The Laptop Saga Continues…

Who would have thought that after having my computer gone for three weeks and then having it show up missing pieces that it would end up still having even more problems. Not Me. But wouldn’t you know it, it does have problems. Or should I say, Did have problems? No it probably still has problems.

It all started this morning when I went to turn on my computer. My laptop told me that it did not recognize my product key for Window Vista. It also told me that my copy was not genuine. It told me how to fix it, although that did not work. I tried to enter the product code but it still told me that I had a fake copy of Windows Vista and unless I came up with a valid product key or bought another copy, it was not going to work right. This was not a good start to the day.

I called HP. “Hello, is this your first call to HP?” “Oh no it is not!” Cecille was very nice and got me directed to the right people. I spoke with Altamash who told me what to do. (Honestly I don’t remember the steps at this point.) Somehow we did get it to take the product key code as being valid and it started going to town. And then I got disconnected from Altamash. He apparently called me back because there was a message on my answering machine but the phone never rang. Odd. At this point the laptop was busy doing some Microsoft updates so I let it do it’s thing. Then it said that I needed to download Windows Vista Service Pack 1. Okay..let’s do it. So off the computer goes and I figure when it’s done it will be working again. Yeah…..not so much. After about an hour of that mess and still no positive results, I called HP back.

Somehow I managed to get Altamash on the phone again. I don’t think he really remembered the previous call though, as we had to go through everything again. After figuring out that the computer would not get to a screen he was asking for, he said something I was not wanting to hear. Mam, Do you have your computer all backed up? I told him I had backed it up just before I had sent it to him the last time so it was fine. I haven’t managed to do too much in the past two weeks. He then says “Okay Kati,” (He used my name a LOT. I think they teach them that it is nice to use the customer’s name as much as possible.) “We are going to need to do a system restore which will put your computer back at the original factory settings.” Oh no! I’m going to have to reload EVERYTHING I have. I was afraid that my laptop was going to return from HP Laptop Hospital in this condition and was thrilled when it came back with everything still on it. So much for that. Now I was still going to have to delete it all and start over. Altamash tells me that this process will likely take about 40-50 minutes. And I will need to stay on the line the entire time to make sure that the system restore goes correctly. (Great…good thing I don’t have ANY plans today.) We start the process.

Altamash tells me that if I’d like I could get some coffee or tea because we will be here awhile. He also says it will be fine to put him on hold but not to disconnect the call. And I should let him know at every 10% increment of the system restore. A few minutes go by. Altamash says, “Kati?” Me, “Yes?” Altamash, “How is the progress on the computer? What percentage does it say now?” Me, “2%” Altamash, “Oh my, this is going quite slow.” This continues for a long time. In the meantime, there is silence, there is talk about the election, there is talk about travel, there is talk about kids (Little Monkey was running around and I was trying to keep him happy at the same time because Big Monkey was not yet home from work.), there is talk about India (where my call was routed), there is talk about whether I can understand his English or not (which I could, but when he asked me that question, I couldn’t!) and Altamash also offered again later for me to have some tea or coffee. ( But of course I had to make this tea or coffee…but thanks for the offer!) FINALLY We reach 100% of the system restore.

Altamash was quite happy and we continued with getting the computer set back up. Sure enough this did the trick. Which was great because now my computer works, but was bad because I have to reload EVERYTHING to my computer. (AIM, Skype, Avast, Java updates, Microsoft updates, Microsoft Office, Photoshop, all my favorites, pictures…..you get the picture.) Altamash asks if there is anything else he can help me with today. I said no and that I hoped I didn’t need to call again too soon. Altamash asked if I could speak with his supervisor who wanted to make sure that my situation was handled. I said sure and thanked him for all his help. He was very kind and very apologetic about the long time that it took to solve the issue. His supervisor, (I think he name was Mr. Perez?) came on and knew all about the issue and wanted to make sure all was well. I told him so far so good. He said they would call me back in a couple of days to make sure that things we still going well. Okay then. Thanks again for all your help. Bye! One hour and Fifty-two minutes later, I am off the phone and my computer is working.

I spent a good portion of my afternoon adding things back onto my computer and I am still not done. There are some blogs that I started reading since I had backed up onto the external hard drive that I haven’t figure out yet and I need to put Microsoft Office and Photoshop on too. I also called Best Buy to see if they even have the part I need in stock and how long it would take to install it.

