What goes around, turns on again, eventually

by Nellie Curtiss …

I opened up the MacBook and my heart sank as it did not wake up. I touched the space bar, the “a, b, c” keys. No response. The screen remained as dark as the original Tabula Rasa belonging to the mythic teacher in the sky.

All my psyche could do was silently yell, “Now What?” Then I remembered that  a user has to hold the power key down for a few seconds in order for the guts to wake up. This time it worked and consequently asked for my credentials; next a squiggly zipping color rainbow spread across the screen before the icons populated the screen. As I typed, the screen flickered.

Looking up at the top banner, I noticed a yellow caution symbol on the battery. A click revealed that the battery needed servicing. Still? For two months, I had secretly hoped that somewhere in the computer that autocorrect would jazz up the battery to work properly. I guess that wish didn’t come true.

Now what? Who are you going to call when technology goes awry? No longer under warranty, the computer would not be serviced for free by Apple. My son could fix almost any computer, but he was not available to do just that.

I decided to email WSB Computer Services in Alamosa. And I had an email response right away. John Manesiotis referred me to Doug Vollertsen, the onsite tech specializing in MacBooks. Eventually, I learned that although Doug stood ready to help, his hands were tied since that the particular model had to be repaired by Apple.  At least I know now that I have to get the computer to Apple, somehow. For now, if I keep the laptop plugged in, I can write and scroll.

Meanwhile, an alert came over my calendar, and an interloper from China had decided to leave a message on my calendar. I surmised I had been hacked and so looked up the settings for my digital calendar. I judiciously removed all outside influence from the settings. I selected only the one email address to associate with the calendar. “There,” I thought.  “That should fix it.” That interloper won’t be able to mysteriously plop any invite in my calendar again.

Just a few minutes later, I was looking up my next appointment. Oops, I discovered, not only had I successfully eliminated the trespasser from my calendar, but I had also deleted all the appointments that were essentially my brains.  Nothing was there. Not the appointments for the day, or tomorrow or Saturday or next month. Even Schroeder’s grooming date was missing.

Now what? The only answer was to re-enter appointments I could recall or find reminders in my iMessages.  And so, I’m thankful for those pesky text reminders and for patient portals that keep another calendar. With these reminders and portal documents, I can repopulate the schedule.

Wednesday’s Monte Vista Fire also dampened technology in my neighborhood. It had temporarily taken down electricity, cell services, and internet. While an army of repair folks worked to restore utilities, I couldn’t find out if the outage was limited to my property or if it was city wide. So, I began rebooting the modem and router. I tried this button and that button. I downloaded an app for the router and reached an impasse. It was critical for me as my news and entertainment were tied to the internet. I didn’t have cable. And didn’t want cable or satellite. I searched on YouTube, Google, and Spectrum. I reported the outage. Then reported it again. I tried to re-establish the link with the modem again and again. I finally gave up and let my anxiety fade while I napped.

At 2 a.m., I checked to see what lights the modem had on, and the unassuming box was running again. “Maybe the internet is back!” So, then I rebooted the router, and clicked on the “wake-up” button, then like magic from the sky, the internet streamed again. What goes around, turns on again, eventually.

Nelda Curtiss is a retired college educator and long-time local columnist. Reach her at http://www.columnsbynellie.com or email her at columnsbynellie@gmail.com