This morning I needed to see a piece of data that would only run in Windows Media Player. So, I fired up my trusty Parallels app which then launched Windows Vista. I don’t use Vista very much at all, so it had been a couple of weeks since Vista was last run on my Macbook. So, it wanted to download a bunch of updates. Unfortunately, I let that happen. A bit later I had to reboot Vista. When it came back up, it said I was running an illegal version and that I needed to “validate.” Exiting or validating were the only options, so I elected to validate which promptly said that I was running a duplicate version of the key, and that I only limited functionality would be available. And limited it was! So, I went to get some customer service. Microsoft won’t talk to you anymore for free. If I wanted to talk with Microsoft, I had to pony up $59.00. Otherwise I could post a question on one of the forums and hope that someone (who wouldn’t be Microsoft) would respond. I spent the $59 and got connected with a woman in India. She started an app which I allowed to take over my computer and she went through a number of steps, including two reboots, to revalidate my installation. It now works again … and proves once more how much I don’t think of Microsoft customer service. But then, Apple isn’t any better. If I want phone support I can either pay for it by the drink or sign up for AppleCare for $249 for three years. I long for the days of quality customer support!

After blowing two hours getting Vista to work again, we drove to Soda Springs for the rest of the day. My favorite brother Perry and his wife Chris were visiting there from Green River, Wyoming. A couple of weeks ago Perry scored a deal on some used computers, so we bought two. One of them will be mother and dad’s new computer replacing their Windows 98 computer they bought about six years ago. The other computer I’ll use here to replace an old Pentium II computer that works as my email and domain naming services server.

So, we loaded the operating system (Windows XP!) and the necessary device drivers on their new computer. I’ll migrate their data from the old computer after they get back home from Christmas. Mother is very happy to have a new computer with a nice flat-panel screen. I’m happy to get them moved into a more modern setup where I’ll be able to support them from home.

We had a great visit with Perry and Chris and mother and dad. They’re still driving through some fairly bad weather back to Green River, Wyoming. The wind is blowing pretty hard and the snow is really drifting. They’ll be happy to be home for sure.

So what are up to over Christmas? We’re picking up mother and dad on Monday morning and dropping them off at my sister Terry’s place in Farr West, Utah. We’ll continue on south to North Salt Lake and stay with Heather and her family through Thursday morning. Then we’ll pick up mother and dad and take them back home to Soda Springs. That will be our Christmas and I’m looking forward to the time off. Merry Christmas!