First call to Best Buy, Big Monkey and Little Monkey are both being so loud that I cannot even hear what the options are. I had to call back and try again. I get routed over to the Geek Squad and the guy says if they have any in stock it would not take very long to install it. He transferred me over to computer so they could check to see if they had the part in stock. The phone rings, and rings, and rings until eventually it just disconnects me. So I call back again and get routed to sales. The guy has no clue what I’m talking about but tries to help me anyhow. He asks if I have a part number or sku number. Ummm no. I barely know what it is that I need! After a couple minutes he decides he has no clue and he’ll send me over to computers. This person actually knew about card readers and was quite eager to help me. He said they had some card readers that could be used through the USB port. I said, “No.” Then he said, “If that would be okay.” I said, “No it would not be okay.” And then proceeded to explain to him why I needed one in the first place. He said that they only carry two kinds for what I need. Apparently what I need is an Express Card to go into the slot. I hope he is right. They have one made by SanDisk but instead of a 5 in 1 card reader, it is a 7 in 1 card reader. Hmmm Okay. I don’t need the extra slots and hopefully HP will cover it since it seems to be the only option for my computer. So tomorrow I will take my computer in and hopefully once and for all it will be fixed, well for some limited time I’m sure but hopefully a long time.

I am looking at possibly getting one of those things that sits under your laptop and helps to circulate the air too since it still seems to get pretty darn hot. If you have any advice on this, please let me know. I have a gift card I won to Best Buy so I could use that.

The Pool is Officially Open!

Today we went swimming in our pool for the first time of the season. Well Big Monkey had been in it before while cleaning it and such but I had not been in it and neither had Little Monkey (although Little Monkey didn’t go today). Big Monkey cleaned the pool pretty well today and then he and I went swimming while finishing up the cleaning. The temperature was right around 84 degrees so it was nice. Hopefully we will enjoy many more days of swimming in the pool this summer. I just need for it to rain a bit more (even though that will make it colder) so that we don’t have to keep filling it up with water! Our water bill is crazy. We also need to get some pool floats or noodles or something so I’ll be on the lookout for those.

“I Need Money.”

The other day, Big Monkey called me from working at the ER asking me what was wrong with his debit card. I asked what did he mean. I did not know of any problems with the debit cards. He told me that he was unable to get money and “I need money.” Umm…okay. So I asked what is wrong with your card that you are unable to get money. He says, “My card expired January 31, 2008.” Yeah..did you get that? JANUARY folks….it is now MAY and he JUST noticed that his card is expired. I guess that should be a good thing because it means he isn’t using his debit card much to get anything or money from the atm. But seriously…who doesn’t know that their cards are expired for THAT long. So he asked if any cards had come in the mail to replace it. Well let’s see..if it did, it probably came in like December and the odds of me knowing what he did with it are pretty slim. Big Monkey asked me to handle the debit card situation. (Note: This was on a Saturday night, with Monday being a holiday. Sure, I’ll get right on that!)

Come to find out, we did get new debit cards. (I have one to prove it in my wallet.) I thought about what would have happened to a debit card that I would have been giving him to activate and use. Oh Yes…the basket…the darn basket…..the basket I’m starting to wish I hadn’t gotten him. Currently the basket is sitting overflowing next to Big Monkey’s side of the bed. It was supposed to be on the counter where he normally dumps all of his stuff. The basket was an effort to keep things a little more organized. And the counter still has a big pile of stuff on it now because that’s just how it works apparently. Anyhow, back to the debit card…I went to the basket and wouldn’t you know I found the debit card, still with the “Please Call to Activate” sticker attached. I put it on the top of his basket originally (which was probably December) but he never called and it got pushed down into the basket with the rest of the junk that is in there!

When Big Monkey came home, I gave him the debit card and asked why he needed money. He said he needed money for pizza for dinner. What?!?!  Pizza…..after I had to go out and get more bread because we didn’t have enough for the standard five sandwiches for a day at the ER. I’m so glad I made him five sandwiches (at his request) so that he could try and have pizza instead!! I’ll think twice next time he asks me to make so many sandwiches! 

