Classic Unplugged

Plugging in...

There are those of you who are fortunate to have second homes, hide-aways, retreats, call them what you will, they pose some logistical concerns when deciding how to handle being "plugged in" to the cyberworld when in-residence.

Some of you, again the fortunate, have duplicate EVERYTHINGS at the other location - computer, printer, internet connection, all the cables, etc, etc. And some of you choose to bring your computer and its assorted paraphernalia with you. The folks who travel en-suite with myriad electronics have to not only remember to bring everything with them, BUT to bring it all back home, and remember how to connect the assortment of cables and power cords.

So the checklist is out, and you've got it all: power cord, computer, carrying case, internet cable, printer, printer cable, phone, phone charger and the list goes on for some of you. You've labeled all the pieces too, a lesson learned from the FIRST time you traveled and were stumped about what goes where, and why. It was a great summer at the fill-in-the-blank house but time to return to the main homestead.

One of my clients recently did exactly as described above - completed the checklist, brought everything home and connected the laptop as previously done several times. Feeling rather plucky, said client was all ready to get back online and the dreaded "this page cannot be displayed" reared its ugly head. The client looked at the computer in despair, for it appeared that everything was plugged in properly - it turned on, it did!

Ring, ring - Computor Tutor? Help! So I listened, had the client recycle the cable modem from Comcast, a fancy way of saying shut it off for a minute, then turn it back on. Still no connection. Client assured me things were plugged in, as per the checklist. Into the Tutor mobile I went and within thirty seconds of perusing the computer, I knew what the problem was. Yes, everything was correctly connected. The cables that were connected, that is. The culprit? A missing internet cable which was in a zip lock bag with a spare mouse and some other commuting parts.

As the saying goes, is it plugged in, is it turned on may need modification: are they ALL plugged in, are they ALL turned on?

ALWAYS REMEMBER: before calling for help - is it plugged in, is it turned on?

Unplugged