Friday Frustration

Today has been one technology problem after another and I am beyond frustrated.

First there was my fax machine. This machine is actually a multi-tasking monolith -- it scans! it copies! it sends faxes! it receives faxes! 

Yeah, those last two functions? They've been inexplicably MIA for a few days and this was the first opportunity for me to tackle the problem.

To do so, I was forced to enter the maze of functions of the multi-function machine that has only the tiniest LED read-out area on the front to guide you. Argh! 

Menu -- General setup --- down arrow through the choices -- nope not there! 

Menu --  down arrow -- Fax -- down arrow through the choices -- nope not there either! 

Menu -- down arrow -- Initial setup -- down arrow through the choices -- ah ha! 

Change one setting. 

Repeat.

Repeat.

Repeat.

After doing a factory re-set and starting all over again, I finally called the phone company to see if there was trouble on the phone line. I had to be sure -- because the fax machine was telling me it was a "Comm. Error" in the telephone line. But since I spoke to the phone company on said telephone line, I was pretty sure it was okay. And it was. 

Dead end.

Next I consulted the multi-tasking monlith's website in hopes of support.

Right?  Not.

Finally mentioned to my hubby what was going on and he recalled that he has this deely-bobber thingy that you attach to the fax machine to make it once again become fond of the designated telephone line with which it must work.

I liked the sound of the "fond of" part and became hopeful again.

And after setting it up tonight with the deely-bobber thingy, all is well. Just like that. Who knew?

One problem down.

Other problem is my email software made by someone very evil at Microsoft. I hate you, whomever you are. In concert with some other evil person at Microsoft who invented the Virtual Private Network, which moves at the speed of, oh, molasses uphill in Maine in January. 

My local file folders were stuffed to the gills and even after eliminating a lot of old stuff, they still wouldn't take anything new transferred from my inbox.

Result?

Have. To. Transfer. My. Thousands. Of. Archived. email. Messages. To. My. Employer's. Servers. Utilizing. The. Virtual. Private. Network.

Yeah, that fast. I've been at it all day, trying to force a 10-pound bag of potatoes through a cocktail straw. Even working in small, small, teeny-tiny batches, half the time the software gets so hung up that it can't continue doing anything and shuts itself down.

Curses on you Microsoft!!

There is a bottle of wine in the kitchen with my name on it. And I am very glad it's a 3-day weekend! Because maybe by Tuesday my email will have been successfully archived through the cocktail straw.

- Catherine