Please read this in its entirety for the happy ending.

My desktop computer monitor died yesterday. There were warning signs which I tried to ignore, but eventually the screen went totally black, and I knew. It was over. This is when the little brat inside me took over and had a tantrum.

“I shouldn’t have to do this! This shouldn’t be happening! I hate this stuff!”

Then the grown-up, executive-functioning part of me quietly comforted the brat, got on the phone and ordered a new monitor. The grown-up has only little more idea of how to do this than the little one, but for a moment, there’s relief. We’ve taken action and made a decision. For now, this is comforting.

The new monitor arrives before 9am, and the adult speaks gently to herself and says, “I’m a smart person. I can do this. Let’s lay out all of the pieces in an orderly fashion, read through the instructions and get this puppy up and running.”

At the first glitch, of which there are many, l’il Jane starts in again, “I’m a girl! I don’t do tech.”

Amazingly, with patience and persistence, the monitor lights up and even reveals everything that had been left behind yesterday. Hooray!

But, wait! A dialog box comes on the screen and says: Input signal out of range. And the screen goes dark.

This is when it starts to get ugly. I call the help line who requests the serial and product numbers*–which are discreetly hidden between the pedestal base (see image) and the back of the monitor making them nearly impossible to discern. Many tantrums, one magnifying glass and a dollop of patience later, it’s determined that this is a Dell issue and not an HP issue. In other words, begin again.

I won’t belabor this any longer, but suffice it to say, it was challenging, the clock was ticking, and I have a few things on my list to accomplish besides hanging on a help line. Bottom line, what got it all going perfectly was the strategy I had forgotten that always works.

Reboot.

This post is being written using my beautiful, new HD monitor and it looks damn good!

*No one at the help desk mentioned that the numbers also appear on the box in which the monitor was packed. I started getting all suspicious of the company that sold me the product. I went into a dark fantasy of this reputable business getting monitors off the back of the truck, having to repack the damn thing and start from square one. Trust me. I was not someone you’d want to be around this afternoon. I would have preferred to toss it out the window and start over. Now that it’s all over, I love my new HD monitor and all is forgiven.