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Wednesday 30 April 2014

Once upon a time


Photo from Google images
Once upon a time, not so long ago, an elderly lady decided to purchase a portable computer since she enjoyed keeping in touch with her friends by e-mail and writing her memoirs too and fancied a laptop which she could use in the kitchen, in the garden or the conservatory or elsewhere rather than being tied to the desktop computer which she had heretofore shared with the little old man who was her husband.  Now this old lady was never one to rush into things especially the purchase of something quite expensive so she thought about it a great deal before going to a shop and making enquiries.  Sadly the young man in the department which sold computers and such like spoke a language she didn't understand and she left the store saying to herself that she really didn't need such a thing and perhaps a new pen and some notepaper might be a better bet for someone like her.

Some months later however she was in another store and egged on by her husband she spoke with a delightful young woman who actually talked in a language which she could understand and although, as I said, not one to rush into buying anything she said that she'd give it some more thought and come back tomorrow - which she duly did.  However not only was the young lady not there that day but the computer which had been more or less decided upon was not now in stock at that branch although another branch not far away had several.  Once again the old lady wondered if this was a sign that she should put her credit card safely back in her purse and forget about having a computer of her own.

However encouraged by the old man they went to the other branch where they did indeed have several of the make and model she wanted but they would not be able to set it up for her which the young lady had told her could be done for an extra £30 and which she had wanted done thinking that it would be really "hers" if she didn't have to ask anyone to help her get started..  So yet again she said, "Let's forget the whole idea" whereupon the young man obviously scenting a lost sale dashed off and spoke to the technical manager who said that they could do it but just not straight away since their own computer system was "down" but since the old lady didn't need it straight away, and indeed didn't need it at all, she agreed that it could be sent to her when it was "done".  She naively thought that it would be all set up and ready to go just needing to be switched on and had indeed said this to the man who said that the virus checker and the Word program (plus a couple of others she'd never use - she did wonder why these programs couldn't be sold individually and not in packages as she knew she'd never use Excel but might have liked Publisher) would be installed and ready to use. The lady felt guilty when she left the shop having paid with her credit card for the computer she still wasn't sure she truly wanted especially when she saw the numerous homeless people begging on the pavements outside for how many hot meals would the cost of a computer buy even though she knew that she probably wouldn't have given that amount to the homeless anyway. 

Eventually the parcel arrived and she attempted to figure out how to use the machine.  Of course it didn't have the necessary program for downloading her photos even had she been able to figure out just where to plug in the camera!  Neither did it link to the wifi system at her home, it didn't have Firefox which she was used to but only Explorer which she wasn't.  The Word program was quite different to the one she was used to not to mention the integrated mouse being difficult to use.  Not being a very patient sort of person she became so frustrated and cross that she turned it off and shoved it in a cupboard in a fit of pique saying she wished she'd never bought the stupid thing, that life was too short to spend messing about with it and that she'd get rid of it unless the old man wanted it.

A few weeks passed and she often lay awake at night thinking about the computer and wondering why she had been silly enough to buy it being too stupid to understand the first thing about it and how to load all the necessary stuff on to it without help.  Why was it that it seemed everyone else knew all these things and why was technology of any kind such a mystery to her?  One day she came home earlier than expected from an outing to find the old man playing with her new toy and loading the required things onto to it but she still wasn't interested and didn't want anything more to do with it - how childish for an old lady to behave in such a way!

During these passing weeks the old lady felt as if she was under some kind of cloud and although the computer wasn't the only problem life was putting her way at this time she somehow blamed all the other things on it.  She was, let's face it, a bit afraid of the thing - it lurked in the cupboard like some menacing beast which might attack her should she open the cupboard door.  Of course this situation couldn't go on for ever for after all her motto for life was "waste not want not" and surely it was wasteful to have the thing not used especially as by now the credit card bill had been paid.  So one day when the sun was shining and she was feeling more positive about things she decided that she must take the bull by the horns - a very apt metaphor - and attempt to make use of it now she'd got it.

It would be nice to be able to say that she has now trained the beast but sadly that is not true and she still gets frustrated with it as she can't do some of the things she wanted to do and still wishes she hadn't bought it but at least now that the old man has given her a normal mouse to go with it she can use it to write although as yet she hasn't found out how to print what she writes!  And at least when the elderly couple want to watch a TV programme they have missed on i-player they can sit comfortably on the settee and watch it on the laptop rather than perched on stools in front of the desktop computer.

One good thing to come from all this was that feeling so fed up with technology altogether and thinking that she was obviously born in the wrong century and how much simpler (not easier for of course life was hard and is still hard at times for everyone) life would have been a hundred years ago she gave up using the desk top computer too or at least not as often did she check her e-mails or look at blogs or the internet and she realises just how much time - which she surely has much less of now that she is almost 70 - she was wasting on what had become an addiction or OCD  and how much better it is to spend time outside in the fresh air with Nature.  But sometimes she does miss all that writing and maybe one day she will be back posting if only she can find a balance and keep the time she spends on the thing to a more acceptable level and if she can actually tame the beast to work for instead of against her!

24 comments:

  1. Yes, yes, yes.
    I have decided that I'm too old fr technology. It can just pass me by.

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  2. hang in there jane! the more you use it, the more familiar it will become, and you will feel comfortable with it again. Your laptop is a window on the whole world, it would be a shame to leave the curtains closed!!

