Anyway, that little tidbit stuck with him for a couple months, and then he realized that I may be able to help him with something other than computers.

It turns out, this customer’s wife had grown up listening to an old album of French Christmas Carols.  It was one of those things that defined The Holidays when she was younger, and by now it had been years since she’d actually heard that record, but the memory of it haunted her every year.  As soon as Thanksgiving passed, the wistful yearning for the definitive Christmas Music of her youth returned, but after years of searching, it looked like this was one album that would never be found again.

Well, her husband had a hunch that if it did exist somewhere, I was the one person who could find it…  And sure enough, about an hour after the call came in, I’d tracked down a copy that claimed to be in good condition!  He was ecstatic – until he clicked on the link and saw that it was, like the one his wife fell in love with years ago, on a 12″ vinyl record…  and like most people in the 21st century, they lacked the ability to play it.

Enter the TS4A Vinyl to CD Transfer Service!  I had him order the record, then bring it to me.  I still maintain a small production studio with a DJ Quality Turntable, so it wasn’t much work to load the record into the computer and start cleaning it up.  A short while later, I was burning a CD that sounded cleaner than the original vinyl, and would play in their home and car stereos, transfer to her mp3 player, and be hers for years to come!  Christmas will sound like Christmas again!

End Result:  Another highly satisfied customer…  And that’s our favorite kind here at TS4A!  =)

But I’ll be honest here…  Tech Services 4 All has nowhere near the buying power of Costco or other big box retailers, so in many cases, they’ll beat us on price.  So if your Top Technical Gift this year came from somewhere that hands you three feet of register tape as a receipt, we won’t hold it against you… But if you want help hooking it up, we would love to pick up that half of the job!  And from now through the end of the year, you can pre-purchase TS4A Technician Time, by the hour, at 25% off the regular price – just $75 per hour as opposed to the everyday price of $99 per hour.

Unlike many other operations, when you buy an hour of time from Tech Services 4 All, we’re yours for the hour, and will happily work on as many troubled tech toys as you can throw at us, for the one flat rate.  Some of our more socially challenged competitors charge a set fee for each item, which means setting up your computer, securing your wireless network, and sharing your printer to the rest of your home would incur three separate charges, each in the neighborhood of our Gift Certificate price – and unless something’s gone seriously wrong, we can easily do all three of those tasks quickly enough that you can have us set up wireless syncing for your Zune HD while we’re at it!

Spread the word – we’re out to cover the Greater Tacoma Area with Affordable Computer Services at Agreeable Prices!  Oh, and by “Greater Tacoma Area”, we’re talking Fircrest, University Place, Puyallup, Gig Harbor, Federal Way, Auburn, Fife, Milton, Graham…  And of course, Tacoma!  Think you may be too far away for us?  Probably Not!  Click Here to send us an email and prepare to be surprised!

Tech Services 4 All – Your LOCAL Source for Computer Services!

First off, to clear up any future accusations that I’m trying to unfairly dissuade anyone from doing it, there are indeed tools that can remotely diagnose problems, remove malware, and similar tasks.  It’s true.  But while it’s true, I don’t recommend it as your first line of PC Maintenance, and here’s why…

I got a call a few days ago from a customer on our Maintenance Plan whose PC picked up a nasty virus.  I went in remotely, identified what was going on, and ran the tool I always use to clear up the infection.  Everything seemed to go well, until the end of the removal process, when the PC needed to restart.  It wouldn’t.  I tried every method available to reboot the machine, but it would not shut down.  So I called the owner, and said that if they forced a shutdown and restart, everything should be better.

It wasn’t.

The startup routine gets as far as the Windows XP logo, then shuts down and starts over.  Endlessly.  And since it never actually started back up, I was unable to reach it from across the Internet.  Fortunately, I WAS able to pick it up and take it back to the shop, where an in depth diagnosis and repair is currently underway.

If she had gone to one of these websites, she would suddenly find herself in the same situation, only not having any idea of what to do next.  And when she did find someone to take a look at it, there would be a lot of forensics needing to be done, to figure out what happened…  I was really glad to be able to provide personal service, and step in to recover a potentially disastrous situation.

Oh, and as an added bonus to this story, she’s also an online backups customer, so all her crucial data has been restored to a second computer so she can still work while the main unit is in the shop!

Palm Pre - Official Cell Phone of Tech Services 4 All!

This is my favorite, out of all the phones I’ve ever had. Windows Mobile phones, BlackBerry phones, the Samsung Instinct and its miserable sibling, the Instinct S-30… This little Pre blows them all away!

Often when I’m out working on location with a client, they’ll see the phone and ask what it is… Then they usually want to see a quick rundown of what all it can do…

And then they get disappointed when they hear that it’s only available on Sprint. That’s too bad really, because at least here in the NorthWest, Sprint has an absolutely top-notch network! I’ve been in the Sprint family for several years now, and there are occasional deadspots, but no more than any other carrier. And Sprint’s data network came out on top in a recent PC-World article that took a nationwide look at mobile data networks.

The next time you’re due for a new cell phone, I highly encourage you to head over to a Sprint store and check out the Pre. It’s an amazing little phone that still has lots of untapped potential set to be unleashed by future, free, software updates!

Plus, you can have the smug satisfaction that comes from using the official cell phone of Tech Services 4 All!

Once again, thank you to all those who came out to Fircrest Park this weekend, and strolled over to Booth #14, home to Tech Services 4 All!

We had a great time meeting you, talking to you, answering questions, and yes, giving away a great little Netbook!  We also learned a lot of things, both from the experience and from the people we talked to.  I’ll be sharing some of the stories in the days to come, so keep your eye on the blog – you may see your story retold here!

For the last time, just to make it clear, Daniel and I had a great time working the Fun Days Festival, and we’re looking forward to re-connecting with everyone who left us their contact information.  Although it was our first time hosting a booth in a street fair, it was also, without a doubt, our best time ever!