...or, "More Than Enough, Anyway".
The day started with a big smile. A client who was happy that I was able to help him when others couldn't or wouldn't, sent a gift card to me. With granddaughter Diana's HS graduation coming up, the card will be put to good use.
It was around noon that it began to feel like "Everything Everywhere, Etc." Powering up the office PC, I found that Chrome no longer worked. Even trying to update with Ninite didn't produce a working browser. What a search (using Firefox) told me was that the reason had a lot to do with Microsoft's .NET and a recent update. While they get things sorted out, I downloaded a beta version of Chrome and got the main periodicals re-set up.
With that squared away for now, I drove to the office to work for the first time since 2019. (I'd cleaned out my desk after going full-time work-at-home.) Didn't feel any different; the commute on Route 22, swiping the badge at the door, things I'd literally done a thousand times between 2013 and 2019. If the weather had been warmer, I'd probably have walked the track one more time.
The reason I was there: a new laptop that had to be set up the approved company way. The IT support had tried it remotely last week, but each time he got to the part where he installed a VPN, the wi-fi froze and the install failed. He told me it should work in the office.
Aw, you guessed. Of course, it didn't work. He muttered something about the in-house wi-fi being the source of the issue this time and told me that if it didn't work at home, to submit a ticket with the service desk. I had suggested hooking the new laptop to the wired connection at home and running the old one on our personal wi-fi, but he dismissed that instantly.
Fact is, he was right. I got home and attempted it, and while the power cord worked OK, the ethernet connection to the docking station produced only a blank screen. He had anticipated that and said I should order another dock if that happened.
Just to recap, there's no VPN and the dock isn't compatible with the new laptop. But did I give up? No, we'll push straight through, thought Moore, and proceeded to bang his head against a brick wall over and over.
And then, there were the Amazon packages outside the front door when I got home. On the laptop downstairs, there are two USB inputs. They were both in use, and I wondered if it were necessary. One was taken by the dongle for a ten-year-old entry-level combination mouse and keyboard, and the other contained a more recent dongle that came with a mid-level mouse. I learned that the newer dongle was designed to work with whatever compatible hardware you installed, while the older was limited to the hardware it came with. So then, I reasoned, couldn't I get a new compatible keyboard and sync it with the unifying dongle for the newer mouse?
The answer to that was "Yes", or more accurately, as it turned out, "Yes, but..."
At first, the new keyboard only worked with the dongle it came with, and the attempted pairing in keeping with the website's instructions failed every time. The unifying software saw no compatible dongles, although two were plugged in. Why don't things just work? I thought as Google got a workout. But eventually I found the answer, thanks to a voice of experience on a Microsoft bulletin board.
The answer was to download the same company's SetPoint software and run that, remove the older dongle, turn off the new keyboard, and *then* go back to the unifying app. Sample responses struck much the same tone throughout:
Genius, kudos! 3h searching for a solution, and this setpoint did the trick
THANK YOU SO MUCH THIS ACTUALLY WORKED! I COULDN'T FIND A SOLUTION ANYWHERE ELSE!!!
YOU ARE A GOD!!!!! THANK YOU
Had I written one, my reaction wouldn't have been as dependent on hyperbole or capital letters, but it was a great relief to be able to cross something off the to-do list. One dongle to serve them all, and now I can plug back in the reading light which currently illuminates that new keyboard.
Did I mention the other item outside the front door was a new phone? Yes, Consumer Cellular and their delivery service got PG's phone to us first. Mine should follow tomorrow. Giving up on the new work laptop and getting the keyboard all set up, I dug in to the phone documentation. It was probably more than I should have tackled given the events preceding.
But, but, but that sense of accomplishment! I can't honestly say it's a "phone" yet, but all the apps and data were smart-streamed over in short order, so PG can use it for searches and reference. That's enough for one day.
Then my little girl, Good Queen Swirly, climbed onto my lap and my eyes soon closed for a refreshing nap. Tomorrow is another day, or so it has been claimed.
It was as I washed my hands after scooping the cat boxes that a thought occurred: is it compliant with company policy to accept that gift? I've never had to worry about that before.
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