This is me.
This is my computer.
This is an accurate drawing depicting my knowledge of
technology.
Recently, my computer got a tiny bit broken. And by tiny bit, I mean that it seemed to
forget the process of turning on. Which is
kind of a big deal, especially as I go to Northern Michigan University, where
everything and more is somehow related to a computer process.
In short, it broke two days before my 160-multiple choice
and 4-essay ONLINE final test. Granted,
that test was in that glorious Art History class that if you were an old
follower of mine on either Blogger or Twitter, you would get to hear me bitch
about on a regular basis.
But Dorsey, I’m
sure you’re saying. How could you possibly break a computer to the point of it not turning
on anymore?
Well, I’ll tell you.
In short, I am an idiot when it comes to technology. But as that shortened version would be a boring blog post, I
will tell you the lengthy, epic (not really) tale. It all started on Friday. I had just finished up a wonderful day of
Public Eye News (You know, that wonderful News-ish stuff I've mentioned
sparingly and will probably write a more detailed post about later, and by
later, I mean I probably won’t, even though one of the producers reads this and
has asked me to write about Public Eye and could potentially threaten to fire me
for not doing so, or even worse, force me to do the weather EVERY GODDAMN DAY
OH WAIT SHE ALREADY DOES THAT).
On a side note, I tell her that I hate doing the weather
every time she has me do the weather, to which she replies with either, “Shut
up, Dorsey,” or by ignoring me and putting me on weather the next time I’m on the
schedule anyway. It’s a pretty good
system we have going on, really. We’re
really chummy, I promise.
But as I was saying before one of the many tangents that I’m
sure I will be probably going on in this post, I had just finished up a day at
Public Eye News. It was our last show of
the semester, so we all decided to do something special so we could all hang
out and be happy, without leaving the minors in the dorms so they could go
drink like the 21+ year olds they are (not that I’m bitter about not seeing any
of them out of class).
They decided to go bowling.
It would be a good way to relax before finals week started and we all
began to study our hearts out.
Now, I love bowling, but there was a slight problem in the
sense that the bowling alley was off campus and my only consistent method of
transportation was locked up in the basement of a dorm building with the rest
of the bikes for the winter.
Fortunately, this problem was solved rather quickly and I got into a car
to ride there. But this wasn’t the
actual start to my problem. No, this was
the exposition. See, it all started when
we got to the bowling alley and I had a brilliant plan.
Yes. Leave my bag,
which is holding my $1300 computer, in a car in below-freezing temperatures for
the two hours or so that I will be bowling.
At least we locked the doors.
Upon returning from bowling, I took the long walk back to
the theatre for Avenue Q rehearsal, then post rehearsal, walked even FURTHER to
my dorm. In the cold.
Apparently, cold weather is not good for laptop
computers. I opened the computer,
started typing, and everything on my screen flashed once and then my computer
stopped doing anything.
This was a problem.
This was a big problem. My
computer died. The week before finals.
But I kept my cool.
It was only 9 on a Friday night.
I wouldn't have to worry too much.
I had one final, and even though I had to take said final online, it was
on Tuesday morning, and I would be able to have it fixed by then. I really wasn't worried. I could take it in to the repair shop on Saturday
and have it back in a couple hours. I
could handle one night without the Internet at my disposal.
Saturday morning came, and I hauled it off (which really wasn't a heavy load despite my usage of the word "haul", I mean it’s just a MacBook and BRO I TOTALLY LIFT) to the
Micro Repairs Center in the library complex.
I had a song in my heart (and in my head), and as I strolled into the
hallway, I noticed a slight detail that I had missed when I conducted the plan.
The Micro Repairs Center is closed on Saturdays.
I trudged back to my dorm, defeated, sad, depressed, and
without a working source of Internet.
Upon my arrival, I noticed, as I sat down and looked around. I noticed the room for what could have been
the first time in weeks, maybe months.
It was messier than I thought. I
debated cleaning, but I don’t need to technically clean until I leave…on
Friday…so that didn’t happen.
Don’t look so surprised.
No, I just sat there.
And looked. And sat. And looked.
Then I peed. Then I sat and
looked some more. Time slowed to a
crawl. Ivan, my roommate, was immersed
in his headphones, watching a YouTube video, taunting me with his
technology. Well, he wasn’t taunting
exactly, he was ignoring me, but in the madness one can only associate with the
loss of internet usage, sitting became taunting, music became an impossibility,
and most importantly, boredom became my life.
How did I ever make it
through not having a laptop? I pondered, rocking slowly at my desk chair,
playing Tetris on my Samsung Galaxy player.
How could I ever have thought that
technology was something I could live without?
It was a dark time. I
recall looking to my left and seeing my roommate, deeply invested in his
technology. It was about then that I
snapped. I needed to get out. I needed to do something. I didn't have to be technology, but I
needed something to do. Anything.
I rushed into the adjoining room, hoping for a shred of
human companionship.
After still having way too much time on my hands, I curled
up in a corner and spent the night texting like a fifteen year old girl on the only
source of technology I had at my disposal.
It was a dark time. I hope that
it will be one of the college memories that I will forget in a few days.
As I immortalize this in a blog post.
But regardless, I managed to make it through the night. It was a challenge, but as I woke up on
Sunday morning, it seemed that everything would be okay. Even the effects of the Internet withdrawal
were slowly dissipating. I loaded up my
computer and hiked over to the Micro Repair Center again (which is not open on
Saturdays but is on Sundays, and I’m actually not joking about that).
I arrived at 11:30, eager to get my MacBook fixed, only to
find that the Micro center wouldn’t open until 1. Fortunately, I knew a way of spending
time. I prepared myself for the most
incredibly captivating activity that I could think of without the Internet at
my disposal.
Waiting.
It was invigorating.
At last, the doors unlocked and I strolled into the
center. It had a distinct aura of
classiness and sophistication that I had been without for almost a whole two
days. I walked up to the front counter
to discuss the problem.
Let’s just say that I was not going to have a good night. But being me, ever the optimist, (I know, I’m
surprised at that statement too), I have decided that I have learned a good
deal from this. In fact, this, like many
of my recent blog posts, actually has a lesson.
I like to think of this as my blog maturing, finding a niche, and
becoming more than just some guy complaining about things he doesn’t like.
What is that lesson?
I’ll tell you.
Having a Laptop is the most important thing ever and I never
want to spend a day, nay, an HOUR without the Internet where I am not asleep.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaand there goes that rise in maturity.
SIDE NOTE: I typed
this onto a Word document, and it turns out that Internet is a proper noun and
needs to be capitalized in my posts.
POINTS FOR LEARNING
No comments:
Post a Comment