Technical Difficulties (again)

Last week, my computer died. It would momentarily start, flash Japanese lettering on the screen, which presumably translated to "you are totally screwed" and then die.

Of course, several things coincided with the death of the computer.

1. My parents were here. Which meant my mother, in her eagerness to help, would say things like, "maybe the floppy disk drive is faulty" or "Could it be the printer?" While earnest, these comments were insanely frustrating.

2. I had totally failed to back up my photos on the handy dandy external hard drive M has given me. All I could envision was the loss of my photos (excessively dear to me) combined with six months of I Told You So. Dread.

M handled things well. He refrained from the expanded "I Told You So" lecture, and only delivered the highlights. He managed not to scream at any of the non-techies living in the house who were offering advice (S: "Just unplug it, Daddy. That's what I always do when it doesn't do the right thing."). He performed an autopsy as best he could, given that the compact nature of my desktop is a labyrinth of wires and screws.

At some point, he stepped back and shook his head. "I can do no more." An ER-esque scene panned out: the various tools used in the rescue attempt scattered about, the partly disassembled carcass of the computer, the distraught family members peering timidly and sadly at the wreckage.

Bad news.

Fortunately, M hopped on the Internet of his own computer and found a computer dude: Danny the Computer Guy.

Ok, don't ask me. I didn't name him, for God's sake. Even my five year old was like, "what the hell? Why didn't he call himself Dan the Computer Man? It has a good rhyme." True that, S. True that.

DTCG lives in a little house down off Dauphin Island Pkwy. He looks like some one who would know the difference between a Hobbit and an Elf. I mean, really KNOW the difference. He agreed to examine the remains for free and give us a diagnosis.

Within 2 days DTCG had my computer back to me. The Lazarus computer, as it were. Everything was intact, we were only $99 the poorer, and amazingly, there was no D&D role playing in the Internet browser history. (Or porn, for that matter.)

DTCG saved my computer, and the short term health of my marriage as well. M brought our baby home, plugged it in, and I (begged him til he did it) backed up all the photos. Phew.

I will be happy to recommend DTCG to anyone in the area who needs PC help. But if he answers the phone speaking Elvish, you're on your own.