Of Dead Computers and Graduates

Now, there's a thought for a peaceful day's errands: spend all the time I couldn't spend researching on my computer, thanks to a nightmare update turned Blue Screen of Death, on delivering the mangled hulk of hardware to an IT wizard who might—just might—be able to bring the thing back to life.

Now that we are infused with a cultural mandate to expect the conveniences of instant online access, losing a computer is a challenge—especially when I didn't sign up for this roller coaster ride. The company which brought on this disaster has been zero helpful, to put it mildly (I'm restraining myself here). Since the blessed event's occurrence on Tuesday, little else has been accomplished other than try to tutor ourselves on the self-help route; online help from the company which brought on this episode has been less than satisfactory.

Crowdsourcing the problem did bring a glimmer of hope, however: posting the query to our Facebook friends brought several offers for help. We made our choice of options and yesterday made the trip to drop off a now-not-working computer with an IT guru who believes the thing can be resuscitated.

Did that process eat up yet another day? What's another day in the scheme of things, anyhow? Sure, why not?!

The nice thing about losing a day like this is that we got to wrap it all up with the special occasions this time of the year brings. A family friend had a son who graduated high school this Friday night. We set aside our computer woes to be part of the festivities, and got to witness a small group of graduates celebrate a notable milestone.

The "what next" question will still be with us until we resolve the computer issue, but it's nice to just lose ourselves in the joy of others' accomplishments. There's nothing like putting problems in perspective, and letting the joy of the good overwhelm the disappointment of momentary misfortune. "Tomorrow is another day" may be a trite and overused retort, but somehow, I find it to be unexpectedly refreshing in the face of yesterday's disappointments. Having tomorrow, as it turns out, is always a gift.