Sometimes, it's the simple things

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Last night, just before dinner, I received a telephone call from my grandmother. She needed tech support on her computer. It seemed that she had been cleaning, moved a bookshelf, and now, her UPS was screaming and the computer wouldn't turn on any more.

She's 84 and lives in Boynton Beach in Florida. She called me with a frantic tone in her voice; she really hates when she has to rely on others, and especially when it comes to things she doesn't understand in the first place (like compupers).

While the actual conversation took place in Hungarian and over the course of an hour, I will try to record it here as best I can.

Grandmother (GM): Now, I think I completely and totally messed up. In my stupidity, which is inherent with old age, I moved a book shelf and made the UPS scream and now my computer won't turn on. I'm afraid I went and really messed this thing up quite badly.

Me: I'm sure you just pulled a wire out of the plug or something. Did you take a look to make sure everything was plugged in?

GM: Well of course I did. That's the first thing I did, and everything looks fine except for a few plugs that seem to have no place to be.

Me: You may want to trace the wires, each and every one of them, and re-plug them, and connect any you find that aren't plugged in.

GM: I hate this. I used to be so smart about this kind of stuff, but now, I am so stupid and I just can't seem to figure it out. There is no-one who lives around me that can figure this stuff out, either. I have no-one who can help me here. I can't afford to pay someone $65 an hour to come and fix this either; I just had to pay the $500 deductible on the accident I had last month!

Me: Don't worry. We will get it to work. Just take a seat and take a look at the cords and the plugs. Just study them for a bit and see if you can follow each cord to it's source and then to the plug. Just make sure they're all plugged in. I'm pretty sure that's all it is.

GM: I tried that before I called you, but everything is plugged in. This is ridiculous. It is too bad that there isn't anyone here to help with this.

At this point, I recognized that she wasn't getting any more calm. In fact, she was getting more and more aggravated and unable to understand the instructions I was telling her, let alone comprehend anything I was saying in regards to the cords and plugs.

Me: (thinking that she's not going to be able to fix it tonight) Tell you what. This happened to me when I was at your house in July. I had to move the very same bookshelf you talk about when a picture dropped behind it. I moved the shelf and the computer shut down, so I had to figure out the cords and plugs and eventually found the right one after a few minutes.

GM: But I tried...

Me: I understand, and I need you to listen to me. Sometimes it's best to look at these things with fresh eyes. I know from experience that if I can't solve a problem when it's getting late and I'm tired, the best thing to do is go to sleep and tackle it in the morning. I'm sure you'll be able to look at it and catch something you have been glancing over. I'm sure that you can get this working in the morning. Just don't worry about it; you didn't ruin or break anything. I'm sure it's a matter of just plugging something in.

GM: You know, you may be right. I'm just going to go to sleep and I'll check again in the morning. Can I call you tomorrow if I have any more problems with it?

Me: You can call me tomorrow and anytime. Let me know how it goes.

She and I hung up, and I hoped for the best. I received a call the next day at around 10 a.m. (about ten minutes ago):

GM: Well, after looking at the cords and plugs and disconnecting and reconnecting them 70 times without success, on the 71st try, it worked.

Me: Did you really count all your tries?

GM: Of course not, but it felt like close to 70 tries.

Me: So it's working now?

GM: Yes. Thanks to your patience and advice, I got it working. Thank you!

It's these little things that make me feel like I'm somehow able to give back to my grandmother. She busted her butt to give me a great childhood all those weekends I spent with her and my grandfather. She would clean all week and do all her chores Monday through Thursday so that when I arrived on Friday evening, she could dedicate all her time to me until Sunday afternoon when my parents would pick me up. I could never repay her for all her efforts and love, but in my own little geek way, I'm doing what I can to let her know that I appreciate her and her love, and that I love her very much, too.