After the blog about phone technology, I had to get into computer technology.
I use Questrade for all our investment needs and they have a great desktop app called IQ Edge. The problem is that it was designed for Windows computers, not MacBooks. It runs fairly well on a Mac but has a few issues I ran into a few times.
Most apps can’t be moved above the top edge of the screen; not so with Edge. While in Mexico I pushed it up above the top and had a heck of a time getting it back again. The menu bar is at the top so how was I supposed to use it? I prayed to the great Google in the sky with no results. After the usual incantations containing many expletives, I finally figured it out.
A few weeks ago I ran into the same problem again; this time I wasn’t so lucky in resolving the problem. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember how I solved the problem last time. There was a reminder note somewhere that chose not to be found. I sent an email to Questrade and received a prompt reply asking all the usual questions like: did I reboot, did I close it out properly, is the screen clean, are you seeing things, are you stupid, etc, etc. I had already done all this as well as reinstalling the darn thing to no avail.
There were several more emails back and forth but I think they were as stumped as I was. I even threatened to pull our account and go back to BMO. Eventually, they sent me the number of their Techie department. I knew they couldn’t lose a big account like ours ( yeah right.) I, however, could see this problem continuing so I came up with my own solution.
I contemplated returning to BMO but it would have cost a lot more in the long run. Also, I remembered the hassles I had with them before, and I think the problem was with my computer and not their end.
So what did I do? I went out and bought another computer on Facebook Marketplace. It was an Asus with a 15 1/2″ screen and a solid-state hard drive. Nice! The guy selling it looked very respectable so I made him an offer that he promptly refused. (If only he owned a horse. Godfather part one.) The only drawback was that it only worked while plugged in. That was not an issue so I coughed up the money and went home.
There was a problem setting up the WiFi as our password was hiding somewhere. I eventually found it, downloaded the app, installed it and held my breath. It worked perfectly! I was so excited that I logged in and made yet another bad investment.