Oh People......

I’m here! I’m here!

Oh people….what a WEEK!

I have so many things to tell you. I have so many pictures to post. I have recipes. I have running cards. I have very fun pictures from something I went to this week.

AND I CAN’T TELL YOU ABOUT ANY OF THEM BECAUSE….

I’m computerless.

I do, however, have a fun Bekahland story regarding said computerless-ness, so gather round.

I noticed earlier this week that when I tried to plug in my computer to charge it, the cord seemed finicky. I’d have to jiggle it a little or switch it to another outlet to get it to work properly. I knew my outlets were fine because other things were working in them. Well…Tuesday night I came home to a nearly dead battery and a very dead power cord.

Nothing worked. I wiggled it. I moved it to every outlet in the house. Basically I did everything but stand on my head, and the only reason I didn’t do that is because…well…need I explain the disaster that would ensue if I tried THAT?

In a moment of pretend brilliance, I called Staples to see if new power cords could be purchased. The Staples lady said, “No, you have to purchase those from the manufacturer.” So, using the last morsel of battery power in my computer, I looked up the number for the manufacturer and placed the call. Amazingly enough the menu didn’t have a specific option that said “If your power cord is dead, please press three,” so I guessed my way into the troubleshooting department.

The man who took my call was quick to inform me that my warranty expired a week ago. Well of course it did! Why wouldn’t it? So he asked me a bunch of questions – largely centered around whether or not there was physical damage to my cord. He didn’t seem to want to take no for an answer. After reminding me no less than five times that my warranty had expired a week ago, he gave me the phone number for the warranty department so I could check with them, “just to see.”

So I called the warranty department. “Well I’m sorry, ma’am,” they said, “but your warranty expired a week ago.”

I KNOW.

I explained that I called because that’s what Mr. Troubleshooter Man told me to do and I was supposed to ask if there was anything they could do.

“No ma’am. Your warranty expired a week ago.”

Really!? I didn’t argue. I work in customer service and I understand that a deadline is a deadline. I am not any more special than anybody else whose warranty expired. I do not need to make an appeal. It is what it is. Let the record show.

He explained I’d need to talk to the parts department to order a new cord…or…I could order it online. Mustering my kindest voice, I said, “I’d be happy to…IF I HAD A COMPUTER THAT WORKED.” I asked if he could transfer me to parts and he hastily said, “Oh no, I can’t do that. I can only give you their number.”

Okay then.

So I called the parts lady. She asked if I knew my warranty expired a week ago.

Need I dignify that with an explanation?

She said I’d need a new cord and quoted a price so outrageous that “ARE YOU SERIOUS?” flew out of my mouth and I refuse to even put it in print. But that wasn’t the worst. The worst was when she said, “That will be there in seven to ten days.”

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

I’m sorry – did I move onto the set of Little House on the Prairie and no one told me? Does Oleson’s store not carry power cords?

I recovered quickly, in the interest of wanting to bear a good witness. But get this.

She closed our call with, “I’ll send you an email receipt. Just email me back if you have any questions.”

To which I replied, “I sure will. In seven to ten days.”