Fire in This Hole - Eff the Patriarchy!

 

A crumbling crude concreto mermaid by the JSM gas station near Filadelphia, Costa Rica. When you're so desperate for boobage you construct your own.

Today was the stuff of legends! I went into town with my laptop computer in tow. It's about three years old, and had been through the wringer. The stuff of legends! I am tough on laptops! This poor thing was dropped and cracked during a border run through Nicaragua while photoshopping a new date on my PCS Covid test. At the orders of the people at the border! It's been dragged through TSA security checkpoints left, right and upside down. Almost accidentally drop kicked around. Battery dead, covered in dust but up until a week ago it worked well. 

Then the color display started to split into three different colors, a common thing that happens when the display driver is out of date. I tried updating the drivers and it still didn't work. I knew from my time working with computers that I would need to go into safe mode, and fix it there. Tried to do just that thing and got error messages galore! Time to go to the shop to have them update the drivers for me since I don't have the patience any longer to chase down the problem. This first shop has done this for me before, on this computer and several older ones that I no longer use. Whenever I run into an issue with drivers, a software conflict, or a Windows related snafu this is the place I go to for help.

At Shop #1 - a place I have spent a boatload of money on various computer repairs on various machines, purchased lots of art supplies, printers, speakers, headphones, you name it electronic. This place caters to gringos. They speak English. Great. Go in there, tell Jose what I want and need. He tells me that since my computer is old and the case is cracked he does not think they will work on it. I point out I know the case is cracked and the battery dead, they know it, they've worked on it like that before. He tells me he has to ask the technician and he'll have an answer in a half hour.

The problem is that he's only talking to my husband, not me, discounting everything I am saying, telling the husband that the keyboard, mouse and screen are cracked and broken. No, no, they are not! The battery is dead, but I have a replacement at home I just haven't replaced it yet. Everything else is hunky dory. Jose keeps acting like I've said nothing, talking only to my husband, speaking of expensive repairs. Pointing out it's cheaper to replace than repair, refusing to consider it was a driver glitch. By that point I'm almost shouting, telling Jose to update the damn driver. He tells my husband it's too old and beat up for them to work on..

On the way out of the door I tell my husband we're going to the Tico place for the driver update. I'm done with this one --- forever. No more art supplies from there, no more printers ink, no more paper, no more nothing ever!

We go to the Shop #2, another Jose. We boot up my laptop, Shop #1 refused to even boot it up. Now, after about 8 days being unused the screen is messed up. First time it's done that. I saw that and knew I was dealing with a dying screen on top of a driver issue. Once I heard about the cost of replacing the screen I was just done! I told Jose #2 to simply harvest off all documents and photos. 

He was doing the exact same thing Jose #1 did, talking only to my husband. Over my frustrated objections Jose #2 tells my husband what needs to happen is a full examination of the computer and an estimate of repair costs. Just what I do not want! I'm almost screaming again! It took going outside with the husband and explaining that having them do an examination and estimate was wasting time and money, not at all what I wanted. So back inside we went, both of us impressing on Jose #2 that we just want all documents and photos off.

I guess I am getting a brand new Apple computer. I cannot take all this Windows based nonsense since I got here. I know where the Apple repair place is and I know those guys. They are not the Joses of the other shops. I was stunned because I've never been treated so rudely at Shop #1 before. It was eye opening. Guy I'd never dealt with before unfamiliar with my tendency to roll around with Franken-machines of assorted parts.

Jim needs to stop listening to these idiots. He knows almost nothing about computers, yet falls for any guy speaking in an authoritative voice about things he does not understand. He told both Joses to talk to me because it wasn't his computer, neither did, both turned to him as the "man of the house" and it was horrifyingly frustrating.

I run up against the patriarchal attitudes here regularly, but I didn't expect it here, in a realm I know quite a lot about, computers. I've dealt with both shops before, just never Jose #1 before. Jose #2 knows me well, so it was very shocking he decided what needed to be done over my own objections.

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