A Dear Friend Is Sick
Last Thursday morning, I was in the middle of answering an email, and my computer made a pop. My screen turned black, and my first thought was a power brownout. So, I turned it off, and when I turned it on, nothing happened. After some investigation, I believe that the motherboard has failed. Since it is an older computer, I immediately ordered a used Asus Rampage Edition Ten motherboard on eBay. I am upset that the seller has not shipped it. Why yes, it was not easy to get my eBay password because it was stored on my main computer.
This is the second motherboard for this computer. The first had issues out of the box that I suspect were caused by a flaky RAID hard drive controller card that I used for a day. All the components on the card got super hot, possibly indicating a failure of the RAID card’s voltage regulator. And yes, Newegg did not refund my money, which made it the last purchase with them.
Fortunately, the prior week I backed up everything, so the hard drive should work fine. (Different RAID controller card.) Fortunately, this means that I have lost any data. In the meantime, my older computer works fine. So, life should be great. Right?
Working on another computer has proved challenging and added lots of stress to an already stressful week. However, that is not the real issue. I miss my computer. She (I have not thought up a name for her) made my life productive and entertaining. Every file was where I wanted it, every program was properly installed, every website was bookmarked correctly in the order I like, and all settings were exactly as I wanted them.
Until this week, I never realized how large a part of my life my computer had become, and using another computer did not fill the void. For example, the simple act of sending and receiving email was difficult. On my computer, Outlook was perfectly configured with all my contacts and old emails properly sorted. We sent emails as an unstoppable computer team. Brothers in arms. Hand in hand. Keyboard in keyboard. Publishers, writers, communicators, gamers, and major problem solvers.
It took me two days to set up an online portal on my older computer so it could read email. And I tried for three days to set up this account on my phone. Despite being quite good with this sort of thing, a setting eluded me. In the meantime, I used my Yahoo (not my primary) email account, which was far from ideal. I cannot even do a spellcheck. Bummer.
And writing this article? Gahh, what a pain. My old computer had Word 2016 on it, but no Grammarly or ProWritingAid. And the password for publishing it? Yeah, I had to find that as well. Side note. The password file was a newer Word version, so my wife’s computer had to convert it, which is also what I had to do with my eBay account. What a struggle.
With some luck, a new motherboard will arrive soon and fix my issues. Only then will my life return to normal. Still, this was a learning experience because I now understand how vital my dear friend is.
You’re the best -Bill
June 09, 2021 Updated November 22, 2025
This is the second motherboard for this computer. The first had issues out of the box that I suspect were caused by a flaky RAID hard drive controller card that I used for a day. All the components on the card got super hot, possibly indicating a failure of the RAID card’s voltage regulator. And yes, Newegg did not refund my money, which made it the last purchase with them.
Fortunately, the prior week I backed up everything, so the hard drive should work fine. (Different RAID controller card.) Fortunately, this means that I have lost any data. In the meantime, my older computer works fine. So, life should be great. Right?
Working on another computer has proved challenging and added lots of stress to an already stressful week. However, that is not the real issue. I miss my computer. She (I have not thought up a name for her) made my life productive and entertaining. Every file was where I wanted it, every program was properly installed, every website was bookmarked correctly in the order I like, and all settings were exactly as I wanted them.
Until this week, I never realized how large a part of my life my computer had become, and using another computer did not fill the void. For example, the simple act of sending and receiving email was difficult. On my computer, Outlook was perfectly configured with all my contacts and old emails properly sorted. We sent emails as an unstoppable computer team. Brothers in arms. Hand in hand. Keyboard in keyboard. Publishers, writers, communicators, gamers, and major problem solvers.
It took me two days to set up an online portal on my older computer so it could read email. And I tried for three days to set up this account on my phone. Despite being quite good with this sort of thing, a setting eluded me. In the meantime, I used my Yahoo (not my primary) email account, which was far from ideal. I cannot even do a spellcheck. Bummer.
And writing this article? Gahh, what a pain. My old computer had Word 2016 on it, but no Grammarly or ProWritingAid. And the password for publishing it? Yeah, I had to find that as well. Side note. The password file was a newer Word version, so my wife’s computer had to convert it, which is also what I had to do with my eBay account. What a struggle.
With some luck, a new motherboard will arrive soon and fix my issues. Only then will my life return to normal. Still, this was a learning experience because I now understand how vital my dear friend is.
You’re the best -Bill
June 09, 2021 Updated November 22, 2025
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