I’ve had a pretty frustrating week. Not to go against what I said in my last post, but I need somewhere to vent so here goes…
To start off, my desktop hard drive decided to “fail” on me. As in, everything seemed to be working fine, but Windows 7 detected a problem with the disc and alerted me to backup all my data for the impending crash. So…Windows 7 is smart enough to know when there’s a problem with the disc, but not smart enough to skip over the bad sectors? I mean, everything seemed to be working ok, but fine. So I proceeded to backup all my data onto my extra hard drive via Windows 7 backup (223GB of data). First try – failed. I thought, “Hm. Weird. Maybe it’s cuz I was doing something…I’ll let it sit overnight.” Second try – failed. I figured, maybe I’ll try backing up to my external hard drive. Third try – failed. One last time…fourth try – failed. So awesome, Windows 7 backup utility just doesn’t work. I decided to manually backup all my data. Disclaimer: I’m only using the Windows 7 backup utility so that when i switch over to my new hard drive, I won’t run into problems with activating Windows (especially since I paid for a legit copy), but obviously it doesn’t work so I’ll have to risk doing a straight up clean installation. I mean, they must be a little forgiving since you can’t always predict when your hard drive will fail, right? Anyways, as I’m prepping to do the new installation, I decide to make a boot disc. Stick the CD-R into the drive. Nothing. I remember, “Oh right, this drive failed a while ago.” Again, that’s my luck with technology, so instead I turn to my Alienware M14x and pop a CD-R in there (brand new laptop, what could go wrong?). I thought it was weird at first that it didn’t guide the disc in like it usually did, so I just pushed it all the way in. “Oh well,” I thought. It read the blank disc just fine and wrote the boot disc just fine. Ok, time to eject. Right click the drive, click ‘Eject’. Nope. Drive makes some noises like it’s gonna try to eject, then gives up. Awesome. Now I have 2 broken computers. The last technician they sent to fix my keyboard completely messed up the outside cover screws/springs as well as stripped the screws holding the optical drive in so there was no way for me to even attempt to fix the problem myself. Eventually I call Dell and speak to a STUPID rep. I tell him the problem – mechanical failure by the optical drive and EMPHASIZE 3 times that I need new screws/springs. I could tell from his responses that he didn’t order the screws/springs even though he kept saying he did. Of course when the technician showed up, he didn’t have the screws/springs. It made me hopping mad at the customer service rep, but whatever, I just want my drive replaced. He replaced the drive then tested it. Same problem. WTF?!?!?! Now I have to send the whole laptop in to probably get the motherboard replaced which will take forever on top of which my desktop is still dying.
Frustrating point #2: The NY dealer is trying screw with me by giving me 20-50% markup on accessories. It’s not a LOT of money, but the idea of it just makes me so mad. I’ve cancelled deals in the past with dealers who’ve tried to pull this shit and am ready to do so again. The CarsDirect rep promised invoice price and they’re going above MSRP. I’m so mad I could punch someone right now.
Third frustrating this this week has to do with my co-workers. I’m working hard while my co-workers are hardly working. Between the two of them, they probably show up to work 3/4 of a full time employee. I was once feeling guilty for moving off the team, but now I don’t feel that way anymore. I’m tired of holding down the fort dealing with issues all the time because the other two guys are never around. I’ve been on the hook for every project this team has undergone since Matt left and while it has presented opportunities to help me demonstrate my ability, it has allowed the other team members of my cohort slack off to an unacceptable point. Good luck when I’m gone guys!
Last thing I want to talk about is friends. You’ve got your friends that you can always rely on and the ones you can’t really. Well, it’s becoming too hard for me to make that distinction anymore. I categorize my friends into categories.
Friend types:
- There are the ones who will be there for you no matter what, rain or shine (and I mean that liguratively).
- There are the ones that will be there for you if it’s convenient for them.
- And then lastly there are the ones who will “be there for you” if it’s convenient or beneficial to them.
My birthday party was a great example. It wasn’t this week, but I’m still a little bitter about it. I made a huge deal about it and if people weren’t going to come, I would’ve preferred they told me straight up rather than apologizing later. Let’s just say several people were demoted on my list. Aside from the party, some other friends are moving on with their lives. I could once rely on Matt, but find it harder to these days when everything seems to be about Emily. Never before he started dating her would I have to ask him to do something twice. Everything that needs to be taken care of with the house I now do unless it has some direct effect on Emily – ie. we run out of shampoo/conditioner. I’ve been trying to get him to upgrade our cable modem for the last month now as well as go with me to Home Depot to get blinds for our back door and fix our fixtures. Don’t get me wrong, Matt’s still probably one of the best people on this earth in terms of caring for others, but I just feel like I’ve been demoted in his eyes and it’s frustrating.
On a happier note, happy birthday Hannah!
