MY NEIGHBOR FIXED MY COMPUTER.

I was coming home from trivia and mentioned that I was going to go to work to check my e-mail because my computer froze when I installed new software. I told him Dell said I'd have to reinstall the operating system for four hours. He said he'd be willing to take a look. I was doubtful, but I said it would be great. He brought some disks across the hall, looked some stuff up on his own computer, and fixed it in a half hour. He had to rename the new software something else so my computer wouldn't keep trying to reload it or whatever it was doing.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Don't do anything drastic without asking a million questions first.

While I was on with Dell, they had me keep holding down either the Ctrl, or the Delete, or the F9 key when I was rebooting to get it to a menu. Ctrl didn't work. Then I remembered that a few years ago, they asked me to do that by tapping it quickly rather than holding it down. I did that, and that got it to the right screen. So even the guy on the phone didn't know enough to give me all the options. He did try to be helpful, though, and was patient.

What frustrates me is that someone more vulnerable might just have listened to them and wasted time. Or someone who hadn't backed up stuff, or wasn't able to go to an office and use that computer instead like I did, might have been really screwed. So if anyone Googles about their Dell problems, I do appreciate that they provide free technical support, but if they tell you to do anything drastic, ask around first.

Thanks to "Bob," Sara (on W.M.'s behalf), Mr. Steele, and others who said that it seemed unlikely that I'd have to reboot the whole OS just due to adding new software.

OK, I know that was boring, but I think it's good to learn from other's mistakes. 1. Back up your stuff. 2. Especially do that before installing anything new. 3. Don't panic if something goes wrong.

On an unrelated note, as I was leaving trivia, I got to pet a Clumber spaniel. It was cute even though it drooled all over my leg. Another girl saw it, too, and we both pummeled the woman who was walking it with questions. Clumbers are mostly in England and there aren't that many in the U.S.