INDIAN LOVE CALL ….

Life isn’t always a bowl of cherries and we are prone to forget the joys of life and dwell more profoundly on our losses.  In the Jewish tradition, mourning the passing of a loved one is known as “Sitting Shiva” — a recognized observance of bereavement which continues for seven days.   Very fortunately, my recent loss was not of a loved one — but rather my ‘best friend’ — my Dell Inspiron 6000.   My hard drive crashed and died.   If such a tragedy has ever befallen you, you can sympathize with the feeling of abandonment and hopelessness.   It is like you are bound and gagged and have totally lost your independence, usefulness, sociability and contact with the world at large. (Whatever happened to that old fashioned device called the telephone)?

When the beautiful bright blue screen with white lights repeatedly appeared as I tried to get online, I became bewildered.  But — it didn’t take a rocket scientist to soon discover that my computer was in trouble and headed for certain death.  I first called AOL who referred me to Dell.

In this age of cyberspace, few major service organizations are based in the United States and in the past I have experienced frequent language barriers!   I find it cumbersome to keep stating, “Please repeat that,” or “We have a bad connection,” or “I am not quite sure what you are saying.”   However, those making the S. O. S. call are not in control and deciphering the native tongue of the person on the other end only added to my misery and deepening depression.

I learned that the gentleman assigned to my case was based in India and after endless clicks of F1s, F2s, F12s and other assorted and sundry keys, it was confirmed my hard drive was no longer in the land of the living.   The procedure seemed routine to them:  I was asked to ante up $50 in advance for the specialist’s diagnosis of my computer’s illness and then another $150 or so for replacement parts (hard drive plus additional memory components and four discs).  Before I concluded the call, I posed the $64 Question!

I innocently asked, “How long will it take to install everything and is it an involved process?”   “No!” enthusiastically replied, my technician.   “You can do it yourself and it should take about ten to fifteen minutes.”   Phew!  What a relief.  I authorized the purchase and much to my delight, all three items arrived by noon the following day.  I was extremely impressed with their efficiency.

Beware of Greeks (or Indians) bearing gifts.  Though I was enthralled to learn I could resolve the problem myself,  I made a safety play — calling my computer guru (one of the best in Vegas) and requesting he come over the following day (though I added I was told I could handle it myself).  I probably jumped the gun — but I was not anxious to swim or drown  in uncharted waters — and decided to splurge and have it done professionally and put the nightmare behind me.   Good move, Judy!!!!

The outcome:  Three hours and $300 later my computer was up and running (with several programs not yet installed and countless other minor glitches and unresolved issues which will necessitate another house call).

My assessment of the convincing “ten to fifteen minutes” installation estimate by my Dell agent:  I would venture an educated guess that if starting from scratch as a bridge novice, it  would  take less time to become a Life Master than for an ordinary lay person like myself to install the necessary hardware and get it up to snuff!!!!

Besides — at my age — time’s a-wasting!