Gotta Talk to a Computer Person Again… Hello, Self?

Time Drawn: April 2012 (Today!)

I was having minor computer problems this morning (and last night), so let’s talk about computers!

I’m the techie in my immediate family. You know the type, the person who you turn to for free computer repair if your computer’s spontaneously turned into tapioca or something. The one who gets a desperate look in their face when you say “You know, my computer’s been acting up lately”. The one who actually knows how to access settings files you hadn’t a clue existed on your computer. That one.

Mind you, most of the family techie’s fixing techniques involve two things: restarting the computer and Googling the problem to find what virus is wrapping its tentacles around your internet. Really. In families with people with absolutely no clue about electronics, add in “Check to see if it’s plugged in”.

The first tactic was the one that worked for my computer issues. My internet had spontaneously decided it was too good for its job and packed up to go to Florida or something. Which meant I could no longer play Minecraft in the Multiplayer server I’ve been playing in, and I couldn’t even watch videos or anything. Truly a tragedy.

So I restarted the computer. This usually fixes things when my internet starts yearning for Florida, which it does every few weeks for no discernible reason. But, alas, this was one of the times it did not work after restart (happens every six months or so). A second restart also did not produce happy-internet-times.

So I gave my computer a time-out.

Seriously.

I turned it off, unplugged it, and let it just sit overnight.

I don’t know why it works, but it does. It gives the errant electrons a chance to settle down or something. When I restarted the computer this morning, blessed internet poured forth once again.

Of course, the power supply fan was whining far too loudly. Irritatingly loudly.

So I restarted it again. That solved that problem. It’s amazing how powerful just turning off the computer and turning it on again is.

Oh, and the art above is a doodle of my desk area, minus 90% of the clutter (I’m messy, and I didn’t feel like drawing it). Yup, it’s a desktop computer. I can’t stand using laptops (I hate being that close to the screen), and unlike laptops, it’s pretty easy to build a desktop computer yourself.

Yes, I built my computer, from disparate parts ordered online. I told you I was the family techie. It does make it even more irritating when you go through troubleshooting programs that end with “Well, I can’t figure out this problem. Contact the person who runs the network/sold the computer/administers your system.” Then I have to talk to myself, and things get confusing.

And yes, my walls are purple. I like purple. I didn’t draw in the mauve texture I added when I was 10 or so, though. It’s too complex.

And that’s my current Minecraft world I’m playing in on the screen. That’s my house. Yes, it is a pyramid. Terrible, isn’t it.

  

Comments

Gotta Talk to a Computer Person Again… Hello, Self? — 4 Comments

  1. You didn’t add that the level of illumination in your room leaves everything looking black.

    I am not that far behind you as a techie due to my mysterious power to read the manual. I just don’t get any hands-on experience when I can use my daughter as skilled labor.

    • It was midday when I drew this, and some light was seeping past the curtains, so it was merely, what, dark gray?

      And yeah, I get my techie tendencies from you. I’ve just taken more time to learn the skills, and I step up when Mom makes her computer blorp.

  2. I recognize that Minecraft pyramid. My lame rip-off version languishes unfinished off screen. Older sisters do get the prerogative of being better at a lot of things than younger sisters.

    • I haven’t wandered over to look at your “lame rip-off” version for a bit (you know part of why), but if you want building tips, I’ve got lots. My first minecraft house was a square smooth stone box as well. :3 It takes a bit to get used to what you want to add to a house, so you can plan out what you need, and then wrangle the design around it. Like this pyramid came from deciding to put my farmland on the roof. And I’d done a tiered garden in one of my previous worlds that came out rather nice (it’s the bottom picture in my post on Minecraft earlier), so I combined “tiered” and “roof” and came up with “pyramid”, and from there, it was a fairly simple bit of design work. The only reason older sisters can do such things better is that we’ve been at it longer. :3

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>