Q: What do you call it when you throw your laptop into the ocean?

A: A dell (Adele) - rolling in the deep.

Hahahahahahahaha!!!!! (Thanks Pam.) 

That joke strikes a sorrowful chord for me because I have a dell and it makes me imagine it falling in the sea. I would not be happy. A few months ago I suffered a blow I hope you will never know, but many of you will. My hard drive crashed. One minute I was happily running a dozen programs, nine tabs open in Google Chrome, when my baby froze and then gave me the blue screen of death. When I restarted her she gave me a page that led me through a loop of options that never led anywhere. Was this really happening? Would my computer live to show me her desktop again? 

My trusty Ryan and Kelly were on vacation at the time and I felt like I needed to be resourceful and solve this problem by myself. What does one do when one's computer goes haywire? I mean, after one emails one's father. One finds a trusted computer shop and takes it in. I was a little intimidated by this since I had no idea what computer shops in Thailand are like. Can I trust them? Do they know what they're doing? Will my computer end up in some back room for weeks while I wait for her return? Luckily I had the handy "Life in Chiang Mai" guide that many of us falong (foreigners) use when they're getting settled here. They had one entry about computer help, a ministry that helps other ministries with programs, hardware, and software. I pictured a bright clean room with smiling missionaries, waiting to sit with me and hold my hand while we boot up my computer and they pinpoint the exact problem. 

This is not what I got. First of all the place was way the heck on the other side of the city. I was getting pretty confident on my motorbike, Ruby, so I thought the drive would be worth it to take it to a place I felt I could trust. The ride took me about an hour, complete with a jaunt the wrong way out into the countryside and a stop at the local clinic for directions, where I got to introduce myself to Doctor Kriengsak. Doctor Kriengsak is the pastor of a large Thai church but he also runs a clinic for half the day. He later became part of some of my more infamous adventures. I got a pretty bad sun burn from this trip.

When I finally arrived at the place, the only person in was the Thai secretary. She had me fill out a form saying what my computer was (and wasn't) doing and then took my computer. That was it. She said something about Friday, but I wasn't sure if I would be getting it back then or hearing from them or what. The cluttered work space with multiple disassembled machines did not bode well. 

Friday came and I heard nothing. My call to the place didn't bring much information. A few days later I called again and confirmed that the hard drive was dead and they were calling Dell to get it replaced. They said that since it was still under warranty, it would be free. A few days later and they were still trying to reach Dell. By now Ryan and Kelly were back. They didn't have a lot of confidence in this group. Apparently Ryan had gone to them for help getting car insurance (huh?) and had to really hassle them before he got a response. He recommended I drop back in and talk to them in person. That's great but I'm still sun burnt from the last time! 

But my confusion about the progress was getting to me. I made the drive back, which was much shorter when you knew the way, and saw what they were up to with my baby. Unfortunately, seeing them in person renewed my confidence in them. I say unfortunately because the confidence was misplaced. The next thing I heard was that my warranty was no good outside of the US, so I had two choices. Pay to extend the warranty internationally (about $50) or just buy a new hard drive which would cost me more. I choose the first one, but then a few more days went by with no word. 

Since that first fateful day, I had realized there was a Dell store right in our local mall. Everyday since I saw it I was tempted to get my computer back and take it there, but I always felt like I should wait just a little longer, keep faith. Finally I called and got a hold of the one American who was connected to the group. Not to be racist, but it's really hard for two people who only know a little of the other's language to have a technical conversation about computers. The American said he wasn't sure why it was taking so long. I asked if it would be better if I just got it back and took it to the Dell store, since then at least it would be a more direct link to Dell. He said that they were also a Dell supplier, but they could continue to try and talk to Dell while I took it to other people. 

Luckily this guy lived in my neighborhood, so he could bring it home for me and I was saved a third trip. I took her directly up to the Dell store in the mall and wouldn't you know it...I found a bright clean store where the people started my computer up right away and figured out what was wrong with it. Though by then I already knew what was wrong, it was so great to have them give me such prompt attention. They said that I would have to buy a new hard drive and I could do that two stores down or at one of the many computer supply stores in the mall. I asked about the warranty and they said that it would be $100 to extend the warranty AND it would take about a month to get it in place and get me a new hard drive! If I just bought a new hard drive I could get one for $50. So the opposite of what the first people had told me. I went next door right away and they got me a hard drive and installed it in less than an hour. They even installed windows for free. 

Though I knew I'd wasted about two weeks on these other people, I was just relieved to have my baby up and running again, though with a bad case of amnesia. The Dell people said that they couldn't recover any data from the hard drive. I drove (all the way) back to the other people and asked if they would be able to do it, and no. I even put the hard drive in the freezer and tried recovering the data myself, but no. I had a bit of a religious crisis as I laid hands on the dead drive and attempted a resurrection. Most of what I lost, after all, was for my work at SVM2 and the personal stuff could be gotten other places. But God, in His mysterious will, wouldn't give me 10 minutes to pull my old emails and spreadsheets. I'm still hoping that one day I will be given a sign and when I plug in the hard drive it will work. Until then, I'm just grateful that I have a beautiful, working computer with a very new hard drive.

What is the moral of this story? Is there any lesson to be learned? I tried to find one. Don't trust your instincts maybe. Don't try to be resourceful and solve something by yourself? And always always always back up!