Act TWO
I searched for a solution online, trying everything on the Dell support site and combing forums for answers before finally giving up and contacting Dell Support. Despite an extensive list of possible solutions, there was only one thing I hadn’t tried. I tried it, but the poltergeist wouldn’t leave. “Zha-zha-zhee! zha-zha-zhee! zha-zha-zhee!” There was nothing else I could do – my new laptop had to go back to Dell for repairs. Nooooooooooo! I just GOT it, and now it’s going to be gone for TEN business days?! That’s like TWO WEEKS real time! Waaaaaaahhhhh!! I didn’t take the news well.
Sadly I packed up my new laptop, my PURPLE laptop, and sent it back to Dell to get a new optical drive. After waiting patiently for two gazillion years, and commandeering Teacher’s machine the minute his back was turned, my new laptop came back home again. Carefully I unpacked it and started it up… no weird sounds. I gingerly put a CD in the drive. No weird sounds! I pressed the Eject button… and the disk popped back out. My laptop was cured – hooray!!
Life was good in technology-land, until… the very next day. Out of the blue the optical drive started trying to spit out a CD that wasn’t in there. “zha-zha-zhee! zha-zha-zhee! zha-zha-zhee! zha-zha-zhee!” My heart sunk. There was NO way I was keeping a computer that had the same problem TWICE within a week of being in my possession. “zha-zha-zhee! zha-zha-zhee!”
I tried the old “shut-down-start-up” trick a couple of times, but it didn’t help. I tried to put a CD in, but it wouldn’t go. Teacher tried to force one in, but it only got halfway and came back out all scratched up. Fortunately it was a blank one
Wondering if maybe Little Guy put a CD in the drive when I wasn’t looking, I asked him if he put anything in mama’s computer. He nodded his head. “What did you put in mama’s computer?” I asked “A Backagaengked Coweg” he answered. “A what?” I asked again. No answer. “What did you say, Honey?” Silence. “Sweetie – look at mama; did you put something in mama’s computer?” He shook his head and ran into the other room. Frustrated, I shut the computer down and tried not to think about it.
Several hours later I instinctively reached for my laptop to check my email, and remembered that it was acting up again. In frustration, desperation, and figuring that it was broken anyway, I… umm… plead the Fifth since the laptop is still under warranty… then started the laptop up. Nothing but blessed silence. Had I fixed it??? Holding my breath I inserted a CD…. it went in. Still holding my breath I touched the Eject button… nothing. Dammit, the stupid laptop ate another CD. Wait! A second later the CD popped out. All-righty – CD in, CD out, and no more freaky noises. I’m not going to complain about the delay, it could be worse.
That afternoon Teacher came home and immediately noticed that my laptop was quiet. “How did you get it to stop?” he asked. As I was explaining what I’d done with the nevermind and hoping he wouldn’t yell at me for it, he bent over to look into the optical drive. I watched in amazement as he reached over and delicately pulled something out – a cloud-shaped flap from a Backyardigans book! The “Backagaengked Coweg” Little Guy had told me about!
All’s well that ends well, right? Since then my PURPLE laptop has been working perfectly, and although Little Guy was sternly told to NEVER, EVER put anything in mama’s computer again, he’s none the worse for wear. Me? I’ve learned to listen more carefully to him when he tells me things – and next time get a laptop with a more accessible optical drive.