Publix Trip Today

There is not much that is SO great about my Publix trip today except on thing. I went in to customer service with my receipt from the other day and explained to Daniel that they did not take the $2.50 off for the pretzels with the coupon I had. (The coupon that was provided by the store in front of the coke products.) With no fuss whatsoever, Daniel hit a few keys on the register and gave me $2.50 in cash! Thanks so much!

Okay so here is today’s shopping trip. Considering it includes beer, I really didn’t do too bad.

1 24pk+4bonus Publix Spring Water $4.50 (on sale)
2-Kraft Miracle Whip $3.89/each (B1G1F)
4-Kraft Salad Dressings $2.63/each (B1G1F)
2-Suave Conditioners $1.00/each (on sale)
2-Bags Lay Potato Chips $3.79/each (B1G1F)
1 18pk Bud Select $13.99 (And yes, as always I got carded for the beer.)
Coupons:
$2 off 24pk of water when you buy 18pk Bud Select
$1 off 2 Suave Hair Products
55cents off Miracle Whip
55cents off Miracle Whip
1 Free Bottle of Kraft Dressing ($2.63)
1 Free Bottle of Kraft Dressing ($2.63)

Grand Total: $25.19 Total Savings after sales and coupons $23.97
Imagine if I hadn’t bought the beer! Well then I also wouldn’t have bought the water. So my total would have been $5.37ish with my Savings being $21.48ish (give or take a little more on taxes for these figures). That would have been a much more impressive total!

Publix Shopping

I had a decent Publix shopping trip earlier this week. I thought I’d share it with you. Sadly (for you at least!) this shopping trip was on Wednesday, which is the last day of the week for the ads at Publix. So you will not be able to run to the store and get the same things that I did. Sorry about your luck! So here’s how it went.

I got:

Snyders Mini Pretzels 1lb $2.50 (on sale)
2-Can of Mandarin oranges $0.79/each
2-Delmonte Fruit-to-go Fruits cups (B1G1F)
6-Box of Kraft Mac and Cheese $1.25/each (B1G1F)
Can of sliced peaches $1.19
Can of sliced pears $1.19
2-Box of Quaker Chewy Granola Bars $2.79/each (B1G1F)
2-Lender’s Bagels $1.95/each (B1G1F)
2-tomato $0.95
10-Yoplait Yogurt $0.50/each (on sale)
4-3pack of Dial Bar Soap $2.23 (B1G1F)
1lb strawberries $2.00 (on sale)
1.82lbs red globe grapes $3.08 (on sale)
5- Asst. 12packs of Coke Products $2.75/each (on sale)

I had a coupon for the following:

75cents off 2 boxes of Quaker Granola Bars
50cents off 2 Lender’s Bagels
40cents off 6 Yoplait Yogurts
60cents off 3pack Dial soap
60cents off 3pack Dial soap
30cents off 3pack Dial soap
Free Coke 12pack when you buy 4 ($2.75)
Free 1lb bag of Snyder’s Pretzels when you buy 3 12packs of Coke ($2.50) (I just noticed that she did NOT take this off my order. The whole reason I bought the pretzels was because they were free. Darn it! I’ll ask at customer service when I go back and see what they’ll do, if anything. Maybe I can just return the pretzels since we haven’t opened them if they won’t do anything.)

Grand Total: $41.96 (Should have been $39.46) Savings after coupons and sales: $37.25 (Should have been $39.75)   Not the greatest for sure but pretty good for groceries! I had a coupon cop but all my coupons were of course valid. She lined them all up and scanned them after each coordinating item. The bagger was none too happy with me when he was almost done and he had one green bag left and only soap and bagels left when I told him to just throw them in together. It would be fine. I don’t live far. He looked at me like I was crazy and said no. He proceeded to wrap the soap in a plastic bag and put it in with the bagels in the green bag. The cashier told me that it drives them crazy when people tell them to just put it all in one bag because those items do not belong together. Oh well…..isn’t the customer supposed to be right? I just don’t want the darn plastic bag!!! It’s alright. I still really like Publix. They are the best grocery store around.
Another funny thing (funny to me) happened while I was trying to pick out yogurt flavors. I was getting some for Big Monkey and some for me. I like the Yoplait Thick&Creamy French Vanilla flavor. I could not find any so I asked the guy who was stocking yogurt at the time if he had any Yoplait Thick&Creamy in Vanilla. He walks right over and hands me Yoplait Thick&Creamy Light in French Vanilla. (Was I supposed to take a hint, or was he thinking since I’m a girl I probably want the light kind??) I said, “Oh, right, Do you have any of the not light kind?” He looked at me and then said he’d have to go check in the back. He did and came back out with an entire case and put the four cups I asked for right into my cart. (See I told you it was funny to me…maybe you didn’t laugh…if not…sorry!)

