DOES NOT COMPUTE

There are a few, particular areas of expertise where it's comforting to know you have someone you can trust to get the job done right the first time with no extra issues and no left over parts. Mechanics and computer repairmen are two that immediately come to mind. There is nothing worse than taking your car in for an oil change and driving out with a newly rebuilt engine and a bill for more than the car is worth in the Kelly Blue Book. I once brought my car to a major auto repair company......I'll try not to mention Firestone......to get a tire plugged. Of course, during the process of putting a rubber patch on a rubber tire, they found a number of issues that weren't there when I came in. I told the guy that, if they became a problem, I would bring the car back and I drove home. A few days later, the car was running pretty sluggishly. I called a friend who had a shop and asked him to look at it. The reason I didn't go to him in the first place was a simple matter of convenience. It would take 30 minutes to get to his shop and the previously mentioned unnameable major auto repair company was in the Firestone plaza just a few blocks from my house. When I got to the shop, My friend, who I will call Alex, because that's his name, opened the hood and said, “Where's your oil cap?” Turns out, the guy from Firesto....oops, sorry.....the unnameable auto repair company, had neglected to put it back when he was doing something other than what I brought the car in for. Sometimes, mechanics who lack integrity will go so far as to poke holes in hoses and other little “tricks of the trade” that will assure return business. My takeaway from that little excursion was that, no matter what the problem, I would drive a little farther so I could take it to Alex.....a mechanic I trusted rather than relying on a big name company that was conveniently located and that hired rip-off artists because they happened to own some tools. About two months ago, Alex moved his family and, consequently, his shop. He is no longer 30 minutes from my house. He is now across the state, about a 3 1/2 hour ride. Not necessarily a trip I want to make to find out if my oil cap is missing. I have taught myself to recognize that particular symptom and I drive very carefully. At least until I can find another trustworthy guy. In fact, to me, the very best position I can be in is when I “have a guy.” Someone who you can recommend to your friends. You'll gain points with your buddies and you'll enjoy the comfort of having “a guy.” “Know a good mechanic?” “Sure......I've got a guy.” “I'm looking for someone to mow my lawn and do a little landscaping.” “Look no further......I've got a guy.” “My computer is giving me problems.” “Relax........I have a guy.” These days, having a guy who can adequately repair your computers is a necessity. It's important to fine someone who is honest, almost to a fault. And, if he is.....he will get plenty of your business. I thought I had “a guy.” In fact, I recently brought him my Samsung laptop. It was a pretty powerful computer and cost about $800. I loved what I was able to accomplish on it but the case had begun to fall apart. The laptop was less that 2 years old and came with plastic hinges which, after a couple years of usage, were beginning to break and the body was splitting apart from itself. Easily remedied....if you have “a guy.” That trustworthy computer repair shop where you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you will get a prompt, stable fix at a fair price. The kind of service that, certainly, brings me back when there is an issue. Return business. For small businesses, that's paramount. So, I brought my Samsung to my guy - I'll call him Jason – and I waited to hear back. After a week, I called and asked what the holdup was. “I had to order the case from New York,” he told me, adding, “I found one nearby but they wanted $60 and I thought you might want to spend less so I ordered the one from New York for $30.” While I appreciated the sentiment, I was also fully aware that he would be tacking the extra 20 bucks onto my bill anyway. Not to mention his “labor' charge. It became a classic case of “six of one......half dozen of the other.” Two weeks later, I was still unsure of the status so I gave Jason a call. It seems that when he installed the new case, he cracked my screen and there was now a multi-colored series of lines running up the entire left side. “If you need it and you don't mind the lines, I can order a screen. I'll call you when it gets here,” he assured me. I had the computer home just long enough to get used to working with only the right side of the screen, when it stopped taking a charge from the power cord. I called Jason.......my “guy” when it came to computers....and was told to bring it back in. I did. When I hadn't heard from him for 2 weeks, I called and was told that the pin that makes the connection to the power cord was broken and that he was ordering a new one. It was beginning to feel like I had brought my computer to Firesto....um....that aforementioned unnamed auto repair shop. I waited and waited and waited. Weeks went by. This was becoming a major production which was, now, a good two months in the making. I would have contacted Jason sooner but my mother died and I had to go to New England. When I got back, there was nothing from “my guy.” I called and was told that every time he tried to fix one thing another thing broke. “I'm going to give you a computer,” he told me. “It's refurbished but, you'll be happy. I promise.” When I got to the shop he handed me a big, thick, clunky laptop that was, at least, 15 years old. It even had one of those little balls in the middle of the keyboard to serve as a mouse. He had converted my $800 Samsung into a pile of spare parts and was handing me a big box from before the turn of the century, telling me, “It's really fast. You'll love it.” I got it home, turned it on and hated it. It was very slow and, as I found out when I tried to write, had a dead letter “J” on the keyboard. The thing turned out to be completely useless but, this was now month #3 since bringing my laptop to Jason and I wasn't about to invest any more time in missing the work that I need my laptop for. I went to an electronics store and bought a new laptop. It was about half the price of my Samsung but, with technology moving as fast as it is, had nearly twice the bells and a few extra whistles. I transferred all my data from the klunker and decided to keep it as a back-up. At least I didn't have to “eat” the entire 800 bucks. I am now enjoying the transition back to, what I had considered to be, a semblance of normalcy with my new laptop. I am now left with just one pressing question that needs to be answered because I may, at some time, have the need to fix something on my computer. “Anyone know a guy?”