Different worlds …

Last week I was having an email conversation with someone I knew years ago in Montreal and have re-connected with on Facebook.

We started off talking about libraries. One thing led to another and libraries led to our shared love of books. Books led to e-books and e-books led to tech and tech led to cursive script, which led to future generations.

Trust me, it made sense. You had to be there.

First she told me about her granddaughter, who’s a junior in University, and all the techie equipment the school expects her to

A rude awakening (kinda) …

Last week I was celebrating the return of my beloved MacBook Air, safely back home after its hard drive transplant.  Being superstitious I’m afraid to jinx it, so let me just say, everything’s going very well.

I think I also mentioned that Jenson, my wonderful tech expert, upgraded my operating system to Yosemite as a surprise.  Very sweet of him because I would have messed it up for sure.  My bad technology karma always seems to

It seems I’ve undergone a metamorphosis …

… or at least turned over a new leaf.  And not a fig leaf either.  I hate to disappointment anyone but despite the drawing this isn’t a post about men and women.  Or sex.  It’s about temptation.  Well, not really, but sort of.  Or resisting temptation.  Sort of, but not really.

A bit of background.

As long as I’ve been earning money I’ve liked gizmos and gadgets.  Well, I’ve probably always liked them.  But it’s only since I’ve been earning my own keep that I could indulge myself and buy them whenever I’ve felt like it.

To be totally honest, “liking” doesn’t really capture it.  It’s more like “I must have that!”  The very

I’m the kiss of death …

Can’t you just see everyone who comes into contact with me, who’s read this headline, slowly backing away?  I can.  Kinda funny, actually.  But they really should have stuck around for the rest of the story, because it only applies to me and technology and electrical appliances.  Humans and animals are safe.  At least as far as I know.

In the last month alone everything I’ve touched has turned to shit.  We had a power outage a few weeks ago.  Not just in my apartment building, in a huge area of Toronto.  Of course it happened the instant I arrived home with six bags of groceries, most of which were perishable.  I live on the 15th floor and had no intention of schlepping those bags up all those stairs.  Not that it would have

My poor brain’s gonna explode!!!

Have you ever taken the time to add up all the flippin’ passwords you’ve had to come up with, and try to remember? Can you believe how complicated they’ve become?  There was a time all you needed was four numbers.  Any four numbers would do.

Most people I know, including me, used the last four digits of a familiar phone number or an address or a birthday.  Something easy.  Something memorable.  And once you had one set of four numbers you could use it for everything, or at least I did.

Even back then the experts warned against it, but I did it anyway.

Over the years it’s become a real pain in the ass.  Before long four numbers weren’t enough.  Passwords had to be at least six numbers.  Then you needed a combination of numbers and

Day 357. Hell No

I’m fine with admitting I wasn’t an early adopter.  My first computer sat, collecting dust, on a typing table in my office for months and months before I finally gave it a try.  Relax, it was 1985.   I’m also the first to admit there are days when I’d like to throw my laptop off the balcony.

But all that aside, make no mistake about it.  I’m addicted.  I could no more live without my computer than fly to the moon.  Well, maybe that’s not such a good example any more.  Richard Branson’s selling seats already.

Doesn’t matter.  I won’t be on that flight.  So the example stands.  And I won’t be giving up my computer any time soon.  Not willingly, anyway.

Which does beg the question, “Why, then, am I bothering to respond to yesterday’s WordPress Daily

Day 48. Low Tech

(sigh). (big sigh).

Every time I think I’m finally getting the hang of it, there’s some kind of a glitch; and I find myself right back where I started: Confused.

I am speaking, of course, about all things technical. Specifically, anything to do with my computer, my router, my printer, the Internet and social media. And, for the purposes of today’s story, make that the trials and tribulations of blogging. Technologically speaking.

If you’re reading my blog for the first time, you may not yet know that my objective is to post something new, every day, for three hundred and sixty-five days. A year, in other words. Some days I find have a lot of ideas. So I write them all up, save them, and publish them sequentially, each new day. This is really helpful for those days when I know I will be too busy to carve off a few hours, to write a post.

This has never been a problem.

Until yesterday.

I wrote and posted Friday’s story, first thing Friday morning. Just as I was about to shut down my computer and have breakfast, an idea came to me. So I wrote it up and saved it, for yesterday. When I was done, I remembered that there was something I wanted to check on LinkedIn. Once there, I noticed that the post I had