My Computer has the Flu

I knew it wasn’t a good sign when my work computer’s pop-up blocker started blinking nonstop last week. But other than that ominous sign, my computer was still running and I was able to work. Until yesterday. I had no personal folders in my e-mail, wasn’t able to print anything, and didn’t have access to the M: drive. And since “M” stands for Magazine, and that’s what I work on, it’s a major problem. I did all I was able to do sans computer, and my wonderful boss took over sending pages for me.

Of any two days in the entire month for my computer to be down, these two days are the worst. We’re “on deadline,” as uber-important journalists like to say, meaning we ship the magazine to the printer by the end of the day today. It never fails; no matter how great we’re doing by ship day, something happens to slow us down. Be it computer problems or people problems, it seems to never get done until the last minute.

I called the Help Desk this morning, and because this is a company-wide problem, waited on hold for 30 minutes listening to an annoying “Please stay on the line” lady and elevator music. When I got connected with Kenneth, I found out that I’m a “lucky virus winner,” and should have an IT technician help me out sometime today.

Who creates viruses? Who are these vile people that work so hard to make it so hard for me to work? I imagine them as the serial killers of the computer world. People who stay up into the wee hours, plotting their attacks and sending the viruses to infect networks everywhere. What thrill do they get from this? Do they send it to their real jobs, thus interrupting their own days while they watch the IT people rush around trying to outwit them? Or are they the IT people themselves, who then have to try to outsmart their own virus? According to Wikipedia, viruses are written deliberately as research projects, pranks, vandalism, attacks on specific company products, and for financial gain via identity theft. Some virus writers consider their creations to be works of art, and see virus writing as a creative hobby, while some consider it an “intellectual challenge.” Whatever the reason, I wish the Virus-ites would just stop taking their inferiority complexes and childhood issues out on the rest of us.
P.S. Please don’t infect my blog. :)

Headin’ West
Alan and I have flights booked to head out to California February 11-13. We hope to be able to nail down an apartment and eat In-N-Out burgers for our Valentine’s Day celebration.