UP AND RUNNING (SORT OF)

I am attached to a seven year old computer who has given as much as taken through the years. It has suffered from hiccups on occasion, as we too have suffered. It has awakened in a black mood now and then, and haven’t we all? It has even decided I was on its hate list and refused to listen to wiser heads. But through it all, it has performed graciously.

Ingrate that I am however, I parked him in a rear closet and bought a new and unfamiliar model. Things were perking along famously for a week or so, though certain programs were gone forever or drastically misplaced. Suddenly without warning, it refused to open, and once opened, it refused to close.

My homesick button craved the return of the old silent computer, so the new one went back to the store with regrets. Thinking it might be beneficial to diagnose the old fellow, he paid a visit to the computer doctor where everything checked out fine.

Settling down to work, I discovered the diagnosis had removed my browser. Now a car cannot operate without gas, and a computer performs better with a browser. It has been a week trying to get the old one back with no success.

I’ll keep you posted.

THE TECHNOLOGY OF RECAPTURE

Sunset in San Juan Islands photo by KSR

Two weeks ago I was typing away, minding my own business, decided to empty my recycle bin, and suddenly with no warning, over 4,300 files slipped rapidly away in front of my eyes. What did I do to deserve this? Not even the clever tech people could say what happened, but they were smart enough to fetch it back; for a price. The only things worthwhile to me were Art records, so yes, it was worth it to me.

The computer came home clean, with all 4300 files home again, this time in incomprehensible computer language. Being a determined woman of a certain age, I muddled my way through all of them and now life is again running along as it should be.

Among much-loved photos, I found this one of a sailboat at sunset, taken one evening several years ago in the Canadian San Juan Islands. We had pulled into a small secluded cove and dropped anchor for the night. Shortly afterwards this boat pulled in with the same idea and as the sun was setting, presented this lovely scene. A friend aboard with us, unwrapped his bugle and gave a tender rendition of “Taps” to end a perfect day of sailing.

I RARELY END UP WHERE I WAS INTENDING TO GO

Sitting here in my breakfast room, savoring a second cuppa, Charlie is impatiently waiting for the morning walk. He’s always in it for himself, the tail wag and lopsided grin are a red herring covering up his real opinion of us. The mornings are so cold we use the excuse that it will chill his feet if he goes out before the sun warms the road. I have spent the past few days getting into the 2015 mindset, like most other people; putting away the Christmas finery, and putting the house back into its normal condition.

The holidays were great, with family arriving for a Danish Christmas feast on the 22nd. I had made several Danish dishes, such as frikadeller, a meal patty, a ton of cookies, and a number of side dishes. The decorations went low-key this year, suitable for a country-style celebration. Santa and his sleigh ran down the center of the long table, with an army of nutcrackers at his rear, and a hand carved farm scene on the buffet.

Unfortunately, I awoke that morning with an ugly eye infection which took us to the ER. I have become quite friendly with the staff there, as 2014 took me there to celebrate my birthday. They even wrote “Happy Birthday” on the large schedule board in the room to make me feel at home. You can’t ask for more. But this eye infection was so bad the resident ER doctor sent me to the ophthalmologist in the afternoon, just as the party was to begin. Fortunately our two daughters are expert party-givers, so they took over while we were gone. Now that’s the way to give a party!

I gave Dr. Advice an iPad for Christmas, even though he is not computer literate (yet). The battery function seemed slow so we took it to the Apple store, which is a most interesting operation. First of all, if the product is so wonderful, why are there so many people waiting in line for hours to get them fixed? You obtain an appointment online, but when you arrive, there are great numbers of people seemingly with the same appointment.

Once fixed, I was asked to put in his ID and password, which was a good idea, except I forgot to bring the paper I wrote it on. After spending 3 hours to get that far, we left and went out for lunch.

I never make New Year’s Resolutions because I would break them by January 2nd, but to those who do make them, good luck. We all need a certain amount of introspection if only to make us try harder.

The weather has warmed, my coffee has cooled, and Charlie is still doing his Jack Russell best to go for his walk. See you later.

PLEASE DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO

“Does Anybody Really Know What Time It is?” original sculpture & installation by KSR

In case you haven’t noticed, the world is changing around us, and doing so as we speak. A new faster must-have gadget comes on the market hourly. I’m sick of having to learn something new every week or so.

We have a new 55 inch TV in the family room which replaced a perfectly good 50″ one. The small TV in the kitchen gave up the ghost, so we went to the store to replace it, but came home with two new TV’s. Dr. Advice is ecstatic. The big one does things we don’t even need. It has a button that says “Smart” with a picture of a little house. It connects with an HD receiver, and the DVI to the HDMI connection. It connects to your mobile phone. You can even have a Magic Remote control. I don’t know what that is. We have 4-5 remote controls we can never find when needed now. They control Blu-Ray, VHS, surround sound, receiver, and something else I can’t remember. And the ironic thing about it that we don’t really watch TV! We watch PBS and movies. We get all the important stuff from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and the lousy local rag. We suffer from information overload. I know this sounds dinosaurish, but one of the pluses of maturity is that your own collection of grey cells contains more than you will ever use in the way of information. The best thing about all of this is that none of it talks to you.

****************************************************************************************************

Everyone around me seems to have the latest edition of computer, Smartphones, or whatever, and many of them talk to you. I don’t want a machine telling me what to do. My dear son-in-law was my guru and go-to guy for whatever was new in the tech world. I didn’t need a talking cellphone or computer. My current cell phone calls in and calls out. That’s all I need it to do. Two of our grandchildren, aware of his store of knowledge had a secret saying whenever things could or might go wrong, “WWUDD?” Which meant: “What would uncle Dick do?”

He was in on the birth of modern technology forty plus years ago, and knew what made them all tick inside and out. Everyone over the age of 50 needs to keep friends at least 20 years younger. Better yet, if you get stuck, call a seven year old. Several nights ago a group of intelligent 40-60 year olds, had trouble removing something from the screen of an iPhone. Our seven year old great-granddaughter took it and after one touch of her finger, she calmly handed it back and said “There ya go.” As she turned away she muttered “I can’t believe you didn’t know how to do that!” One of life’s embarrassing moments.

**************************************************************************************************

Several years ago, grocery stores began offering the option of “Self-Serve” stations, so that you can slip your card in and check out your own groceries by clicking the appropriate space on the lighted screen. If you make a mistake, it throws a fit and tells you to call for help. Once that’s done, you place the already checked items on a lower platform and continue. If you place anything, even a paper bag on the platform too the machine yells loudly to get it OFF! When through checking, you click “Finish and Pay”. It refuses to move until you tell them if you brought your own bag. After you’re through it yells “Please remove your groceries!” in a frantic voice. Heck, I haven’t even had time to put my wallet back in my purse.

The annoying voice on my GPS when we take a direction she didn’t tell us to, disgustedly tells us that she is “Relocating!” Sometimes we change directions just to tick her off.

All of which says “please don’t tell me what to do”! I like to make my own mistakes and discoveries thank you. Better yet, try making things simpler like the old “on-off” button our radios used to have, and we won’t need an instruction manual for every new thing you invent each week.