If I had to characterize this past week, I’d say it was fraught with technical glitches.
First, my anti-virus program went down, leaving me feeling vulnerable to hackers.Next, the printer refused to talk with my laptop. There were no security issues here, but it still left me feeling vulnerable to frustration. And then, my website was shut down by the server that hosts it for a variety of infractions I didn’t even know existed. This left me feeling vulnerable to stupidity.
I soldiered on. Contacted the security company I use and waited on the phone for almost fifteen minutes. Finally I chose the option of leaving my telephone number for a call-back. The wait began, but my phone never jangled. Next morning, however, there was a lengthy email in my in-box with instructions on how to fix my security problem.
I’m pretty good at deciphering instructions; so I followed the itemized clicks to here, there, and elsewhere in my security program. Eventually the program downloaded its latest upgrade and my files were safe again.
Next I coaxed the printer into a tentative relationship with my laptop and realized I’ll probably have to do this regularly, because HP and Brother and Canon all want me to spend money on a new machine.
Finally I tackled the shut down issue by logging onto the appropriate site. While I trolled, the invisible Dimitry offered to help via Live Chat. (This is a misnomer, as no chatting is involved; rather, it’s all keyboarding.) Back and forth Dimitry and I went, and in the end he actually helped. My site is up again, although there are still issues.
So what is my point? Mostly I’m struck with how tech problems are handled these days. While I wanted to use the telephone – which was once the epitome of technology — that isn’t how things work anymore. It just goes to show that I’m the dinosaur.
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