; I sought the help of an expert – three to be exact.

It’s worth mentioning that my computer usage is by no means complicated. I use Word, Outlook, Excel and the Internet. That’s pretty much it. My goal was simple: replicate my original setup on my new computer.

Three technicians and ten days later, I’m still using my old computer.

Much like winter snowflakes, no two computers are alike. What I assumed to be a simple task was apparently far more complex than I could ever imagine.

Tech Guys

My only request to each of the three technicians I commissioned was this; make my new computer look exactly like the old one. First and foremost – email and calendar. A simple .pst file I was told -no problem!

The first guy returned my computer saying everything was all set with one caveat, Outlook failed to load so no emails or calendar appointments. Um, wasn’t that the one thing I said was most important? OK, I said – what do I do now? He informed me he was closing his shop the next day – I mean going out of business. What? Was this dude serious? Not only was he serious, I’m pretty sure he was stoned. I took my computers and ran; happy I still had them both intact.

Guy number two was a friend of a friend who worked with me remotely. He was really just doing a favor to help me understand what went wrong with the guy number one (I think we all know what went wrong with number one). Guy two helped me get Outlook reactivated, but none of my old stuff was recovered. He suggested I get in touch with someone locally who could take a closer look at both systems.

OK, next! My third guy was actually great, but by this time I was so frazzled I started to unravel. Clearly, whatever I had going on with my email was not a simple fix.  After several, nearly successful, attempts to get it right, I abandoned the mission. I had reached a point where I felt like I was throwing money out the window and I just couldn’t handle the anxiety of it all.

Now What?

As I type, my new computer sits to my left – closed, quiet and untouched for the last 48 hours. It’s taunting me and I don’t want to look at it much less deal with it. It scares me to think that in order to use it I will have to start over from scratch.

The blessing and the curse of my scenario is that my old computer is still functioning. A blessing because all my files, emails and appointments are still accessible; a curse because it’s the crutch I keep falling back on while I avoid the inevitable.

Eventually, I will transition to my new computer. It may require some manual entry of calendar items and there may be some emails lost along the way, but the reality is that my old, heavy laptop is on its way out. It’s crashing more and more often, its little engine revs so loudly I can barely hear my phone ring and an upgrade is long overdue. I can’t remember exactly how long I’ve had my good old laptop. That alone suggests it’s much too old.

I’m sure 2017 will welcome many new and exciting things and love it or hate it; one will be a new computer. Fingers crossed I end up loving it.

Do you have a computer nightmare/technology-gone-wrong story to share?

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