Don't go computer shopping at 6 AM...
by Denise Sawicki on March 31, 2010
So, we have an old and crummy computer that's been bothering us for years, and for reasons that I can't get into, it suddenly became critical to go computer shopping at 6 AM on Saturday. :P I got a digital video camera for my birthday and Darrell took some awesome videos of Philip and we wanted something that would be capable of video editing. I headed out to Walmart at 6 AM on Saturday, looked at the stats of the various computers,. and finally got up the nerve to ask someone for help... well she was a bit rude and condescending to me, apparently I should have automatically known which computers were fast enough to handle the software for the camera but I just didn't. I brought the camera box with the system requirements but still couldn't seem to figure out the issue of gigahertz :P. Anyway I usually don't label people as "rude," I just assume I am the problem, but this girl seemed rather annoyingly rude and I couldn't bring myself to buy anything from her so I just left with my mission unfulfilled... went to a different Walmart on the way back after some grocery shopping, they were nicer there but did not know the answer to my question so I went home to do some research.
Then for other reasons that also can't be disclosed, the next time I was able to go out to attempt my mission was 6 AM on Sunday. North Dakota being the way it is, everything is closed from midnight to noon on Sundays but luckily there is Minnesota right across the river so I headed out to yet a third Walmart. I mean if you need to buy a computer at 6 AM, Walmart is your only option. It wasn't my idea to go at such an hour, like I said it was a critical situation :). This time I knew what I wanted, stuck it in the cart and checked out with no problem and no need to talk to anyone. I stopped to buy a bunch of weird on-sale groceries on the way back. Um, apparently black jelly beans make your poop bright green. I don't know this first hand as I usually don't look but Darrell informed me. Moving on... the computer came without a monitor so we first tried one of our spare monitors, worked fine but then we decided to try using our TV as a monitor so off I go again that evening to, you guessed it, Walmart, to buy a cable. This time everyone in the electronics department was above and beyond friendly and helpful, I didn't ask for help and yet they helped anyway... so I can only conclude, it is really not such a good idea to go computer shopping at 6 AM. Perhaps wait until the evening when normal people are awake :P.
I don't know if we'll be putting the Phil videos on Youtube or not but can share a link privately for anyone who really wants to download 75 megabytes of stuff just to see what a genius our dog is. I am not kidding, you can speak to him in sentences and he understands.. Darrell wants to get him on Letterman or something :P but knowing our luck that really won't happen.
As an aside, it certainly is annoying how they like to load up computers with all this software you don't actually own and won't actually be able to use for long. Our came with a bunch of games but you can only play them like twice before it demands money. One game it actually included was "Purble Place", which I had never seen before. The cake game on expert is really difficult for me... even if it is meant for 3 year olds. :P I am writing now on the old computer. I'm a little hesitant to put the new one on the internet because all it will want to do is download shitloads of windows updates keeping our dial-up busy for days and days at a time and probably wind up turning itself into a slow piece of junk with all the virus protection I would have to use....
Five Replies to Don't go computer shopping at 6 AM...
Scott Hardie | April 18, 2010
The first day of getting any new computer is spent just cleaning off the junk software that it comes with and configuring it the way you like. It's normal. The downloads can run at night. Having a new computer, once that setup is done, is great. I hope it's working well for you now.
Tony Peters | April 18, 2010
makes be very happy to have my 2 year old Macbook.....I-movie is at times annoying but at least I know my computer is functional with Video. My brother and I finally after years of trying converted my father to MAC....he calls one or the other of us daily asking question which he then finds our answers as entirely too intuitive.
Amy Austin | April 19, 2010
1) Yeah, computer shopping sucks. I dread the next time the need arises for me... especially since I am as close to the poor-house now as I have *ever* been.
2) I didn't know it first-hand, either, since I detest black jelly beans (and black licorice, too), but as I seem to be surrounded by people with inexplicable tastebuds... I am well aware of the green poop factor. Interesting... but just not enough to sway me.
3) I've seen the footage you have of Philip -- definitely want more... please send me links! And don't discount the idea of Letterman fame... not everyone belongs to such a smart dog!!!
Denise Sawicki | April 20, 2010
It's all up on the same youtube account now. Those two are the only new ones.
I've been making liberal use of restore points so I can try out those games that came with the computer a little more. Kinda dumb I know, most people would just buy the game :P
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