Sunday, March 27, 2011

It's Hard To Say Goodbye

I need a new computer.

Hal and I have been together since 2005(if you don't get the 'Hal' reference, turn in your geek card and go watch 2001: A Space Odyssey). Hal's been a faithful, reliable companion, and he's never been tempermental. He always turned on when he was supposed to. He never ate my files unless I accidentally told him to. He communicated efficiently with all the applications and printers and scanners and flash drives. Even when he began overheating during my LOTRO game play because of my video card, Hal still managed to keep my data intact. Even my husband's computer, with all it's fancy bells and whistles and special fans, never did that!

Lately, however, the old boy has been having some difficulty getting started when I turn him on in the mornings. My husband has been talking about Hal's 'power supply' in a hushed tone. Various applications have begun to 'freeze' or require a reboot. One of my hard drives is no longer accessible. This morning, the DVD drive would not open, even when I said 'please'.

It's time to put Hal out to pasture. This will be difficult for me. I've always had a difficult time saying goodbye to electronic devices; I'm pretty sure that I still have the very first cell phone I ever bought somewhere. This also means that I will need to sunder my attachment to Windows XP and give myself wholly over the most recent incarnation. There will be growing pains to go along with the change to a new computer.

But Hal won't be completely gone; my husband loves to 'tinker' with computers. He will disassemble Hal and harvest those parts that still work, so that Hal can live another day in another incarnation.

Such as a computer on a spaceship...

9 comments:

  1. Oh No!! There is nothing worse than having to start over with a new computer....having to figure it out, all its likes and dislikes, ugh!
    But it will be so much fun when its all up and running!

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  2. It is the worst! I would suggest getting everything you need off of your hard drive before he freezes forever.
    I wonder what the problem is with people like us...I hate getting any new electronics. I think I fear the learning curve.
    I hope I spelled everything correctly because I have OCD about doing things incorrectly.
    I already follow just visiting from fan crazed weekend. I hope your week gets off to a good start.

    http://www.doreenmcgettigan.com

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  3. Following you from the blog hop. Hope you follow back

    http://iheartmaternity.blogspot.com

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  4. Oh the hassles that come with troublesome computers and new ones!! It's like there is no medium, at least not for long!

    I'm a co-host of the A-Z blogging challenge and just wanted to stop in and say hello! Should you have questions just let us know! We are also having some fun on twitter! I hope you stop by my blog and twitter for a visit!

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  5. I know how that goes. Just traded in the cell phone I've had since 2005--since I really don't do much with it than make and receive calls occasionally I would have like to just kept it for always.

    Happy to have you in the A to Z Challenge! I'm now following your blog.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out
    Twitter hashtag: #atozchallenge

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  6. 2005? 6 years old? Isn't that, like, 429 years in computer years? I always get dog years and computer years mixed up.

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  7. I had to put my Hal out to pasture just before Christmas and although it was a hassle I have to say it's amazing how much more I'm getting done on my newer computer.

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  8. Oh girlfriend, I share your pain!! I'm in the process (even more antidiluvian) of moving from a film camera to the digital world (my Xmas blog post tells the whole sad story).

    I accept things have to change. But 'progress' is not always better!

    Have a great week!

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  9. I know you don't want to say it in front of HAL but soon you will be head over heals with HAL junior ! Embrace the new .... :)

    Fellow A-Z blogger

    RJRDaydreamer

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I welcome comments, but reserve the right to correct your spelling because I am OCD about it!