Giveaway: $20 Amazon gift card.

I had planned to put up a book for this week’s giveaway, but two days of computer glitches have left me unfit for rational thought. I’m so frustrated that I’m ready to fling myself out a window.

Of course, since I live on the first floor it would be a largely ceremonial gesture.

Since I can’t write up an interesting screed about the book, a $20 Amazon gift card it is.

Seriously: Computer woes have turned me from a Mensa member into a bumbling child. A bumbling child who just happens to have pushed it too hard a few days after surgery and then spent nearly 13 hours:

  • Riding the bus to two different computer stores, and walking almost a mile from the bus stop to the far reaches of a shopping center and then back to the bus stop (I should have called a cab to take me home from there, but that helpful thought didn’t spring to mind until I was home)
  • Installing two new programs that were absolutely, positively going to fix the problem
  • Calling tech support in a foreign country when the first one wouldn’t install
  • Taking photos of receipts and activation code for e-mailing (no scanner)
  • Getting back on the phone with tech support
  • Finally getting the programs running and…
  • (….wait for it…)
  • The glitch was not fixed.

Once again I had to ask an editor to go in and adjust the problem for me, something I  cannot keep doing. In other words, if this can’t be fixed today then over the weekend I will have to buy a PC in order to do one simple, specific aspect of my job.

I don’t like PCs. They don’t feel intuitive to me. They get virus-y. They crash. And I’ve got several long-ish trips in the offing: Will I have to carry two computers now? Argh.

Bonus: My business account is nearly $300 lighter. I am going to try to return the two programs — which means more bus rides and more walking. I may rent a car tomorrow.

Update: The problem is finally fixed. I can now do that specific task. No need to buy a new computer. Thank heavens.

Oh, but I wouldn’t be me unless I could also provide a punch line. Here goes:

I was given yet another small daily task for which I needed a mouse that can right- and left-click, so I took the bus to Staples this afternoon. As I was paying, I was struck by the sudden, absolute conviction that such a mouse could be found in the file cabinet next to my desk. Or maybe not. If I didn’t buy it, I’d just have to come back on Saturday.

So I bought it. And yep, there was a clickable mouse at home, in the file cabinet. A few years back, while I was still managing the building, I found the mouse and a keyboard — both still in the box, both seemingly unused — in the Dumpster while rearranging a departing tenant’s carelessly dumped belongings. As an inveterate Dumpster wader I kept both items.

I’ll see if I can get my sister to swing by Staples on our way back from church on Sunday. Sigh.

But back to business. If you want a shot at winning the $20 Amazon gift card, here’s how to do it:

If you do any (or all!) of these things, please leave separate, additional comments to get credit for each entry.

The deadline is 9 p.m. PST Monday, March 12. If I do not hear back from the winner by Wednesday night, I will choose another name.

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306 thoughts on “Giveaway: $20 Amazon gift card.”

  1. Sorry to hear about your computer troubles. Hope they get resolved quickly. If you lived near me I could give you the name of a great computer guy who comes to you… but I don’t think he’ll travel to you from Rochester, NY!

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  2. Can you use a mac? I have two different freelance things I do, one requiring a mac and one requires a windows machine. I’ve had the mac for 6 years now with no problems. I have to buy a new dell ever other year it seems.

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    • @Paula: I am already on a Mac. But there’s one thing that I need to do that is not working. Apparently the Mac can’t make itself understood.

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  3. I’m with you on not liking PCs. Then again, my dislike of them doesn’t keep me from using them when necessary! Hope you get your problems resolved quickly.

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  4. And personally, I like PCs; I can save a lot of money by building, fixing, maintaining, and upgrading them myself. (And they don’t crash nearly as much as they used to.)

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  5. Thank you for the giveaway. I know just what you mean about computers – they drive me nuts, too. 🙂
    jslbrown_03 at yahoo dot com

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  6. Yikes! Sorry to hear about your troubles. I hope you don’t have to buy a PC (or any new computer for that matter).

