FUBAR - A really neat word

Ahhhh, FUBAR.......a wonderful acronym that means "fucked up beyond all repair" and today I had my first New Year FUBAR moment. Vista, a pig of a program if there ever was, has been acting persnickety for a couple of months now, slowing down my system when I am online making data entry painfully slow when I am FaceCracking and other bits of surfing a pain in the neck. I had been considering for the last while to strip my system and start from scratch but had not gotten around to it yet....blame it on procrasturbation.

Sometimes it takes a good kick in the ass to foment needed change and action. Today, again, my ass is sore. I think this will be the theme for 2011 - having a sore butt. Oh well, no pain, no gain right? Aaarrrgghhh!

The day started pleasantly enough, the sun was shining, my coffee perfectly brewed and a game plan already formed in my head as to what I was going to tackle creatively-speaking. I go to check my email and nada....same thing with the social network....no forward momentum to be had. Do a restart. Wait, and wait and wait....only to get the "problems with connection" BS on Mozilla. Go next to the evil Internet Explorer because who knows, Mozilla could have been inaccessible right? Nada there too at good ole' IE.

Did more restarts, full shutdowns, checked router and unplugged that - everything I could think of and then got my son to start researching via Microsnot on his machine. He did everything as well that they suggested and still no connecting to the outside world.

Hours had dragged by this time. To say I was frustrated would be an understatement. I was worried as well for what if my data was to disappear too?

We decided to risk data loss by engaging in a system restoration. Nope, that did not work either so we were left with one possible solution - Ubuntu, a linux-based CD computer bypass.....neat. Basically we halted Vista and used this CD as our operating system. Yes, I can still read my hard drive and retrieve stuff to send out if need be but I am limited for now to basic functions. At least I can be online and get my work done.....sigh.

FUBAR no more but I am angry for the frustration and loss of productive time. I will not be going back to Microsoft products after this. I call bullshit on that company after having been a loyal PC user (but yes I love Macs too) who has seen equipment and service deteriorate over the past few years. I could go on for pages as to the corporate ethos, or lack thereof, these days but I think I would be preaching to the choir here?

If Vista was such a "crap" program as even Gates has been quoted as saying then why did Microsnot force it on folks such as myself when they knew fully well that it was a transition program between XP and Windows 7? I was told that because I missed the "window" by a couple of months when I had purchased this fab Toshiba that I work on, I would have to pay to have Windows 7. Unfortunately Microsoft I could not afford to wait another two to three months to acquire a computer and I was out of the country working so I could afford the computer. Not everyone was lucky enough to have shares in your company Mr. Gates.

I call this extortion. I call this computer fascism. How dare this company use millions as guinea pigs in this fashion? I do not mind having to exchange something or to have it fixed if it is a problem that goes back to faulty design and such but why should I have to pay to call your company up, once via my cell (where I could be on hold for over an hour) and secondly being charged by your so-called tech support which is contracted out to god knows where?

Your shoddy design repair should come off of your dime and not mine.

When I strip this bitch I will not be loading up Windows 7. Hells NO!!! I will make the switch to a Linux platform. Yes, it will be difficult at first to change certain habits and adapt to new protocols but I think I can handle that. What I cannot handle or abide however is being handed shoddy goods and being told "too bad, your problem, not ours".

BTW that was a good seven hours of mine and my son's business time today and because we are both incredibly multi-talented individuals? Hmmmmm I believe my time and stress and his time and stress shall we say valued at - oh this is tough cuz' I don't wanna come across as an arrogant bastard - oh, fuck it - one fifty an hour for the both of us, shit, that's a deal Bill.....now that comes to the grand sum of $1,050.00 Now surely even in these tough times your company could afford that invoice?

Maybe I just may be a cheeky bastard and do just that.....why not? At the very least this sort of exercise would be time wasted by my choice which in that case would not be a waste at all.