Yvette's Inner Geek Blog

I have been using a Logitech Trackman Mouse for over four years, and I L-O-V-E. it. It’s ergonomically perfect for my small hand, especially when used in conjunction with an Imak Ergobeads Wrist Cushion, and I love that I don’t ever have to pick it up and move it around like a regular mouse. Though a thumb-controlled trackball may not seem intuitive to standard mouse users, you should give this model a try. (Unless you need a left-handed model, which they sadly don’t offer.)

Anyway, the reason I am once again gushing about my personal love for this Trackman mouse (and don’t forget my 5-star review of the Imak Ergobeads) is because… hold on, I’m getting verklempt… it developed a problem. It wasn’t anything personal, I know. But one day, a couple weeks ago, the scroll wheel stopped working.

You don’t know how much you depend something until it’s gone, of course.

I followed the natural problem-solving course for this type of thing: curse, restart the computer; test a different USB port, curse when that doesn’t make a difference, but ultimately be thankful for not having a USB port problem; uninstall/reinstall the Logitech software driver thingy, curse some more. Then, moving on: deny that there is a actually a problem; wake up angry the next morning, curse; bargain with the devil (which only leads to developing a terrible cold, btw); get depressed and actually think to onseself there’s nothing on the internet today; and, eventually… accept the loss of a functioning scroll wheel. And mutter one final curse before looking up the warranty information—you know, just in case.

Five year warranty, the internet said. I did the math and decided that I was cutting it pretty close—but I filled out the form on Logitech’s website anyway. Logitech’s return email, received within one day, was this: Read more…

In stark contrast to my gray and snowtastic Saturday, Sunday was full of fresh air and sunshine. A little gray in the morning but otherwise beautiful. Once I was caffeinated enough to appreciate it, anyway.

Enough people were skiing that day to fill the lower (and more convenient) parking lots before I arrived, so I parked for the first time in the mystical “upper lot” that I didn’t even know existed until a couple days before. No signs point toward the twisty uphill road or say what’s up there, but now I know it exists. This new adventure gave me the opportunity to ride a shuttle bus filled with snowboarders. “Duuuuuuude!”

Once I arrived at the Screening Room (that’s the entrance pictured above—sort of tucked in near the end of a winding path that leads past the base ski lift), there were already plenty of volunteers on staff. That’s a good thing for overall operation of the theater, but I was a little ticked because I would have rather slept in after that late and stressful night. They scheduled 3 people on box office when only 2 are needed—guess that builds in a little CYA in case someone no-shows.

I helped with the crowds for the first film of the day and soon after was given a completely different task. The networked phone/internet wasn’t working (HORROR) and I got the “you’re good with computers, right?” direction to be the liaison with tech support. The tech support guys would have come to fix it in person if we weren’t a 45-60 minute drive away from Park City.

(It always amuses me and catches me off guard when people think that I “know about computers.” Just because I spend all of my time dicking around online and/or being a slave to Adobe products doesn’t mean I how to fix things. I have an engineer husband for that kind of stuff! But when liaising with tech support is involved, I guess “you’re good with computers” really means that I know what a cat-5 cable is and I’m not afraid of touching Things With Blinking Lights)

The cool thing about my time with tech support was that I needed access to the router, which was located in a maintenance closet to which only the resort’s safety/security manager had a key. When I called to request that it be opened, the manager said it would be a few minutes because he had to a paparazzi issue to deal with.

Ooooooo!

When he arrived and we were walking around the back of the building, I smoothly inquired if paparazzi things had quieted down. They had. Then I asked “so is Bob on campus?” Which, in retrospect, really sounds like a geek trying to be cool and not realizing that it’s not working. Bob = Robert Redford if you’re in the know. And now you are in the know. But no, the paparazzi issue was not for him. It was for one of his friends whom I’d never heard of before.

The maintenance closet was cool not just because I had to step in a 3-foot drift of snow and over a 5-inch sheet of broken ice that had fallen from the roof to get to it. It was cool because it was behind one of those doors that people are trained not to see, hidden in plain sight, and because it was a place of power. Read more…