6-word-Saturday

The dreaded computer lurgy returns AGAIN

I seem to spend a lot of my time combating  problems with my computer, and this time it is the monolithic Microsoft that I am fighting.   Having very nearly finished working on a 32 page collection, the terrifying window came up “your subscription has expired. If you have bought Office, enter your product key.  Otherwise go to xyz to buy” or words to that effect.  I could read my files, but not edit.  DISASTER PANIC BLUE LANGUAGE.

As I have bought and paid for Office on several occasions, I was able to find  two different product keys – twenty plus digits each – and entered the arena.  No good.  Retreat to Town to find Splendid Young Man – on holiday.  His charming colleague spent hours fiddling and faffing, only to discover that my so-called purchase of the software for the new laptop last year was for ONLY TWELVE MONTHS.  Did you ever hear anything so daft.  Microsoft expects us to pay and pay and pay.   

OK, the sum wouldn’t bankrupt us, so I got out my debit card and prepared to pay, resigned to being fleeced.  NOT SO SIMPLE  The Microsoft website refused to let me buy, saying I was outside the region of my Microsoft account.  The instant messaging help facility enabled us to state the problem to a human being who took the details and prepared to deal with it.  Then what?  He disappeared – it was going home time on a Friday at Microsoft, so he went home, leaving us floundering.  

Kind colleague installed an old version of Office as a temporary measure, with a promise that SYM Roland would sort it out when he came back from holiday (which is the day I go to UK!).   Poor patient  Jock – who had been sitting in the car for about 2 hours –  drove us home.