My computer goes bad in Mexico

A few days ago I was working at my computer when it made a few clicking sounds and stopped. I couldn't get back into it when I tried. Did I have a CD to start from? Nope, though I have usually had them or floppies, this time I didn't. When was the last time I had backed up my data? Ummm... about a month ago. This wasn't as bad as it sounded, as we've been so busy with moving into our new house here in Mexico, and with the trip to Bernal, that my computer activities have mostly been this blog and my email, both online activities. ( I use myfastmail.com for my email, and have for years. I really like not having my email dependent on any one computer and once again I was grateful for this.)

I knew someone here whose hard drive had died a slow death and he'd been able to extract most of the data from it, so I called him and he referred me to the computer guy who had helped him. He said he was brilliant and not cheap. The next morning I called Israel, owner of the new Izzy's internet cafe in Riberas del Pilar, which is between San Antonio Tlayacapan, where we lived for two months, and the small city of Chapala. (Just a half block east of Clinica Maskaras on the same side of the street, for anyone local reading this.) He said to come on over with the computer, so I hopped on a bus which goes along the lakeside highway.

On the bus, I got into a conversation with a delightful Canadian couple who have traveled to 37 different countries, typically staying a month or so to get the flavor of the place, as they were doing here.

Izzy looked at my laptop within 10 minutes of my arrival and let me sit in his workshop and watch him. (This is typical of the kind of response we've gotten from so many different kinds of service here in Mexico. In the US, I'd have left the computer and gotten a call eventually.) It turned out to be a motherboard problem, and he described my options. I could order a new motherboard from Dell but with shipping costs and Mexican import customs costs, it would cost nearly what a new basic Dell would be. It just so happened that a big Dell exposition was going on right now in Guadalajara, so I could go there the next day and order just exactly what I wanted. Mexican Dells can be ordered with English keyboards and versions of Windows, but I'd have to wait about a month for it to be built in Panama and then shipped to my doorstep via UPS, Fedex, or (reputed to be the best here) DHL.

"So I have to get a new computer!" I exclaimed happily. I do love computers!

Izzy extracted my hard drive. I left my laptop with him in case I decided to revive it. If not, he could have it for parts. As for being "not cheap" I didn't think 500 pesos (about $45 US) was bad for over an hour of skilled diagnostics, done virtually immediately after I contacted him. I told him I'd post a link to an interesting site he has on real estate in the Lake Chapala area.

Yesterday my friend whose hard drive had died helped me to extract what I could from mine, using a little case he put my hard drive into which had USB connections. I got all the most important recent files before the hard drive itself died too. (I've blogged before about the "good bad luck" Kelly and I seem to have.)

Was it the fluctuating Mexican power, even though we use surge protectors and Kelly had created a grounded circuit? Didn't seem to be. Destiny has decreed it's time for me to get a new computer.

After some time online, I decided not to go into the Guadalajara expo. Kelly has a widescreen Toshiba that I've been jealous of since he got it last year. I could get one locally but it would cost over twice what one costs in the US, as there are steep customs duties. I'm still considering my options. For now, it's back to sharing a laptop with Kelly. We did this last year without murdering each other, and here's a cute photo of Kelly to prove it.