New Computer People

Like many people, I tend to have a go to guy (go to person really, but that doesn't sound as good) for most things I need. If not a particular person I usually have a go to organization.

Since moving back to Green Bay, I have gone to Cyberworks for my computer needs. It was the closest place to my old office and I was often in a hurry got in the habit of running there. I was never fully comfortable with the place but it the options here are limited. (Why was I uncomfortable? Well, one example is the time I was WAY over charged for a 20G SCSI hard drive they sold as new that I quickly realized was used when there were files on it.)

The closest place to my new office is Camera Corner/Connecting Point. A few weeks ago I walked in for the first time. What I needed wasn't on the floor so the sales guy checked the back room. He found it but it wasn't on the price list so he just made up a reasonable price on the spot and charged me that.

Tonight I had a minor emergency when I kicked an external drive and it fell two feet. It didn't work anymore and windows reclassified it as an "Unknown USB Device". I could hear something rattling around in there but the only screwdriver I had on hand wasn't small enough to deal with the screws on the enclosure. I called CCCP at 5:03, they told me to come down but they close at 5:30. When I walked up to the service counter 5 minutes later, I said I needed a screwdriver that fits this thing. The young lady staffing the service counter told me that all the technicians were gone and got me an appropriate screwdriver. Once I had the (Cyberworks provided) drive enclosure open I realized that a small bit of it's electronics had busted loose and that the hard drive itself was likely intact. I said I needed a drive enclosure. The poor service counter person-- who clearly thought i was mad scientist crazy or worse after I'd turned her counter in to my workbench-- calmly called a sales guy over and told him my request. He asked IDE or serial ATA? I told him SATA. The thing was in front of me in like 45 seconds. After asking how much it was, I kept on with the mad computer scientist theme and tore in to the box and started transferring the drive in to the new enclosure. The service counter lady asked me if I'd paid for it yet-- all the parts were out of the box at this point covering most of the rest of her counter-- and I said, "I'll take it". While I was putting the whole thing together, the sales guy and I did the business transaction. I apologized to the service counter clerk for taking up her counter and thanked her for the screwdriver. Her response was polite enough but she managed to include that I had 8 minutes left before they closed at 5:30. Five minutes later I handed the screwdriver back to her and was out the door. The drive is again working and (luckily) my data intact.

My sincere thank you Camera Corner/Connecting Point and especially the two folks who dealt professionally with a harried software developer who was in a near panic. I think I have a new go to organization.