Remote Access

Computers. Most of us, over time, develop a love-hate relationship with them. It seems that just about the time I master some element of their operation, a warning dialog box pops up on the screen to prove me wrong. Last year I bought two new computers with the latest operating system and software to avoid those frustrations. The purchase price was justified by the anticipated peace of mind.
Much to my chagrin, I’ve never achieved that elusive peace of mind. I purchased a whole new set of problems to replace the old ones that plagued me. Normally I can, over several days or sometimes weeks, come up with a solution to most problems. If not, in a pinch, I have a couple of “expert” friends who can massage and enhance my troubleshooting skills. I dread calling the manufacturer’s technical support lines for several reasons. The primary reason is that they now all seem to charge a fee and I am che…,frugal. The second reason is that I often have difficulty communicating with “level one” technical support staff. They often seem to speak a different brand of English than I do. The third reason is that the problem is invariably caused “by another (often competing) software manufacturer,” or so they say.
One problem was beyond anything that I had ever encountered. I was in danger of losing vast amounts of business and personal data if the problem wasn’t solved. With great frustration and apprehension, I called the computer manufacturer for help. My problem was moved up the technical support chain from level1 to level 2 and then to level 3 support with no results. The level 3 technician then called Microsoft on a three-way conference call. Now I was dealing with engineers who had helped design the operating system and their reputations were on the line.
The engineers asked me for “remote access authority” which I was happy to give. Soon I watched in amazement as the cursor moved to and opened files I didn’t know I had on my computer. All of this was being done on my computer by an expert thousands of miles away in Washington State. Occasionally he would have me hit the “enter” key to validate his moves. He certainly proved he knew my computer much better than I did as he remotely probed and prompted repairs. All I had to do was swallow my pride, overcome my apprehensions, and yield control to the professional. Soon my computer was better than ever. (He did some upgrades while he was on line with my computer.) Now that I’ve experienced “yielding control of my computer,” perhaps I can trust and yield control of my life to “the Manufacturer and His resident agent” a bit better. The price is prepaid. I just need to yield and do as they instruct as they bring me up to my designed operating level.