OMG!! Laptop Crisis!!!

So I got my computer back and it seemed to be working just fine. I didn’t notice any problems with it. Until today. I went to load all the pictures from our digital camera that I had been waiting to put on the computer since it has been gone. I slide the SD card right into the SD slot…wait that was a really big slot….hmmm.   Look at side of computer…OMG THERE IS A BIG HOLE WHERE MY 5-in-1 CARD READER SHOULD BE!!!! (I’m sure I should have noticed this before..but I didn’t…I mean…maybe it was there and it fell out? I don’t think this is really possible and wouldn’t I notice this thing falling out of my computer if it had?) I take a deep breath…good news is the SD reader is actually built into the outside frame of the laptop so no problems getting the pictures moved to the computer. (Oddly enough, it would not let me delete them from the SD card though.) So the part that is missing is a reader for the other four things ( Pro MS MMC XD). Now I don’t currently use any of those items, however, that is not an excuse for keeping it out of my computer. (It is possible that I might have had a camera with an XD card, but thankfully I do not.) 

So now I am sitting on the phone with HP Technical Support. Who would have thought a missing card reader would be so hard to get through on the phone. Beverly has been very nice and helpful but it seems like “missing card reader” is not an option for a problem!! She informed me that they are going to need to bring my laptop BACK in for this problem.  WHAT?!?!?  HELLO??!?!?!? You just had it for THREE AND A HALF WEEKS, managed to fix something that was wrong with it (I’m still not sure what they did.) and yet you FORGOT to put all the parts back in!!! So now…I have to ship it back to you, again an it has an estimated seven to nine day repair time. That may sound familiar as you might recall that was the estimation last time I sent it in, but it was actually there for THREE AND A HALF WEEKS!! So..now I will be backing up computer again with the new stuff I’ve done in the past four days and await FedEx to bring me another shipping box. I hope that it does NOT take as long as last time. If it does, I will likely still be on vacation half-way across the country.

Anyone else see a problem with this? I think they should send you a courtesy laptop while yours is in for service. You know, kinda like how some car dealerships give you a courtesy car to use while yours is in the shop. Usually it is even a nicer car than what you are driving. I believe they do that hoping that you will love the courtesy car so much that you will want to trade in your car and buy a new one. Maybe it could work for laptops too. And of course if you do not return their nicer laptop, they will charge you for it and keep your old one (which is probably what you’d prefer anyhow..well except the charging you for the new one part!) So…please feel bad for me once again that I will be without my laptop for an undetermined amount of time.

 

UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE!

So, Big Monkey came home today from running his errands I told him about my problem. He said no way. This is not your fault and it is not fair for you to be without your laptop for another week or more. (I think he has ulterior motives but that’s okay.) So he said that if I gave him all the information he would need, and the phone number, he would call HP back and try to get an alternative solution that would not involve sending my computer away for an unknown period of time. So Big Monkey called HP and spent about 30 minutes on the phone going up the chain of command. Each time explaining how this issue was not my fault and it was a simple fix that could very well be done at a local service center such as a Best Buy store. While he was able to get people to agree with the issue and that having it fixed locally did seem like a good idea, no one seemed to have the power to grant that. Finally Big Monkey spoke to someone who said that we could take it to our local Best Buy and have the card reader replaced. I will have to pay for the fix but then I can take my invoice and fax it directly to this man at HP an he would cut me a check!!! (I don’t have all the names of who he spoke to but he did write them down, along with direct phone numbers and other numbers they gave us to assign to our problem.) So, the plan will be to take it to our local (30 minutes away) Best Buy and have them fix it. This means no shipping out my computer and waiting a week or more to get it back. Hopefully Best Buy can have it in and out in less than a day (I realize I could be dreaming about this but I’m hopeful.). So, a BIG THANK YOU to Big Monkey for wanting to be assertive and make them see that I should not have to be without my computer again for their mistake of not putting all the pieces back in! (I think he secretly is hoping that this will help in because he can hold it over my head later on that he did such a great thing. He also thinks not having my laptop makes me sad and well we just can’t have that.)

