What a week for computers! Mon., Feb. 27, 2012

Sparks, NV:

Wow! Last week sucked here with our computer issues. First my hard drive was on its way out. I took the self diagnostics I had to the Geek Squad. Their diagnosis:  two issues: 1) hard drive on its way out; 2) viral infection. They told me I could a) contact HP and order recovery disks--since I didn't have any--to rebuild my hard drive from scratch or b) buy a new computer, backup disk and new Microsoft Office Suite Product Key Card.

We opted for option "b" above and paid Geek Squad to transfer documents, photos, favorites from my old hard drive to my new hard drive and back up my computer. (I also got a new backup drive included in their service, for a price of course.) 

On Thursday evening we purchased the new computer with transfer of info and back up drive. Friday I took my computer back in to have the transfer and backup drive work done. It took them a little over three hours.  

I was very happy with the service that Best Buy's Geek Squad provided and would highly recommend them. I can't say that every Geek Squad will be as good as the one locally, but I can certainly vouch for the Geek Squad here in Sparks.

My previous computer had a large tower (desktop), with 19" monitor, keypad, and speakers. All that took up a lot of room in the 5er. My new computer is a laptop, compact, all in one unit. It takes up a lot less room on our dining room table plus it's much easier to move if we want to have company over for dinner. Bob also has a laptop...that's another story.

I was using Bob's laptop while we decided what to do with my old one. I turned off his computer one day and closed the lid. Or should I say attempted to close the lid? It wouldn't go down all the way. 

I didn't think much of it until Bob came home and tried to turn on his computer. His screen was white with two little black blobs down near the bottom of his screen. He could turn on his computer and we could hear it opening, but the screen did not work. Uh-oh. He figured out that the screen had a couple of cracks in it. He had kept a little "worry stone" and another small thing on his keyboard near the screen. When I attempted to close the screen, I smooshed the screen onto the rock and the other thing he had sitting there. Mea culpa. I felt so bad I had damaged his screen, especially hot on the heels of my computer crash.

Another computer down. We were afraid he was going to have to get a new computer too, BUT hallelujah he heard an ad on the radio for a used computer place. He took his laptop to them and they had a old laptop of the exact same model as his and they were able to replace the screen. They also fixed his "6" key which Sunnie had somehow popped off the keyboard AND they fixed his wi-fi connection. It took them about 3-4 hours. Bob was happy.

Saturday evening, we drove over Donner Pass to Auburn, CA for Kodiak Roofing's 20th anniversary. They had a very nice shindig at a country club with a buffet dinner, slide show of jobs and people from the past 20 years, and lots of door prizes. There was also a putting contest. I enjoyed getting to know the people Bob works with. I-80 over Donner Pass was free of snow and ice since there hadn't had any precipitation for a while. Nice.

Sunday afternoon we walked around Sparks Marina Lake. There was a definite chill in the air and the wind was blowing. Lots of people walk their dogs around the lake and there's a dog park right next to the water. One group of people walking dogs had about eight huskies. It looked like a sled dog team. I asked them if they use their dogs to pull sleds. Sure enough, they do. However, there hasn't been enough snow this year to run their sleds; hence, the walks around the lake.

New photos are being added to my post from Saturday, Feb. 18, showing the animals we saw at Animal Ark.