John R Purcell

I have a computer. It is a remarkable device, when it is working properly. It will drive you nuts when it is not, which, is a lot more often than I like. Of all the great inventions of mankind, the computer is most susceptable to problems than any of the others. An automobile can usually be driven thousands of miles without any problems. A refrigerator can operate for years, no problems. The same with a television or an air conditioner. I don't uderstand why computers can't be made to work properly without a problem occurring every couple of days.
I must admit, however, that some of the problems that I have with my computer are due to my own fault sometimes. Recently I had a problem with the audio. Normally I can lsten to music samples on CD's that I may consider buying on the internet but when I tried to lsten to some music recently I could not get any sound from the speakers. There are at least two programs that are available for audio and I spent hours on two different days trying to find the cause of the problem without success. Being quite frustrated about it, I was belaboring my wife with complalints about it when she said, "Doesn't the manual say anything about that?" The manual? What a novel idea, I thought, but I decided to take a look at it anyway. I found the paper work for the computer and came across a booklet on "Troubleshooting and Maintenance Guide".
Listed under the"Table of Contents" was a section titled "Troubleshooting Computer Problems" and the first item on the list was "Audio", page seven. Under the heading of AUDIO were two columns,"Symptoms" and "Possible Solutions"
Under "Symptoms" was "No sound is produced".
Now we were getting somewhere!
Next to it, under "Possible Solutions" was a notation which stated: "Press the mute button on the keyboard to see if the Mute Feature is turned on".
I have been using this keyboard for over a year and I never knew there was a mute botton on the keyboard. Could that be the problem after all? I quickly punched the button and loud, beautiful music blared from the speakers. Problem solved. All I needed was a savvy wife and an instruction manual and I can fix anything.