Computers -- UGH!

Can't live with them -- can't live without them!

Oh man, isn't that the truth? We have so many computers in this house that I've lost count. I still haven't gotten used to our main one downstairs, so I don't use it much. My laptop is ancient and locks up, so I switched to Rick's laptop. It was working great. Then recently, it began having problems with the letter "o". If I typed anything with an "e" in it, it was followed by an "o". We figured the o-key was stuck, so Rick took it apart and cleaned it. It continued to do it and then it would just type "ooooooo" nonstop all on its own. It was like it was possessed. I was getting around the problem by attaching a separate keyboard, but then it started up again. As it is now, we're expecting a new keyboard to come today and hopefully it will fix the problem. If so, Rick gets his laptop back because I'm using a new one right now. Yeah, yeah, I know -- spoiled brat I am. Happy Anniversary to me ...

How much do you rely on your computer? Isn't that a scary thought when you think about it? We use them for our bills, banking, photographs, music, shopping, keeping up with friends, reading the news, emails, etc. That doesn't include my writing, which not only includes the actual manuscripts, but the cover letters, queries, address labels, replies from editors, etc. It's unbelievable how much we rely on computers. It's almost like we can't live without them. And, when we want to see something online, we want to see it NOW, regardless if it has to travel all the way across the world. My MIL has a computer, but she's scared to use it. She hears one weird story and thinks all computers are evil. I guess she figures gremlins will come in through her PC and steal her identity and max out her credit cards. She tried to get into computers, but didn't understand them. I used to think she was silly, but sometimes I think she's smarter than the rest of us. Yesterday I had 2 laptops running at the same time and both were having major issues. The frustration was so much that I wanted to toss them both through the window.

Then of course, there's the buying of a new computer, which is enough to send anyone to the nuthouse. You can't buy a new system and have things "the way they used to be" either. The operating systems change too fast and favorite programs no longer are supported. I do a lot of desktop publishing work and used Adobe PageMaker for years. When our main PC died, we had to upgrade from XP to Vista. Well, my version of PageMaker was so old that it can't be added to the new computer. We got In-Design, which is the new version of PageMaker and it's on the main computer. It's more complicated and I haven't had time to learn it. All my work I've been doing on the old laptops using my old PageMaker program. Getting a new computer might sound cool, but now I can't use PageMaker at all. The good thing is that it will force me to learn In-Design. The bad thing is that I will have to make time for it. Not only that, but learning new programs is frustrating, especially if you can use the old versions with your eyes closed. I don't do change very well with some things. I think back and remember the days of typing on a typewriter. The biggest worry was getting the keys stuck or figuring out how to replace the ribbon. It was a thrill to go from that to my word processor where I could actually edit and save things. Now of course, everything is computerized and life is a lot more complicated ...