Adventures in Computer Repair

I made the rounds this morning to the homes of a few people in the office to check on various computer problems. Inside one computer, I found:

• Four dollar coins (inside a Zip drive).
• A standard CD-ROM, jammed inside the case between the Zip drive and the CD-ROM drive. It had been missing for several months.
• A three-inch CD-ROM, jammed inside the CD-ROM drive. The drive had been making a "thumping" sound periodically when playing some games, and coins were the expected culprit.

Someday, I will have children. If I ever lose substantial amounts of money, and important CD, or my CD-ROM suddenly begins making mysterious noises, I will know where to look.

As a postscript, the computer was about a year old. A Dell. And the case was slick as hell. I didn't even need my Leatherman to take it apart, and that includes sliding the CD-ROM and the Zip drive out of their bays. Very nice design.

August 07, 2002 - 02:36 PM

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