Andrew's a Real Turnoff

My friend Andrew came over last night to rescue me yet again from machines that weren't doing what the advertising said they would. This time it was an Apple Time Capsule that I had bought to go with my Macbook. It does three things: works as a wireless network, connects multiple PCs to a printer and, the real reason I bought it, backs up your Mac automatically. It was one of my first purchases made because I no longer have a company to do these things for me.

Like most things Apple, the Time Capsule was dead easy to set up and install. And, like many other things Apple, it didn't work properly at first.

(I could also add that like most Apple products it has great design and a stupid name.)

I spent hours and hours trying everything I could to get it to connect to the Internet, but it just wouldn't budge. I tried dozens of different configurations, spent too many hours reading the manuals and the online support pages, reinstalled it six or seven times.

Once again, I was a beaten man and had to call Andrew who has in the past figured out how to solve the problems of so many of the gadgets I buy on impulse. You might think he would be getting a little tired of having to learn a whole new product just so I can have a play - especially as he is no longer obligated to take care of me now that I have retired. But AG is a gentle man and a gentleman and he just doesn't complain.

So last night he fiddled with the Time Capsule and was getting nowhere just about as fast as I had been. Then I looked away for a moment. And when I looked back, there was the Internet on the screen. Andrew was smiling, not quite a gloat, but satisfaction. I certainly would have gloated had it been me.

When I asked what technical wizardry he had brought to the party, he told me one of his trade secrets. Just shut everything off and let it rest for awhile. Often when you turn it back on, voila, it works!

That was eerie. Just that morning my Dad had told me that his digital TV was having problems, and when he called the repair people they couldn't make it for a couple of days. They suggested unplugging the TV for awhile and then starting it up again. Yep, it worked.

Andrew calls this "self-healing" and I am a believer. I can think of so many things - from car windows that wouldn't work and suddenly did to cable boxes that wouldn't record for two months and just decided to start doing it one day.

And it's kind of a nice metaphor for life, I think. If something isn't working too well, just disconnect and have a little rest. Chances are it will fix itself somehow.

Of course, it's not really that easy. I too had turned the Time Capsule off many times, only to have it continue to fail. Yet Andrew did it once, and it worked. So I think there's a little bit of magic and a lot of savvy in also knowing how to turn it on, as well.