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  7. Ugggh! Whew! Sounds like to hit a rough patch..and just when you are supposed to be recouperating too! I know all about bus and walking woes..do I ever. So much hassel and very time consuming! Computer problems have also, unfortunatly, raised their ugly heads lately in my life enough times for me to doubt my own sanity! haha. I feel for you! I can only wish that all this resolves itself quickly and efficiently for you, and that all your efforts build you up rather than knock you down. Please include me in your $20 Amazon giveaway. Thank-you.

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  8. “Of course, since I live on the first floor it would be a largely ceremonial gesture.” I almost spit out my water. You’re too funny.

    I’m sorry you’re having trouble though. I’m sure you’ll be able to figure out a frugal hack soon.

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  9. I am an RSS subscriber.

    I know how you feel about computer problems. I’m the resident “tech” mind at my house, but my husband regularly decides to just do something to his computer that then always mucks up the network.

    He did one of those last week, and I grumped around here for about 5 hours before I got us back in business again. And he brought me flowers yesterday to apologize :).

    But seriously, this may be where bringing in someone to work on your machine in person to get it to do what you need might be well worth the money (what’s it worth to you to keep travel down to one computer??)

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    • @Jennifer: The problem isn’t with my computer per se, it’s the fact that it can’t talk to the MSN Money computers. I took it with me to the Mac place and the fix prescribed by the cute li’l geek isn’t working.
      A new potential fix (whee!) suggested itself and I am waiting to hear back from a techspert at MSN.

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  10. Computers, can’t live with them and can’t live without them. When things don’t work, it throws everything off. Best of luck to you.

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  11. Computers…can’t live with them, can’t…well, you know. As a self-employed work at home transcriptionist for the past 15+ years, I have a love/hate relationships with PCs. Had to replace my laptop last year when Teenager who accidentally spilled soda on it; she is really a very responsible person and this was an accident, but that didn’t make it any more fun, especially since we had bad weather going on that day (hello? a tornado in Western Mass???).

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  12. I am following you on twitter. I hope you will follow me. I also get your e-mail. I think it is rss I am not sure. I love surviving and thriving!

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  13. Ha! I’ve used Mac’s quite a bit in college and I’ll admit that while I never had one problem with my PC, the Mac I used seemed to have nothing but issues. Plus I am “gifted” with several “Mac snob” acquaintances who insist that only the most intelligent and creative people use Macs and something about their attitude makes me want one even less. (I have similar feelings about social networking sites).

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  14. Oh, Donna. I hear you. I have gotten to the point that I WILL NOT ask my son to help me again. I will work on it until I get it. And you know what, I usually do. My Amazon account is empty, so I need to replenish it.

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  15. I understand your pain – I too am a Mac girl working in a PC world. I hope you’re able to find a solution that doesn’t take a bite out of your Apple.

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  16. What were you thinking with all the walking? It’s almost like you didn’t have a personal assistant to order around. Sheesh.

    In all seriousness, good luck on this one. I’m a dedicated PC person because the only major data loss I’ve ever had was on a Mac. Granted, it was in 1992, but losing that 40 page paper really chafed.

    A thought: would a netbook work? They’re usually less expensive, and if you hook a keyboard and mouse up to one, pow, instant computer.

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  17. Yikes Donna.. all that running.. please get better soon and may the Force be with you for your computer issues. By the way, I’d love the gift card if the random generator deems it so 🙂

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  18. try not to fling yourself out the window. please.

    yes pcs can be frustrating, let me tell you, been there done that. i work in the software world and i know. if i could write a book, i could write a book.

    i’m willing to win a gift card.

    ps, i am liking frugal cool too. one comment: i am loathe to enter a comment on frugal cool cause one needs some sort of ms account, which i wont do. so i will comment here, alone, alas.

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  19. Goodness gracious, hope things settle down! And, sometimes taxi rides are worth more than whatever they cost…sometimes they are nearly *priceless*…perhaps after surgery.
    Hope I win!

