The World's Longest Tech Support Visit
May. 13th, 2004 12:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flummeryFor 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.
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.
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no subject
Date: 2004-05-14 06:28 am (UTC)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.