(Flickr photo by Margot Trudell)

I went computer shopping. Finally. I’ve been putting it off for quite some time because I hate computer shopping. When the space bar on my old computer wouldn’t space without using brute strength, I pressed on and used the brute strength. When the M key insisted on getting stuck whenever I used it, I smiled and patiently deleted the five or six extra Ms stretched across the page. Funny how those problems corrected themselves. I still don’t know how that happened, but it did.

My keys had been losing their identification for quite some time, which was fine. I’ve been typing for around forty years, so I know what they all are. MSB, though, doesn’t. So having the letters worn off the R, S, T, and vowel keys aggravated him. I sympathized and helped him with his typing. When the E totally wore through and left a gaping hole in the key, I considered it par for the course. At least it still worked. When the entire computer got arthritic and slow, I understood. I’m getting arthritic and slow, too.

When the WiFi connector broke, that was the final straw sending this old camel to the store.

I’m not adventurous when it comes to technology. My old computer was a Hewlett Packard, so my new computer is a Hewlett Packard. Silly me, I thought I’d be in familiar territory.

Why do they have to keep messing with things?

There’s a button on the right side–well, it’s not really a button, I guess, more like a scanner. It wants to scan my fingerprint so I don’t ever have to remember my passwords again. Whenever I accidentally graze it, it pops on the screen with it’s little “Try Me, I’m Wonderful!” message. Whenever I sign into one of my sites, it wants to remember my password, but so does some other program that drops out of nowhere and says, “Try Me, I’m Wonderful!”

It has programs that I’ve never seen before, don’t know if I need, and wouldn’t know how to use if I did. And I’m scared to uninstall them because the entire computer may self-destruct if I do.

Sigh.

I’m not going to carry on about all the things that are different. It really isn’t that bad–it’ll just take some adjustments.

I found out–long after I left the store–that there’s such a thing as an Easy Transfer Cord, that will help transfer my pictures and documents from my old computer to my new one, which is a blessing beyond belief. I have to have the same programs on this computer that I have on my old one for the easy transfer to work, which shouldn’t be a problem, with the exception of Open Office. I relied heavily on Open Office because over the years, I came to understand how to work it, something that never happened with Microsoft Word. But guess what? Norton won’t let me download it onto my new computer because Norton doesn’t recognize it or something. So that’s an aggravation. Next aggravation is redeveloping my toolbars. Next one after that is redesigning my email signature through WiseStamp. Next aggravation after that is finding the sites I relied upon so heavily and bookmarking them again.

But the good news is, I can do it from anywhere in the house because the WiFi works, the battery isn’t shot like in my old one (I’d killed it within the first couple of months), and MSB can use the computer without me standing over his shoulder because all the keys are properly labeled. What I would really like to know is how to make this thing last a couple of decades so I don’t have to go through the adjustments every three or four years.

Okay, enough grousing. I don’t even know enough about this thing to make an educated complaint. I guess if I did know enough, I wouldn’t have anything to complain about, right?

So, I’m going to change the subject ~~~

Scroll down and sign up for a free copy of Katie Weiland’s Outlining Your Novel. Holding the drawing for the freebie doesn’t require computer savvie and I should be able to do it without a hitch. I’ll announce the winner next Monday!

Peppermint hugs and candy kisses!