The View From Wisconsin

One day, you sit down in front of your computer, and it happens: one little thing on your computer stops working.

It could be a single program; it could be a connection with a hard drive or MP3 player or a hand-held computer.

You try and fix it. Unfortunately, the fix turns out to make things even worse. You start getting into the world of crashes - your computer doesn't shut down properly; it takes forever for the desktop icons to appear.

You actually succumb to calling tech support for your little toy... er, I mean, portable device. They're about as helpful as a hammer to your thumb. About halfway through your conversation, you realize that the problem isn't necessarily with your hand-held, as much as it is with your computer.

That happens right after your good friend on the other end of the line tells you to shut down all non-Microsoft services. Which is like telling you to strip down to your skivvies and go run out into the middle of the freeway to try and grab a hubcap that flew off of your car at 70 mph.

Meanwhile, all sorts of other little things start to go wrong. In trying to fix your previous little problem, you shut down your anti-virus program. BAM! It goes absolutely haywire when you try to restart it, and guess what you have to do?

Yep, now you have to re-install your anti-virus program. This, unfortunately, is about as easy as trying to solve algebraic equations by chewing gum.

Finally, you get your computer running close to what it had been before all this happened, and you then feel brave enough to try and re-install the software for your "peripheral" (that's a Mac term, for those of you who are in the Windoze world, for things like MP3 players, printers and hard drives).

Anyone care to take wagers on what will happen next? (No, Mrs. Gretzky, not you.)