This morning I came in to work late because I had been at the dentist earlier, so I was already a bit stressed about missing extra hours during this potential crunch time for us. Thus, to maximize efficiency and minimize unpleasantness, I wasted no time in getting to my computer to turn it on so it could boot up while I got my daily mug of tea, checked on orders, said hellos to coworkers, etc. But alas, my computer would not turn on.
The power button on my computer’s tower has always been kind of difficult to push – you have to depress the sides rather than the middle, and even then it has to be done rather forcefully. Sometimes it even hurts my fingers, and often my coworkers are stymied by it in my absence. So I figured it was just being extra-testy – but no, upon repeated firm beatings, no such luck. After three of us had attempted it, we tried to open up the computer’s casing to fiddle with it internally and see what was wrong, but we couldn’t get the case off.
After a call to tech support confirming that our warranty did not allow for calls to tech support, I managed to get an online chat guy who sent me a link to a page telling me how to install memory – he said that page should include instructions for how to remove the casing. Even though the page he sent had instructions for a different model than mine, I managed to a) detach the casing on the computer, b) figure out exactly what the problem was, and c) fix it myself, making it no longer testy and hard to push in the future. I’ve never fixed a mechanical device by opening it up and tinkering with it before – I felt super-intelligent, victorious, thrilled, skilled, brilliant, etc. All those things. I told Danny the tech support guy that victory was mine and I had fixed my machine, as he had insisted on waiting in the chat window until I had the thing open.
But you know what my favorite aspect of all that was? It was when he then asked me if I was typing to him from the same computer THAT HE HAD DIRECTED ME TO DISASSEMBLE and that I had SUCCESSFULLY DISASSEMBLED. Yes, Danny H, HP ID#46839. Yes, I am typing to you from the perfectly-safely-disassembled computer tower which I left plugged in whilst tinkering with its electronic components. That is what I am doing. Aaahhh, Danny. Danny made my day. Hooray for the Internet and all that, but far more hoorays to ME. I’m never calling tech support again. Okay, that’s a lie, and laptops are probably way harder to tinker with, but I’m still pleased with myself.