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  20. I feel your pain…we have down sized to 1 car and planning seperate excursions in an not walk friendly area is an interesting challenge, but I love the savings of not have 2 vehicles!

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  21. I love that you call yourself a “dumpster wader”. I’m like you, won’t get down & dirty & jump in, the worst I’ll do is maybe pick with a stick, but I’ll check out what’s lurking near the dumpster, at the side of the road… since you never really know! I’m a sucker for collecting my Coke points from dumpsters too, lol.

    Glad you got your problem fixed.

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  22. I can really sympathize with your computer woes. Mine crashed in December and I had to replace it. Hope yours proves to be the wonderful upgrade that mine has been.

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  23. Computers are so awesome when they work and so frustrating when they don’t. I had to do a rescue on a dead laptop not too long ago and it was not fun. Glad you are back up again!

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  24. Slow Down !! Your fans are probably more patient then your editor. : ) We will wait an extra day or two for you to recover !! We just re-read old posts .

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  25. Haha… I get where you are coming from. I had the same predicament sometime back with my PC. Looking for an upgrade soon as I can’t face the problem again. It’s driving me nuts.

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  26. Totally understand the computer dilemma. Have had more trouble with my new one than any of the hand me downs I had for years. Fortunately I have a brother who is a rdba. Without him, I might throw mine out a window. Good luck! Love the idea of winning something too.

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  27. Arrgh, how frustrating! Especially while you’re trying to recover from surgery. I know you try to stay frugal, but maybe this is a situation in which you might do better to keep the mouse and skip the trip to return it to save the wear and tear on your still-recovering body? The mouse isn’t going to go bad sitting in your file cabinet, and you’ve got travel coming up that you’ll want to be fit for…

    It’s your call, of course. Just… make taking care of YOU a priority. Healing vibes coming your way, and virtual hugs if you want them.

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    • @SherryH: Thanks for your good wishes. I’ll hang on to the mouse until my sister can take me to Staples after church. It won’t be a big deal, just a moment at customer service. But you’re right: I won’t be making a special trip, i.e., waiting for bus both ways.
      A couple of weeks ago I could have walked there and back without breaking a sweat. Right now I need to focus on healing. This morning when I got up I thought, “Why do the incisions still hurt?” And answered myself: “It’s just over a week since the surgery. Slow down and let your body repair itself!”

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  28. Late DH found my entire PC in a dumpster summer 2001. Since we/I have replaced the monitor (2x), keyboard and mouse (2x).

    Also, agreew/Lynn-take care of yourself.

    Further, some smart spending people are trying to get together in metro Chicago Memorial Day weekend if some of your travels include our area.

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  29. Sorry for your frustration. I spent most of yesterday upgrading to a new laptop at work, and even with an onsite technician, telephone help from our IT Help Desk, and the tech support resources of my Fortune 100 employer, it took nearly all day and had me longing for a three martini lunch – and I don’t even particularly like martinis!

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  30. I sure could use the gift card, and so could everyone else-LOL! Everyone I know of shops at Amazon. I have a list of things I would like, waiting for moolah!

    Yes, computers give me alot of trouble with spyware, etc. I was on dial-up and went to a slower high-speed. Cost so much that I can barely afford it. Am thinking in Oct. when contract runs out that I am going to give up my computer. I live in very small rural area where you don’t have a choice on isps. It isn’t worth it for surfing and the few gc’s I can earn. The price outweighs the benefits for me!

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  31. I hear you! My husband and I find computer problems to be more enraging than any other problems. He has a new laptop and, a couple of days ago, for some reason it messed with our router and all of the other computers in the house went offline for several hours… aaaargh! Sometimes I think it would be easier for me to do brain surgery than fix a computer problem.

    Please enter me in the draw.

