The World's Longest Tech Support Visit

[flummery]

For those of you who knew, or cared, or were waiting with bated breath to discover if I had successfully made it to Maryland -- I'm here! (shut up. I know in my heart there are legions of loyal followers who were concerned for my well-being).

For the record, the route I took was approximately 545 miles, and took me... just over 12 hours. Not so great. I blame Pensylvania. I was making great time until Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania was one gigantic construction project. And trucks. The ratio of trucks to regular vehicles was around 6 to 1. And they all hated me, because I wasn't going fast enough for them. I don't care. I am not a great driver to begin with, I have issues with heights, which, it turns out, Pennsylvania is FULL OF, and I did not appreciate the truckers grumpily honking and passing when I would only go 65 mph in the slow lane, in areas marked 55 or double penalties, which were ALL UNDER CONSTRUCTION. One horrific patch had cement barriers on either side of one lane of traffic for eight straight miles. My brain couldn't cope and I whimpered and panicked for all eight, while everyone resentfully trundled down the mountain after me at something like 45mph. Awfulness. I need a better route home.

But, I made it, sometime around 6pm, 12 hours and 545 miles later, and for what, you ask? Well, 8 months ago now, my Mom's bitching about the sorry state of her computer led me to... build a new vidding computer for myself, actually, and send her my old one. Which, while old, was still a pretty damn good computer, since I'd been using it for vidding, and it had a speedy processor, and dual monitor video card, and tons and tons of harddrive space. So I thought "Ha! she'll have a bright new shiny computer, and the old crappy one, which surely isn't as bad as she claims, and she and Dad can stop fighting over computer time, and I'll even send her this lovely 120 gig Maxtor external drive for backups as a bonus gift!" It was the perfect plan.

Eight months later, eight months of questioning, and cajoling, and begging, and threatening, and hysterics and a whole lot of cursing,... the computer still sitting in the box I'd shipped it in, without every having been turned on, while my mom said things like "You don't understand how much we have to do," and "It's not as easy for us as it is for you to understand computers," and "you don't understand how much time I have to spend keeping the old one going. All our stuff in on it." Eight months, of me pointing out things like "I have this friend Margie who VIDS WITH ME and if you didn't want my old vidding computer, you know? I think she'd have found a nice home for it," and also "120 gig External drive and *I* could be making backups and it's still in it's BOX?!" and finally I just screamed and said "FINE! I'll come down and PLUG IT IN FOR YOU! I will even hit the ON BUTTON FOR YOU!" and here I am.

And I will undoubtedly be writing a whole lot more about this trip... soon.

Comments

[the-shoshanna.livejournal.com]

Ack. Good luck.

(Where are you in Maryland? If you're not too far west, try skipping Pennsylvania on the way back and going north through New Jersey, on the NJ Turnpike and then the Garden State Parkway, to the Tappan Zee.)

[flummery.livejournal.com]

alas, but I specifically drove through Pennsylvania to avoid NJ, it's tolls, it's insane 17 lane highways, and it's scary high bridges. But yeah, I have to consider going back up through it.

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

Oh, for...

You're a very dutiful daughter. They'd better thank you, a lot. *g*

[flummery.livejournal.com]

So far we have bickered, and bickered, and bickered, and then for a while, we argued, and then some with the bickering.

[luminosity]

I feel your pain. My mom only lives about 200 miles away, and I'm anticipating a trip down there any minute. She bought a new computer last month, and I went step-by-step with her as she set it up, hooked up her modem, etc., etc. My loudest instruction was "DON'T GO ON THE NET TILL YOU ACTIVATE YOUR ANTIVIRUS PROGRAM!" Well, who listens to me? and then 2 days later she calls and says she's packing it up and returning it because of all of the pop ups and virus notifications. [bangs head] I talked her down, but as far as she's concerned? It's the computer's fault. sigh.

Waves "hi" to your mom & dad

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

Thank god you made it. I poked ComicBookMan to call your cell late last night, and he left you a message that you can now ignore. I still think you should have taken Riley, as you did during your Great Anti-Manifest Destiny Trek of many years ago, as he was such a good companion on that long drive! You had to be brave, and so you were brave: FOR HIM! For Riley, you were so very brave!!!

