Crises

Have you ever had a period of time when everything seems to wear out, break down, or poop out? It seems that here in the Fixit household every day brings a new "crisis."

Over the last few months, we have had to have VERY expensive maintenance service on the car, the kitchen stove burners very seldom work at the same time, the sat tv has been iffy at best even during clear weather, the toaster oven toasted its last bread, the plumbing has had problems plumbing, the vacuum cleaner suddenly didn't suck, and over the past month and a half, both the PC and my laptop have been acting up.

When things go wrong I get very tense and worry about the expense of repair. Mr. Fixit gets frustrated and mumbles swear words in Spanish. To be factual,  he acts like a butt. I can't tell you how many times he as moved the sat dish. We have several round concrete patches in the yard where he has tried new locations. After each move of the dish, the signal starts strong and then weakens until the picture begins breaking up. I think it's going to be okay (if he leaves it alone) this time.

Yesterday when I logged on the internet, I received a "bulletin" from my virus protection program telling me that my computer was at risk and that I needed to download another facet of protection. When I tried download the program, everything went to hell in that proverbial hand basket. I lost the original virus protection program and it wouldn't re-install. I lost Explorer completely.

I decided to try a system restore. Things went from bad to worse. I no longer can use Microsoft Works (word processing, data base, an generic Excel) and several programs for which I don't have the installation CD's. Most of these programs were on the computer when we bought it. I spent yesterday un-installing some of those programs that I never use and saving everything from My Documents (copies of bills and other documents) on CD's. I also saved all pictures and videos on DVD in case I have to take the computer to a professional for repair. That took most of the day.

I finally was able to re-install the virus program and suddenly Explorer appeared again after one of many re-boots during the day. The programs are still messed up.

I'm going to install the free Open Office program to take the place of Microsoft Works. If I lose Explorer again, I suppose I can make-do with another browser. Right now I have Chrome that I use for Blogger. And there is always Fire Fox.

I really don't want to spend the money on taking it to a professional. I don't know how to use the Recovery disks to return the hard drive to the way it was from the factory. I also don't want to ask Ben; he is so busy. He works a full time job, he works on his rental properties every free minute it seems, and the boys are both involved in sports and Bella will be beginning volley ball soon. I don't think he ever has a minute to himself. He did get the laptop straightened out for me and I can't ask for help  again. Mr. Fixit said yesterday (when I was acting like a butt) that if I couldn't fix it, we would buy a new one. Yep, thinking about the expense is enough to push me over the edge.

As far as everything else, we bought a new toaster oven, Mr. Fixit has worked on the stove, the plumbing seems to be operating properly (except for a particularly stubborn slow running drain in the bathroom sink), the vacuum is once again sucking as it should (after $40.00 in new filters and bags), and the signal strength on the sat tv is high and the picture only breaks up occasionally.

As for the computers, I'll think about them another day.