Se fue la tecnología

My technology has recently decided to take a giant stinking dump on my head.  I’m sure everyone has felt that way from time to time. You know, when your computer takes a personal day and everything else conveniently fails along with it.   But here in this electronic vacuum,  one seems to suffer the consequences more, um, acutely.

Let me explain.

A few weeks ago, my laptop crashed. I turned it on in the morning and it just flashed little nonsensical messages on a black screen and that was it.

First there was denial. Then panic. Then a deep dark depression.

 It’s a crippling feeling. On so many levels. My computer is my lifeline. For work, for communication, for entertainment.  I watch movies on its tiny 14-inch screen when I am bored at night and on a good day I am able to check my gmail, facebook and blog page in under an hour with my slower-than-molassas Tigo modem. Most of my work resources and manuals are on a Compact Disc (not hard copy). And the only way I even knew there was an earthquake in Japan was because I read it on NYT.com. As backwards as it may seem,  I rely on my computer now more than ever before in my life.

First I brought the comatose  machine to a guy at the municipality office in Catacamas, who gave it a valiant effort. But the complexities of my failing Windows drive were too much for him.

So then I had to wait several (movie-less) weeks before I could bring my dust-collecting laptop to the IT guy at the Peace Corps office in Teguz — who is a saint by the way. A genius and a saint. Among other things he reinstalled Windows and in a matter of  hours, I was back in business. I didn’t even care that his only version of Windows was in Spanish. After that, all I had to do was reinstall every other software programs I had ever downloaded. Ever.  Oh and I lost all the data and documents I hadn’t backed up in the past month. Which is a great feeling. Although my fault for being a negligent file-backer-upper. [Speaking of that, when was that last time YOU backed up all your files? You think it won't happen to you, but someday it will. Yes, even you, overly-smug Mac owners.]

Then the day after I got it all fixed, I discovered my external hard drive in two or three pieces in the bottom of my bookbag. Perhaps it was my fault for letting something fragile get loaded in the luggage compartment underneath a bus (okay, yea my fault again). BUT COME ON.

So now I am going through the tedious process of recovering all the stuff I lost on both my laptop harddrive and my external hard drive. All my movies, music, pictures, documents, software. My head is spinning.

I really shouldn’t go there, but I feel this might be an appropriate time to also voice my dismay regarding the weekly electricity blackouts that frequent our town this time of year.

 Why, just the other day the power was out for, well, the entire day. Being  Saturday it was a pretty standard weekend “se fue la luz”. But 4 pm rollls around and still no power. My computer was dead, my kindle battery empty, and the iPod speakers had long since quit on me. So all I had left to do was read a real book to the sounds of children shouting and cows mooing while I ate half a gallon of ice cream that would have otherwise melted in the freezer that was slowly making a puddle on my floor. In partial darkness no less.

You’d think by this point in my service I would be able to ‘let go’ and just consider it a relaxing Saturday. But the anxiety was gripping me too tight for that thought to occur.

Next weeks post: The One-Year Slump   or    How I am Jealous Of My Friend Leaving The Country Prematurely