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  32. There is no need to have two computers to run Windows/PC apps and have a Mac. There are two programs that will let you have a Windows PC inside your Mac. One is called “Fusion” from VMware (www.vmware.com) the other is called “Parallels” from parallels.com. Both work very well. They are fierce competitors so they both keep the software well maintained with good customer support. I think Fusion is ~$49 and Parellels is ~$60 right now (wait a minute and that will change 😉

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  33. I’m a Facebook fan who just can’t imagine using a Mac instead of a PC. Hope you’ll still give me an entry into the contest. Maybe I’ll use it to buy a book that will tell me my Macs are so much better than PCs 😉

    Glad you’re recovering!

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  34. Sharon, I love all your columns, especially the ones about food/groceries. Everyone should live the way you do. First found out about you from my msn.com homepage. I wish I could get my stepson to read your columns; he lives on 110% of his income and will do so for the rest of his life. He will always be in financial turmoil and who do you think he comes to when he is in trouble (weekly!)? I dont think my poor husband will ever be able to retire.
    Keep up the good work. I am so rooting for you and your daughter.

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  35. Wow, what a frustrating day, hope you’re feeling better soon! I would also love to win the Amazon gift card! Thanks!

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  36. Hi Donna,

    As usual, you’ve managed to make me laugh, even as I winced at the computer glitches & ALL the commuting! Aiiieeee!

    Fingers crossed your computer life will be uneventful for a while.

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  37. Donna,

    Am interested in what you have to say in Surviving and Thriving. I live in the country, raise and preseve most of my food. I live very frugal and enjoy it. Interested in what new things you might have to share

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  38. Oh, I feel your pain. Only mine was spending 3 hours today trying to explain to someone that I DON’T know how to do things on AOL.com’s email system even tho they know they can be done.

    $20 will just about cover it!

    Thanks Donna!

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  39. Welcome to my world!!! Not too long ago my PC began …. “not performing”. Like you I went to the “computer store” and quizzed the “geeks”. They were kind and honest..brutally honest. It seems as my PC was approaching 10 years old that a new computer should be in my future (Their thought was a new computer every 5 years). I looked around at new PC’s and lap tops but couldn’t bring myself to pull the trigger as …well…I’m cheap. Armed with this “incentive” I headed home and began “fixing my PC”. With help from the internet….my security software…Microsoft…luck and perhaps “divine intervention”….I was sucessful. This may be a temporary reprieve BUT just giving up didn’t seem like a good option to me.
    AND I’ll bet if you hadn’t bought the mouse, the one you had in the drawer wouldn’t have worked. By buying it you assured success…one way or the other. Pretty smart if you ask me… BUT you’re right having a down computer system is a very humbling experience with a nagging sense of helplessness. Glad you’re back up and running!!!

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  40. I could always use an amazon gift card. Hope your computer doesn’t cause anymore problems – they can be so frustrating!

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  41. I’m too cheap to buy eBooks for my Kindle that I got as a gift so a $20 gift card would be a great way to expand the collection.

    A side note: There was an article last week (wish I could remember where) saying that a lot of customer service jobs are actually coming back to the US because of the number of complaints about them being overseas. Just an interesting factoid.

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  42. I am a very un-techie person and computer problems drive me insane. Luckily, 10 years ago I gave birth to kid who’s growing up to be quite the computer whiz. 😉 I’m gonna make him buy me a house when he’s a rich programmer someday.

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  43. I love Amazon! Take care of yourself while you’re recovering, sometimes things just have to wait until you’re well.

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  44. I subscribe via email.
    Here are a couple free programs from Cnet dot com/downloads to help keep the viruses off your computer: AVG (free) and Malware Bytes. Also run CCleaner from Piriform daily, and I always, always use SandboxIE when surfing the web. It creates a virtual “sandbox” on your computer that you can “empty” after you close your browser and it deletes everything that downloaded to your computer.

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  45. There are days like that for sure. I frequently remind my computer that I can always unplug it. It gives me the eye, sort of like HAL from 2001:A Space Odyssey.

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  46. Better late than never. Found you through JD’s site, getrichslowly.org, then followed you over to one of the MSN money blogs. I like your relatable posts/tips.

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