Nerds … Geeks … Tekkys … whatever …

I quit.

The day started early … like 6 AM early. My new and improved beloved Netpad was back in the house.

The geek guys had done a lot of “stuff” to it.

Yeah. Right.

Idiot Me: I need a new battery. And a memory upgrade would be nice.

Geeky Them: While we’re at it why don’t we get rid of this rinky dink Starter Operating System and put on a Windows 7 Professional 64 bit system? And the Full Blown Microsoft Office Professional Suite?

Beloved Netpad: Don’t do it!!! (yeah, I know … computers don’t talk)

Idiot Me: Gee, that sounds like a great idea. Are you sure it will work?

Geeky Them: SURE it will. Be done in a few days here.

So here I am almost two months later … finally have it back. Again.

I started at 6 AM to add the other “stuff” … reinstall programs … restore pictures … that kind of “stuff”.

Yeah. I know. Should have waited till 7:11 on 7/11 … but that’s the way it is.

I spent a good amount of time updating the Netpad with the links and whatnot … Then for good measure I downloaded IE 10 (came with IE 8). And of course there are tons of things still to download for it. But it was a start.

Somewhere in the middle, I realized I hadn’t had any coffee since Sunday. Iced tea, yes. Coffee, no. Not a good sign.

As I was getting up to make a caffeine dosage … my Netpad said “Windows has expired.”

It can do that? Then in the lower right hand corner I saw “this copy of windows is not genuine” … What the …

*BEWARE — RANT ALERT*

So I need to take it back to the shop … AGAIN? … and have them fix it … AGAIN? This is getting ridiculous. All I took it in for was a spare battery and a memory upgrade. Of all the …

Now that should have been enough to warn me. Not a good day for technological magic for yours truly. But did I listen? Oh, heavens no.

On to the next project.

Hooking up my new phone number. For my new AT&T-$20-a-month-take-it-anywhere-home-phone deal. And I got a phone number that I have wanted for years. Decades, even.

We’ll skip the part where I had to A) get it from Verizon, B) try to port it to AT&T, C) think there was a better deal through the local broadband company, D) discover that nobody had custody of the number and D) have to activate it through AT&T to get it active again.

It’s working now … after a little plugging and switching. So I decided to tell a few people.

Oh, am I that predictable?? I got on FB and was chatting with someone. Said I was switching my phones from the old number to my new number. I said “Oh guess what I made my new number?”

She guessed.

Then I called Linda to tell her … and she said “Oh you mentioned you were going to try to get a number, so I already have it in my cell phone.”

Scratch International Spy from my list of potential bridge jobs.

Moving on to the last project of the day. The Virgin Broadband2Go USB stick. So I could have internet access no matter where I went. This is the next part of the continuing saga … in which Holly looks for reliable internet access at the lake.

This is Take 5 …

The Virgin U600 3G/4G USB Stick … a little USB Flash Drive sized device … for one-third the price of the Virgin Overdrive.

And I decided to activate it. Today.

After all, how difficult could it be?

I tried to Activate in advance using the lake Zip Code on my home Internet.

I tried to Activate in advance using this Zip Code on my home Internet.

I tried to Activate with the USB not plugged in and giving the teeny tiny ESN from the back of the unit.

I tried to Activate with the USB plugged in and them figuring out the ESN automatically.

I tried getting the information with the USB plugged in and then entering the information in using my home Internet.

I gave my name, address, alternate phone number, credit card information, date of birth, secret PIN number and the name of the first boy who ever kissed me (This is a security question? Well, it is for Virgin, I suppose). I entered all of it.

Twice.

Finally through some odd combination, it gave me a screen with all the resulting numbers … which I couldn’t get to print to my network printer … and the promise of two emails with verifying information.

I got one of them.

I still have yet to tell them which handy-dandy prepaid plan I want to use. I probably should check and see if they have emptied my bank account.

As I was grumbling at about the fourth go-round of all this, a small pop-up screen appeared:

Congratulations! You have been selected to take a short survey to tell us about how wonderful Virgin online is. Would you like to tell us?

Oh. Would. I. Ever.

When all was done, I went to said pop-up and clicked on “Start the Survey”. Up came another screen.

We are sorry. This screen is not available.

Are you sure computers can’t talk? And hear?

I’ll trust your answer. Today is not a good day for technology and me … as it turns out.