Preparing my Computer for Turkey

I keep telling myself that I can survive anything for one year as long as I have some way to communicate with family and friends...email, IM, Facebook, Google Chat, Skype, etc. And, according to my contract, I will have internet in my apartment.

But then yesterday, I realized my computer has been taking minutes (sometimes up to five) to boot up, and the new "critical update" from Windows took over 8 hours to download. OK, so I'm not the quickest, brightest, sharpest middle-aged computer techie on the block, but something in the back of my mind told me that 8 hours was just a little long for an update, even though it was defined as "critical". It occurred to me that I might actually have some problems with my computer.

Now, I could have called my son or son-in-law for assistance, but I figured it was time for me to learn how to solve my own computer problems. So I packed up my laptop and power cord and drove to Best Buy. There, I talked to my very own "Geek" from the "Geek Squad". After defining my computer as being "slow" (not to be derogatory, but for lack of any better vocabulary to define the problem) I paid my Geek $99 defrag my computer and clean off my temporary files. Actually, it was embarrassing because I think my son could have done the same thing for free (or a cold beer). But for a mere $99 I got someone to actually show me how to defrag and clean (just the sound of those words makes me feel techier). So, I think I got my money's worth. Here's hoping my new found skills work in Turkey. If not, I hope they have a "Geek Squad"!