You + Riley = OTP!

(Wanders off, humming "Blame Pennsylvania", a filk version of "Blame Canada")

Re: Waves "hi" to your mom & dad

[flummery.livejournal.com]

And how IS my Riley? Go check on him! give him treats! Is he doing okay?

[barkley.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry. We have terrible roads in Pennsylvania, and the ones that aren't fear inducing with concrete barriers are fear inducing with potholes. If you're just heading down the east coast of PA, I'd say avoid PA and go thru NJ. If you're going elsewhere in an east westerly direction, the turnpike (76) generally seems to be in better shape than I-80 (which has been one laned and under repair for the past twenty years or so.)

[flummery.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. I chose Pennsylvania to avoid the horror of NJs insane highways and bridges and tolls and bridges and the fact that no matter how I stick to the highway I, somehow... I get lost in NJ. It's an amazing strange gravitational thingy that the State uses to trap people in it. The residents of the State area all people who never got out. Also, scary bridges on that route.

So, the question is... how are Sundays in Pennsylvania? Are there fewer truckers? Do the construction people ever get to see their loved ones? Do the cops at the 200 speed traps take the day off?

[barkley.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. I'm assuming the Evil Road in PA was the Northeast Extension (i.e. 476) on the Turnpike. I'm not a big fan of that road because it's rather skinny. (Well, north of the turnpike, south it's big and wide and generally not backed up on weekends)

When I go to New England, I generally go 476N (which you can pick up from 95) to the Turnpike (276) Plymouth Meeting entrance, and then go east one exit over to Fort Washington. Take 309 N (which might be under construction) to 202 N (or E) to the town of New Hope where you can cross over the small, short and not high bridge into NJ (toll = $.50 as of last summer.) 202 will eventually dump you into 287 which you can use to skirt around the north of NYC and go over the Tapan Zee bridge.

These roads are generally all nice and scenic. The downside is that there can be traffic on them, and 309 and 202 are half limited access and half not so much with the limited, so you might be cutting off your nose to spite your face if you go this way.

[ltlj.livejournal.com]

Sympathy on driving through highway construction, I can't stand it either. It's like playing Rollerball with cars or something.

[flummery.livejournal.com]

Alas, I have to admit, I'm also just not the world's most confident driver... I waited til very late in life to learn, and 98% of my driving is city driving. I've done long roadtrips before, but it's been 4-5 years since the last one, now, and to prepare for this trip I... drove 30 minutes on the highway to a bookstore to buy a map to find out how to get where I was going. Yeah. Not so great.

[jacquez.livejournal.com]

some of our roads do rise up and attack, yes.

i've gotten so used to them that i zip around at 75 most times of day or night.

[klia.livejournal.com]

I empathize with doing tech support for the parental units. The last time I visited mine, they were crabbing about computer stuff that was driving them crazy, and I fixed all of it within 5 minutes of having dropped my bag in the spare room. Their latest thing is a brand new digital camera. I've spent hours and hours on the phone helping them figure things out. And? I don't have a digital camera, nor any knowledge in that area *at all*.

I plan to stay relatively tech savvy as I get older. :P

Definitely find a new route home. Long distance driving is stressful enough without doing it through construction hell!

[flummery.livejournal.com]

The worst part of the old computer, which, admittedly, isn't in the greatest of shape, was how much was running in the background. I think they've just said "Yes, whatever" to whatever requested to install itself on startup, so you know, around program number 20 or so? The system starts to sloooooow doooooown.....

[klia.livejournal.com]

Gak.

Yeah, it's interesting how people over a certain age are so terrified of computers, they click "yes" to anything that asks. Like giving a wrong answer or hitting the wrong key will make them blow up, or something.

[falzalot.livejournal.com]

Oh man, mucho sympathy. :-) My mom & dad are 10 minutes away, and I get these calls for help all the time. You have to repeat everything 15 times using very small words, and it just doesn't help. Frequently I end up punting and telling them to call my brother who's 4 hours away. :->