He’s so smart!

Last night Little Monkey wanted to put his flip flops on. We weren’t going anywhere, although I think Little Monkey was hoping that we were going to see Big Monkey. I told Little Monkey to try and put his shoes on and then I would help him. He said okay and sat right down to try and put them on. With no instruction (I was making my dinner.) he put the right flip flop on the right foot, with his toes in the right place and got the elastic band around his heel correctly. This is the first time he’s managed to get them both on fully and correctly. I made a big deal for him and he smiled and seemed proud of himself too. Then he said, “Mommy, car? Go, car?” Ummm no. We aren’t going anywhere. Lucky for this kid he did this in the middle of my high frustrations of trying to get him to eat. It was a rough day for eating food for him, so at least this gave me something to be happy about while trying not to stress about not getting anywhere close to his required food intake.

No need to go to the gym!

Okay, this isn’t exactly true and I did in fact go to the gym today. It had been one week since I was there (we were out of town and then I was sick). I am still sick, but doing much better. However, if you don’t have a gym close by or don’t want to pay for the gym, I have an alternative. (If you don’t already have the game system, then it might be cheaper to go to a gym!!)

Let me introduce you to the new Wii game: Wii Fit We (my sister and our family) bought Wii Fit for my Mom and Dad as their Mother’s Day and Father’s Day gift. They have not gotten it yet because it just came out this week and I haven’t seen them yet to give it to them. They said that we could test it out at our house before we brought it over. I decided to take them up on the offer! We might have to buy one for ourselves! It is SO much fun. They have crazy activities to do and the more time you spend playing it, the more activities you unlock. Wii Fit is a one player game, however, there is an option for a two person run. During the run you do not use the balance board, just a Wii Remote in your pocket. Other activities include: Hula Hoop, Step Class, Tightrope walking, Ski Slalom, Ski Jump, Soccer Ball Heading, Strength Exercises and Yoga Poses. There are quite a few other games I have not unlocked yet. I am sure it is quite amusing watching a person play the game also (My parents watched on the webcam last night when I tested it out!).

So…if you already own a Wii…and want to have some fun with a little bit of working out, go buy WiiFit wait a few months when they will be in less demand and stores will actually have them so you don’t have to pay tons of money on Ebay.

Doesn’t this look like fun:  Shake those hips!!

Little Monkey can be so funny

Yesterday while I was sick and waiting to go to the Doctor, Little Monkey and I were playing. Suddenly he went into his room and got in bed, left the lights and fan off. I went in to see what he was doing and he was reading his replacement good night book (we left the normal one at the beach!). I asked if he was going to sleep and he said no. I said, I think we should lay down and take a nap together. I climbed in bed and pulled the covers up. He read me the good night book and then got out of bed. I asked if he was going to rest with me but he said no. He tried to shoo Amos out of the room, but he was not too willing to go. Finally Little Monkey did get Amos out the door and then proceeded to leave himself and close the door. Apparently he was putting me down for a nap! I called him and he came back and I asked him to rest with me but he said no and left again! I got up and we went and played a bit more before we really did both take naps!

Lab Results Back

We got a call today from Little Monkey’s dietitian with lab results from the last time we were at the doctor, about two weeks ago. His phe levels came back as 2.6 which is great. She decided to give us even more phe to work with on a daily basis (Oh great! I have a hard time getting food into him as it is!). She said to give him a couple of years and he will both eat and drink all he is supposed to. Right now we either get one or the other mostly. She also talked to us about the new drug Kuvan that has been released to help with PKU diets. She said Little Monkey is not currently a candidate because of his age but also because he has a hard time finishing his phe already! If a PKUer responds to Kuvan, they are able to have more protein in their diet. This increases the amount of phe they may have on a daily basis. Seeing as we already have a problem reaching our current amount, we don’t want to have to add a lot of phe intake in a day. Overall though it was good news. Keep up the good work and just keep trying to get formula and food into him!