I Killed My Kindle

I admit it, I am electronically challenged.  I suffer from CHDWS (Computer Hard Drive Wiping Syndrome).  When I was in my working career, I destroyed/lost/mutilated more computer files than every other person in my entire building (combined).

I was able to cause system wide server crashes just walking by the server room…and the door was closed and locked.  I had to keep the IT folks on speed dial.  Face it, there must be some kind of negative aura that surrounds me which obliterates all those little bits, bites, kilobytes, megabytes into outer space or someplace, never to be seen or recovered again.

I need to stay away from electronic devices with buttons.  Trust me.

So one day, my bonnie bride, Marti, talked me into buying a Kindle.  She has a nice fancy one and there was a plain Jane model that she thought would work well for me, it didn’t have much in the way of buttons at all.

I fought her on it, saying that I’ve been a life long book reader and couldn’t justify the need for one.  Then I listened to Marti…closely.

She reminded me about how I whine that we have no extra space in the Journey for anything.  By having a Kindle, I could do away with a load of paperbacks and use that space for more important things, like potato chips and Ring Dings.  So I took her wise advice and bought the $79 model.

Wow, was she ever right!  Not only did the Kindle save space, it opened up a whole new world of cheap and even free books.  Plus, it was so simple to use, I could easily read while eating potato chips and Ring Dings.

Then, the unthinkable happened.  My electronic curse kicked in.  I went to turn on the power button and this is what my Kindle screen looked like:

Half my screen went blank!  No amount of wailing, gnashing of teeth, laying on of hands or desperate prayers would get it to work.  After drying my tears, I handed it over to my IT guru, Marti to fix.

A few minutes of looking at it and she came up empty.  Now what to do?  Marti checked on line at Amazon and found a phone number for customer service.  I called the number and got a real live person in just seconds.  This was weird.  Weirder still, the person spoke the King’s English!  Real help.

After a few questions, like: Did you drop it?  No.  Did you get it wet?  No. Did you happen to run it over with a car/truck/herd of buffalo?  No, no and no.  The service rep said it was unfixable and would have to be replaced. Oh no!  I saw dollar signs, how would I fit this in the budget?

Then he said he’d send a new one out right away.  Free!  Wow!  I’d have it in two days, he’d e mail me a return address and postage, all I’d have to do is return it with in 30 days.

So the next two days were spent old tech.  Reading a real paperback.  Took me a few minutes to remember there is no button to turn a book on.  Then I proceeded to get potato chip crumbs and Ring Ding chocolate all over the pages.  It wasn’t pretty.

Today, the Kindle arrived, brand new in a box.  With the help of my lovely IT guru, I got all the books I previously downloaded placed on the new unit.   I am impressed with the customer service that Amazon provided me.

I guess that makes me a happy camper.  Or is it a happy bookworm?

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