Technologically Challenged

(Guy calls in to tech support complaining that he always gets an ‘Access Denied’ message when trying to log in. Turns out, his caps lock was on.)

Tech Support: “Ok, let’s try this once more, but this time use only lower case letters.”
Customer: “Umm, but I only have capital letters on my keyboard.”

We laugh at situations like this, but for the Aspie they can be a daily occurrence, and horribly frustrating. Things that to us can seem straight forward must be spelled out in full for the Aspie.

I am no computer genius, but over time I have absorbed a lot of ‘how-to-itiveness’. My husband regularly has computer challenges. Sometimes I can help, but usually I have him call his IT guys at work. They don’t always have the right information either, so we have had our home network down because his tech support changes some fundamental settings. Then I am totally frustrated also.

Yesterday's weather was gorgeous here. It was a Saturday, and even though we started out the day with freezing temps, the sun was out and it warmed up some twenty degrees. A perfect day for baseball. Kidlet #3 had a double header and we ended the afternoon at his friends’ game on our way home. Eight and a half hours in the glorious sunshine. I was in heaven.

When we left that morning at ten, my hubby was already hours into his work. Technology as it is, he is sometimes able to work from home as he did yesterday. By the time kidlet and I arrived home, Steve had been at his keyboard for hours and hours. He still had several hours of work left, but his company’s system was locked up. He signed out and signed in. He rebooted and thumped. Then he signed in and out again.

“What’s wrong, Sweetie?” I asked.

“Stupid home network,” says he. “It never works!”

“Can you call your tech support?” I ask.

“They are just going to tell me that your stupid network doesn’t work!” barks husband.

“Please humor me and call them,” responds I on my way to the kitchen.

After much pounding and grr-rumping, my dear spouse does exactly that.

Only moments later Steve is heading towards the door.

“What’s up?” I ask.

“Company site is down for maintenance until tomorrow,” snorts hubby.

It’s just as well he is done for the day. I needed to vacuum.