Thought I was dead, didn't you?

Actually, one morning last week I came to the computer and nothing worked.  I turned it off and back on, and a continuous beeping started.  I repeated these actions a few times with no results.  The only thing on my monitor was a little blinking dash in the upper left-hand corner.

I first thought my monitor was bad, and mentioned this on Facebook.  A local tech let me know that it was not the monitor, it was my computer.  Then, thank goodness, he reminded me that Dell gives a one-year warranty with all their computers, and they send someone to your home to fix it.  I bought this computer last December, so it definitely was under warranty.  

I can't say things went altogether smoothly:  The first guy who came out fiddled with it and finally said my hard drive was damaged, and that probably by the next day he, or someone else, should be here to install it.  The second guy, the one who installed the hard drive, checked to see that I was connected to the Internet and left.  After I got the baby down for her afternoon nap, I came to my computer (you really don't want to try being on a computer with her around... she likes to "help") and found out I couldn't access most of the sites I usually go to, mainly Facebook!  Thankfully, I mentioned this on Facebook (I have few secrets) and my son said that usually means the computer has the wrong date on it.  Sure enough, the silly new hard drive thought we were still in January of 2009.    

As it happens, I had a three-day wait.  There was a time this would have driven me nuts, but now that I have the Ipad, I am always connected.  However, there are certain things I need a computer for.  Blogging, for example:  I tried to make an entry with my Ipad, but I was going to put a picture on, couldn't get it done, and somehow deleted the entry in its entirety.  I decided I would do better to wait.  

If you are going to buy a PC, I'd say you are better off buying a Dell, just for that free, one-year warranty, and the fact that THEY COME TO YOUR HOME, rather than you having to send something back to them.  

I lost a few things, but most of my treasured videos and pictures are on an external hard drive, and I have already put them back on my computer.  I like having them both places, because, you know, the external drive could fail, too.  

So that's why I haven't been blogging.