trystinn | Techie stress

I have a KILLER custom-built pc (don't make me post what's in it, because I will), which I spoiled myself this summer so I can play CSI. I spend too much time on the pc and have a wireless network in the house set up for Josh's laptop. I run three hard drives (one's a 120 gig), a dozen email aliases and much more I won't get into here. Have multiple printers, scanners, thumb drives, digital cameras, etc.

So I'm a geek, get over it. And not even a super geek, sort of a wannabe geek, though I can diss IP schemes with you, if you're bored enough.

Josh has this amazingly horrid habbit of saving his MsWorks files (yeah, I know), then heading out to work with his thumb drive (I've gotten him away from 3.5" finally and burning CD-Rs), then realizing he cannot convert the file to MsWord from his office and he needs his file NOW!

So I get the call, run back and forth between the pc's with my thumb drive (I don't fileshare with his pc due to his irritatingly messy file storage habbits and questionable pc security, didn't even have a firewall until I set it up), copy and pasting to WordPad, saving as rtf, running to the living room (tripping over the still itching Gracie), re-formating the rtf to .doc format, emailing him, then cursing him out at home afterward behind his back.

Ask me how many times I've explained the above to him so he saves his documents correctly, so he can use them at work via the thumb drive? DOZENS and yet, we still get these panicky phone calls!

On that note, additional pc whining from the love of my life:
"Honey, the ISP is down!" - no its not, honey, the wireless network is done, the ISP is fine, would you like to use my pc?

"Why is the screen funny?" - because that's my account, don't mess with it, log over to yours (I didn't give him admin priviledges, natch)

"What happened to your account?" - I changed the background theme and picture, I do that. Switch user to your account. No! You don't have to turn the pc off, just log off or switch user. ARGH!

"Why can't I hear my MP3s on your pc?" - Because they aren't MP3s, they are that stupid MP3 player format that's uploaded on your laptop, not mine!

"The laptop's keyboard isn't working" - that's because you knocked over a glass of water onto it. It will either dry out and work, or dry out and not work. Tough lesson, eh? Here's my old keyboard, hope you know how to touch type since I wore the alphabet off the keys.

"The laptop touchpad isn't working" - see entry immediately above this one! Here's a mouse, deal.

"Hon, the printer won't work" - That's because BOTH printers are hooked up locally to my pc and I'm not sharing them with your doofus laptop because you print out blank pages and crap like that. That's why I gave you a thumb drive! Bring it in here and I'll handle it.

"Now that you have a color inkjet, you shold get rid of your laser printer" - ugh...I don't even know how to respond to that one, I usually just give him a hard stare and grind my teeth. I have a glorious old HP 4+ and I've left instructions in my will to have it cremated with me.

"You need to get your pc fixed" - no, hon, you're just not used to XP Professional, you run XP Home on your pc. They are fairly different. Plus, I run full Office Suite, which causes lots of problems because your dinky laptop runs MsWorks, instead, because you bought the "media package". Great choice that, huh? Listen, this is like your Chevy pickup compared to my Chevy sedan. Their both vehicles, but I cannot tow shit, its a power and versatility issue. And btw, clean out that f*cking truck cab or I'm not riding in it 'till you do.

He keeps turning off my pc when he's done with it. I could just cry. That and he keeps asking how to turn off the LED both inside and outside my tower. I keep telling him, its not a car and they aren't called "daytime running lights".

I'll make an offering to the great tech Gods later to apologize on his behalf later today.