    Leanne x

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    1. I'm with Leanne here Jane. What a shame you don't have a techno whiz to call on for a little help. I'll send Tony over, he has become a bit of a computer nerd.

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  3. I sympathise, I don't think it has anything to do with age as I'm flummoxed as well! There has been many a day I have almost thrown my computer out of the window. But I want all the good things it can offer, so if there isn't anyone I can ask, I resort to asking google - someone somewhere can help and little by little it gets easier. Antonia x

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  4. I am so with you here ......... I am useless at most things to do with computers - my lovely husband gave me an iPad for Christmas - and it was a complete surprise because we don't normally give presents!!!! I have been struggling ever since BUT we are on holiday in the Scottish isles at the mo and he is sitting listening to the radio ( Chelsea are playing) so boy am I pleased I have my iPad to play with!!!! Xxxx

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  5. Oh technology drives me nuts. Enjoy the outdoors instead I say! But do come back and write here sometimes, I do love to read your posts.

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  6. I'm no use with computers but happily I'm married to someone who is:) I limit the time I spend on it though as I'd rather be actually doing things than be glued to a computer all the time.

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  7. Technology makes me feel stupid too but it's worth struggling to tame the beast --- don't give up!

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  8. Technology can be so frustrating! I feel your pain. I so wish I was just around the corner so I could pop over and help your become acquainted with your new toy and not have it banished to the cupboard. It takes a bit of time and quite a good dose of patience, but i am certain you'll come to enjoy your new little toy. I felt the exact same frustration with my iPad, but almost three years later I some days think I couldn't live without it. I loved your post, your writing is always such a joy to read. I do hope you come back often. Have a lovely day, Louise.

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  9. I had hoped from your absence that you were ok and not ill. Sorry to hear about your battle with technology, I love your post. You are right about computers being a drain on time they can get that way can't they, it is sometimes hard to find that balance. I hope you do find time to write the odd post as I enjoy reading them :)

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  10. Jane please don't abandon your laptop, your writing is a joy and would be sadly missed. But you have my sympathy. I need a new printer and have put it off for over a year, putting up with smudged prints and no decent photos. Will have to bite the bullet as the ink is running out and I promised myself I wouldn't buy ink for the old one. However it's not quite as big a purchase as a laptop.

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  11. Technology is both wonderful and a curse at the same time and in equal measures! Don't give up with it though, in a few months you'll have it under control and I'm glad you're back in the blogging world?

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  12. Persevere ... please ... don't give up. I am constantly frustrated by technology but do love how it gives access to so many exciting things and lets me be in touch with the rest of the world. M x

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  13. Hey, you've written some wonderful posts in your time but this is truly wonderful. I sympathise with the dilemma but this is so witty and clever Jane. A tour de force. I shall be grinning from ear to ear all night. x

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  14. Lovely lovely post, Jane! And I empathise with every word! L.xxx

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  15. Enjoyed reading your post. It is nice to see the old age things. Now a days many things have come in advance but still we can't forget the old ones!

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  16. I had on several occasions sat on the phone with a teckkie person who didn't speak my language well enough to understand and me with tears running down my cheeks.....Until We found a very competent young man in town who came to our house and fixed and repaired and explained until we were able to do it all and do it easily...he's worth his weight in gold!

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  17. How frustrating for you! I love my old desktop computer with printer but alas it is dying. I was bought a hudl hand held device for my Birthday. I am trying to get used to it but much prefer using my full size keyboard and mouse! Nice to hear from you Jane. x

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  18. oh, I know how the elderly lady feels! I know a lady a bit younger than her who has a KINDLE that at the present, she cannot use even though she has WiFI... she taps on the 'connect' tab and it says it is unable to connect! She has tried this over and over, turning off her router and turning it back on, turning 'Airplane Mode' on and off, and yet, still no Internet for her KINDLE, even though she is right next to the router! I think she's going to just let it go until she can get some sort of computer expert to stop by and figure it out for her.

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  19. I could have written this blog, it so mirrors my own frustration with a laptop I bought nearly a year ago and still struggling with it, just hate windows 8, but my desktop is dying and on XP so I will have to get a grip. You don't even get an instruction book like you do with an oven or washing machine, it is all gooblygook to me so I do feel for you. Enjoy the glorious weather and come back when it is raining. Sandra.

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  20. Spot on about laptops!
    I've only used mine a few times, last month. I took over a week to turn it on. The instructions are so horrible, the maker should be ashamed.
    Finally, its working. Until. I'm asked to sign into something that takes over all the settings. Now, no access until I log into that account. Laptops suck big time. Unless...you have an Apple laptop. I don't.

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  21. Oh I had that type writer, it was what I learned on. Makes me feel ancient.

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  22. Oh don't give up. I, too, am almost seventy and last year I went out on my own to buy this new laptop (!) and I love it. If you need to find out how to do things, go to You Tube, there are a great many 'how to' videos there, you'll soon pick it up.

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  23. I do understand the appeal of more downtime ... I have been indulging in more of that myself. But - and this is easy for me to say I know, because I am much younger than you are - persevering with these computermabobs brings it's own pleasures I find. I have learnt to do all sorts of things with mine because I am far too bloody minded to be beaten by the thing. I do hope yours can be beaten into submission too because your words will be missed :)

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