It’s official. You can’t geek and babysit grandchildren at the same time.

All was fine with my Time Machine/Time Capsule set-up – until Airport Utility’s 7.6.1 update. Then, it malfunctioned, leaving me in a state of digital confusion. What to do? What. To. Do?

Update: I also updated Time Capsule’s firmware to 7.6.1.

Plus, I was in grandmother mode here and really couldn’t multi-task with a toddler running around the house.

So, this was the problem. After I updated Airport Utility and Time Capsule, the annoying amber light on my Time Capsule started to flash and flash. What the…?

Plus, my grandson was vying for my attention, So, basically, all hell was breaking lose in my house.

So, I forged on. I had some supper (at least I think I did) and, later that evening, I strolled to the Apple support forums, already rampant with geeks who were experiencing the same problem. The popular suggestion was obvious – simply reset the Time Capsule.

So, after a couple of reset attempts, I did get the Time Capsule up and running, smoothly backing up my data via Time Machine.

However, this time around, I configured the Time Capsule to act as an extension of my regular wireless network. Previous to this, I was using it solely for Time Machine back-ups.

So, something was wrong – the amber light was still flashing! Honestly. When would this end?

I toyed with the idea of calling in a tech person but the idea of someone else in my house after a marathon few days of babysitting one of my grandsons was too much to bear. Plus I didn’t need a patronizing look from a tech coming to rescue a senior citizen in distress. Plus plus – I needed something to blog about!

So, for extra precaution, I hooked up the Time Capsule to my server’s router – just to cover all the bases, so to speak.

Previous to this, it was performing exceptionally well via my wi-fi, but I wanted the security of a wired set-up until I figured out the reason for the flashing amber light.

However, upon doing this, I was receiving messages via Airport Utility that I was not connected to the Internet, didn’t have a valid IP etc., yet, at the same time, all was running smoothly in terms of my Internet and Time Machine back-ups.

So, I detached the Ethernet from my Time Machine(I don’t know why. I just did.), i think, at the time, I thought it was plugged into the wrong slot on the back of Time Machine. Who knows? I was grasping at straws here.

I then plugged it back in and, when I checked Airport Utility this time, I received an error message that frantically had me searching the help menu in Airport Utility. Apparently, my Time Capsule needed to be configured for bridge mode. What’s bridge mode? Time to find out!

I strolled over to the Apple Support Forums to see if this bridge thing was indeed a good thing or not – but not before I checked on the status of my Time Machine back-ups. All was still fine. Good!

Apparently, Time Capsule, when attached to another router, can act as a bridge, if you are not using the Time Capsule as your main base station or router.

So, I care.fu.lly. followed the instructions and activated bridge mode for my Time Capsule and voila! A steady, strong and glowing green light appeared on my Time Capsule! Problem solved!

Now I know why green is my favorite color. It’s the color of nature and money and all good things, the most important being digital harmony.

For the younger geeks this may not have been a biggie, but for little ‘ole senior me, it was. So stop laughing.

In the near future, I will be vacationing in the vicinity of an Apple Store where I know I will be spending a great deal of my time. One is never to old to learn and I want to learn from the best.

I should just camp-out in front of the store. What could go wrong? The Food Court is just upstairs and boasts a Starbucks, so what could be finer?

You know, Apple should just bite the bullet and build iHotels for the truly geeky people in the universe. Or better yet – a retirement home for senior geeks such as myself. Can you imagine? An iHome for golden geeks! One can only dream.

So, anyone else have problems with their Time Machine after the Airport Utility update? Did I miss something? Share your thoughts in the comments section.