THE iMac GRAY SCREEN OF DEATH (extra entry)

“And heal the sick that are therein...” (from Luke 10:9)

I usually post entries on this blog on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings, but I just thought I’d share one “interesting” thing that happened this weekend.

I know that what I’m writing here may sound like a real “dis” of Apple computers.  I know that most P.C. users love to hear negative stories about Apple computers and to smugly let “Mac people” know that they’re among the 95% of computer users who DON’T use Apple products.  Before you get too smug, do be reminded that 98% of all computer viruses DO NOT affect Apple computers at all and that overall Macs are outstanding computers.

There IS one occasional annoyance (“crisis” is a better word) that can befall Apple computers.  It admittedly can make a lover of Mac computers feel as embarrassed as a New England Patriots fan feels this weekend over the loss to Miami.  (The Patriots could be a topic for another day...while I’m usually not a big athletic or sports person, an exception is the Patriots- I love the Patriots.)  Anyway, the annoyance is what some Mac geeks call “The gray screen of death”.  You go to turn on your Mac computer...all that appears on the screen for about two minutes is light gray...after about two minutes, the screen turns purple/blue. Then, in the center of the screen, a small icon appears flashing a question mark.  When that happens- be afraid- be very afraid.

Our home iMac computer was purchased in the Autumn of 2001.  When it was almost a year old,  “the gray screen of death” thing happened.  No matter what we did...even following all the steps in the manual...we could not get rid of the gray screen and subsequent purple/blue flashing question mark.  My wife put the computer in for service.  Thank God we were still under the warranty, but the word was bleak.  The hard drive was essentially fried.  We pretty much lost everything.  The computer was in the shop for around ten days.  At that time, we purchased an extended warranty.  In the Autumn of 2004, just three weeks shy of the extended warranty running out, “the gray screen of death” thing happened again.  Once again, the computer went in the shop for about ten days.  We pretty much lost everything.  It was VERY upsetting for our family.  My wife was told that had the repair NOT been under warranty, it would have cost over $500.

This past Saturday night around 7, I turned on the iMac, and what to my wondering eyes did appear?  Yes, “the gray screen of death” followed by the purple/blue screen and the flashing question mark.  If I had a weak heart, I may have had a heart attack.  I’m embarrassed to admit this, but when “the gray screen of death” appeared on Saturday night I was struck with incredible sadness.  I think I’d rather have had food poisoning and had the computer be O.K.  Holiday time for us is a very tight financial time.  There is no money to repair the computer right now, let alone buy a new one.  Going on-line at home and writing my blog is one of the most “fun” things I do.  On a more serious note, my son is a serious writer and has some important work stored on the iMac.  We’ve all built sizable pop music libraries on iTunes.

I got the iMac turned off.  I called for my 20-year-old daughter Rachel who was home for the weekend from college and the only other person home at the time.  She was certainly as sad as I was, but she had a whole lot more faith than I did.  Rachel prayed that God would work a miracle and that I could get the computer turned on.  I tried and IT CAME ON NORMALLY!  (In the past we would try and try and try and...nothing.)  I cannot tell you how happy I was to have the iMac back!

Well, we have not turned it off since!  It will sleep, but we ain’t turnin’ it off!  

P.S.   I just noticed that my AOL blog “counter” messed up for like the 4th time since last February.  It says this blog has only been logged onto 3 times since February!  It’s more like 3003 times, but, well, here we go again, computers, ya gotta love ‘em...