Out With the Old ...

Okay no I DON'T mean ME!!!  haha

I'm talking about my poor computer.  I've been having some super ugly problems with it lately.  Yes, my 7 year old PC thinks it'll be happier living in a recycling depot.  Tech support has it limping along, but it's so bad I'm afraid to turn it off in case it won't turn on again!

So Santa got me a MAC for Christmas.  But I've always been a PC girl ... with the exception of my very first computer ... my dad bought the Apple II E for the family back in 1980.  I'm pretty sure I was the first kid in school to have a home computer.   

But just because I've been a USER since dinosaurs roamed the earth doesn't mean I know diddley-squat about how these things work.  In truth, technology stresses.me.OUT.  I hyperventilate at the sight of all 4 remotes we need just to operate the tv ... correction FIVE ... since we got the Netflix thing.

Yes, I'm the mom who needed the 6 year old to "go make it so Mama can watch tv" after the kids play Wii.

If you don't believe me, read this.

I mean, even a calculator that does more than the most basic functions is intimidating so you can imagine what having to learn new software does to me.  (My throat is already closing and I think my left eye is starting to twitch.)

(Are you understanding the absolute MIRACLE it is that I blog?!!)

So.  My point - and yes I have one - is that I have no idea how long it will take me to be back online.  I may not miss a beat or I might be gone indefinitely.  Just know that any absence is NOT MY FAULT ... I'm blaming it on ... geez, I don't even know WHO to blame.  I just know it's not me.

Oh, I know.  I blame it on Darth Vader.

And the Klingon Federation. 

And the Cylons. 

I'm sure they ALL have something to do with this ...

PS:  Background fabrics are from Rosalie Quinlan's new line "Folkheart" for Lecien.  Soooooo pretty!

Not Just a Pretty Face

Yesterday I went grocery shopping with my husband.  We never shop for groceries together.  But we really needed them and neither one of us wanted to face the Friday afternoon lineups alone.

While standing in said line he pulled out his blackberry to read my blog post and he's all,

"Dude! A video link?  You made a video?"

And I'm like, "Dude.  YouTube."

The irony becomes clear when you get just how technically incompetent I really am.

After 15 years of marriage it's nice to know I can still surprise him.

Anecdote First, Then Apology

Scene:  Waiting room of a walk-in medical clinic.  It’s been five minutes since the main characters - a mother and her 6 year old daughter - arrived.  Several other really sick people are also waiting and they got in earlier. 

The mother didn’t come prepared for a long wait.  She’s reluctantly reading an old, germy issue of People magazine, trying to enjoy red carpet fashions and decide who looked better in the same dress while attempting to avoid contact with the invisible human debris that is lurking on the pages just waiting to infect her. 

The daughter is becoming restless with boredom.  The mother searches her coat pockets for a cell phone which miraculously a) she has with her and b) isn’t dead.  The mother offers the phone to the daughter who is excited to have something fun to play with instead of the Fisher Price house that’s seen better days.  After a few minutes of playing a game on the cell phone…

Daughter:  Mummy.    Mummy.    MUmmy.

Mother:  Yes?

Daughter:  Can I play with the calculator?

Mother:  What calculator?

Daughter:  The one on your phone.

Mother:  There’s a calculator on my phone?

Daughter:  Yes, right here.  See?

Mother:  (A little surprised, she smiles and gently shaking her head as she admires her daughter’s intelligence.)  Hmm. Whatta ya know.  Sure.

A few minutes of calculating go by.

Daughter:  Mummy.    Mummy.    MUmmy.

Mother:  Mhmmm?

Daughter:  Can I use the camera?

Mother:  What camera?

Daughter:  The one on your phone.

Mother:  There’s a camera on my phone?

Daughter:  Yes, right here.  See?

Mother:  (A little more surprised and slightly concerned at how much more her daughter knows about her phone than she does, she furrows her eyebrows.)  Uh.  Ok.

Several photos later …

Daughter:  Mummy.  Mummy.  MUmmy.

Mother:  What is it, Honey?

Daughter:  Can I video you?

Mother:  You can record video with my phone?

Daughter:  Yes, like this.  See?

Mother:  (Suddenly looks terrified as she realizes she doesn’t even have a ticket for the technology transport that’s leaving the station with her daughter at the helm.)

                              *          *          *          *          *

This story is intended to illustrate my occasional technical ineptitude.  And to help explain that if you tried to subscribe to my blog last week (probably most if not all of you are my closest & dearest friends because I emailed you and begged you to), it wasn’t set up properly.  Sorry ‘bout that.  But it’s working now (see column on right), if you want to try again. 

Between you and me, it’s a miracle I even have this blog.  And I did it all by myself.  Well, except for the several dozen emails to/from the Technical Support Dept, but they just sent me links to videos on how to fix my setup issues … and kindly reassured me a few times that I didn’t need to cry.