My parents just joined the 21st century and acquired high-speed internet access. Before that, they had been slaves to dial-up, much to my increasing frustration.
When I heard they got DSL, I figured it would be another 15 years before they decided to go wireless, so when my mom asked me to take up the wireless project on my visit home for Thanksgiving, I happily accepted the mission.
I've set up my own wireless networks a couple of times, so I knew it wasn't that hard. Just follow directions. Of course, it's never that easy, but after trips to two separate electronic stores, asking questions of two different tech people, cursing at the computer because there was not, in fact, an existing router in place, I finally got the network up and running. All in all, fairly straightforward with the requisite snags that always come up when dealing with computers.
Then it got to their desktop. Their desktop is downstairs. It didn't have a wireless card already, which meant that I had to install one. I didn't think much of this until I was midway through the installation process and the instructions told me to "turn off the computer and open the motherboard."
Oh holy hell.
It took about 20 minutes to successfully crack open the motherboard, and of course when I looked at it, I had no f-ing idea what the hell was going on. However, using pictures, logic, and a phone call to J, I essentially figured out what I needed to do.
So I did it. I performed minor surgery on my parents' computer!
I feel like a fucking badass. Now I need a nap.
1 comment:
woo-hoo, you rock! being successful with computers always makes me feel empowered, too.
I still hate that we couldn't work it out to meet up, but hope we're more successful over Christmas break. Glad you've had a good trip home.
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