Sarah Nigbor

Sunday morning started off splendidly. I had two cups of coffee without having to rush. I actually had time to chat with my husband, uninterrupted, which rarely happens. It was shaping up to be a fine day. Until I tried to turn on my computer.

When I pressed the power button, it came on but had the incessant spinning circle symbol with the scary words “Beginning automatic repair.” What repair? It had been just fine the day before. Nothing had happened to it in the interim. No kids were home to blame, nor had the dog gotten a hold of it. It hadn’t fallen, nothing had spilled on it, nada. I hadn’t clicked on any weird links or emails.

The spinning circle remained. I grew more and more panicked as I researched online on my phone what the problem could be. It was an HP I had purchased 2 ½ years ago, so it wasn’t that old. They typically have at least an eight-year lifespan, I was told. Everything I found made me panic more. It was deemed the “black screen of death.”

For many people, this might be an inconvenience, but for me it was pure disaster. Sundays are the day I do most of my writing for the paper, to free up editing time on Mondays. My husband has a work laptop, but he was glued to it all day for football playoff planning and film watching. He also uses it for teaching.

I clutched my laptop and prayed all the way to Best Buy in Eau Claire, where I had bought it. I left it in the capable hands of the “Geek Squad” repair people, who assured me it was most likely something they could fix. I felt relief, but as the hours ticked by as I twiddled my thumbs uselessly at home, the panic crept back.

When they called me at 5:30 p.m., they had bad news. Nothing they did worked. The computer’s hardware was fine and they had no explanation as to why it wouldn’t turn on. To send it out for more extensive repair would cost more than I had paid for it. Not to mention, I needed it back NOW, not in a few days or weeks.

The employee assured me that if I got there by 7 p.m., I could purchase a new one and get apps downloaded onto it. I had still lost almost all day, but if I could get it home by 8-8:30 p.m., I’d still have a few hours to crank out some copy.

I made it to the store in plenty of time, picked out a computer that was on major sale and tried to purchase it. I need a computer with a large amount of memory, and I found the perfect one. I had to write a check, since the account I had to use doesn’t have a debit card. The employee, over the phone, had said that would be fine. I even checked ahead of time.

First off, the employee, who was all of 18 years old, looked at the check like it was a foreign object. He had to have a manager guide him through the process of running it through whatever machine they run it through. It passed that test. He even learned what a routing number is. Then he was required to call their financial department to make sure the check passed muster. For reasons they did not share, the check was denied. The money was in the account, so I have no idea why it was not accepted. My heart sunk. It was now 6:57 p.m., three minutes until their closing time. Why didn’t I just use a credit card? Because, I don’t have one. We used to have several, but last year I cut them up. I feel they’re too easy to use and balances can get out of control easily, especially when you have four kids and everything is super expensive.

I went out of the store with my head hanging, feeling dejected. I sat in the car and cried. It had been such a frustrating day and I didn’t know how I was going to get everything done in time. I had lost a whole day, which in my profession, is terrible. My car engine light came on on the way home, to add to the fun.

When I got home, everything seemed to be against me. The rabbit food had somehow gotten moisture into it and was globbed together in a ball of mush (Fleet Farm was closed). The cat food bag was empty except for a few nuggets for Snuggles’ evening meal. The washer stopped working and I was left with a machine full of water. After I smacked it good, it came out of its stupor and went into the spin cycle. I went to bed feeling sick with worry.

I woke Monday morning and stood outside Best Buy waiting for them to open, feeling determined. I snatched the computer up I had chosen the night before, paid for it with my debit card, managing not to wring the neck of the salesperson who asked me six times to confirm my phone number. I hightailed it across the store and begged the Geek Squad people to install the programs I needed without an appointment. I must have looked scary (or persuasive), because they didn’t say no. When they told me it would be ready tomorrow, I politely freaked out and told them it had to be done in 45 minutes. They actually listened!

Now here I am, trying to get two days of work crammed into a few hours. At least my column got done!