Computer Rick

Yep, you're right. This happened at the same time last year, with a different computer.

I have a virus on my Laptop at the office. It jumbles up all my files. It types in capitals when "Caps Lock" is not activated. It won’t allow me to punctuate, and keeps freezing blocks of text so that I accidentally delete them while doing something as simple as hitting the space bar. It tries to mail merge Excel documents every time I boot up. Even more annoying is the fact that Mr Virus has decided that rapidly scrolling down through hundreds and thousands of blank pages is the most fun, refusing to allow me to halt his frenzied journey. Somehow it mixes up client names on my address list, has moved addresses and phone numbers into baffling combinations, and sends me error messages that my internet connection is not viable, even as I sit listening to that annoying dial-tone and cacophony of squeaks so familiar to dial-up users. (I have cable at home, and dial-up at work where I spend little or no time on the internet.) It's impossible to type up my clinical notes at the end of the day so I have spent the last week hand writing these (my writing is indecipherable, and I'm not sure I will be able to read them again!).

Enough already.

In desperation, I called my computer guy (known as “Computer Rick” on his business cards) to ask him if he could rescue me from compu-hell. But he is taking his family and going to El Salvador for 3 months, so I’m out of luck. Yes, I know. It’s easy enough to update my virus software, but I like it when Rick comes and fixes my computers. He worked wonders on the computers at my home. It’s not rocket science to download new virus definitions, but Computer Rick installed SpyDoctor and BitDefender on my home computer and also cleaned up the computers so they run like clockwork.

Not only does he provide a much-needed service for my business, I also really like him as a person. Rick is in his late 30’s/early 40’s. He has sandy hair, fair skin and is shy and awkward in the way that computer techie types often are. He has two daughters who are young teens and a wife he’s devoted to. He is happy in his life, enjoys his work, loves his family and has lived an interesting and varied life.

The first time Rick and I met, we were discussing housing and I happened to mention how much I love American Log Cabins. On my first ever trip to the USA in 1982, I was here on vacation and stayed with a friend who lived in a log cabin in northern Duluth, MI. Despite the fact that she was without running water and electricity and lived 50 miles from the nearest store, I loved staying there and relished waking up every morning to the wooden "walls" and rustic charm of her lovely cabin. To my surprise, Rick said that he had built several of them in his life time; in fact he still owns two of them on land in upstate New York. Listening to him as he waxed rhapsodic about how to build log cabins was a thing of beauty!

The second thing I admired and enjoyed hearing about was the way he and his wife (who is a pre-school teacher) have gone about raising their daughters. For example, several years ago, they decided that they wanted their daughters to have the experience of living in a different culture. They sold everything they owned (which wasn’t much) and moved to El Salvador. Rick said, “You know, people say that El Salvadoreans are poor and yes, they don’t have any money. But they have closeness and connection to their friends, family and the land they live on and farm and this makes them rich, much richer than urban Americans ever can be.” He went on to talk about how his values and those of his whole family shifted after living there for several years, and how differently he views his life in the US as a result. The relationships he formed with people have endured and they regularly go back to spend time with their friends there.

When Rick asked me what I did for a living and I told him I was a sex therapist, he blushed a deep vermilion red. His only comment was, "Oh boy, that must be an interesting job." And then he buried his head in my computer's innards. Despite his shyness, he is easy to talk to and I relish these opportunities throughout my working days to connect with other folks.

Call me crazy, but I can’t bring myself to call “Computer Geeks” when I have a loyalty to, and connection with, Rick, a real person who shows up at my home and in my office, bringing the world with him.

(PS If you live in the Boston area and would like Computer Rick's phone number, let me know!)