So we rushed my poor, wet,sticky computer down to the Computer Man who did strange things with an air compressor & got it up & running again but he warned us it's life was limited. The fan was no longer working properly so it was overheating. It's little brain got muddled so it shut down when I was in the middle of things. The CD thingy went AWOL. Still for most of what I needed it for it worked & that made me happy. I'm not hard to please when it comes to these things.
However the Computer Man warned that eventually we would be forced to update & when we did we would be using windows 8. He's the Computer Man. He understands these things. He went to a lot of trouble to show me exactly how windows 8 worked. I flipped. I am not a techno nerd. I prayed that Ol' Faithful would continue to limp along indefinitely.
Then Carols Night I went to upload from my camera & inadvertently put the wrong end of the lead into the computer outlet & suddenly I had no computer. Nothing. Zippo. Zip, Zilch. Nado. I have done exactly the same thing scores of times & nothing so extreme has ever happened.
When John realised I had no computer he flipped. Not because he had to find the money to buy another one but because without my own computer I have to borrow his. This is not good news from his point of view! He is even less techno savvy than I am & dislikes any changes at all happening on his computer ~ even something so simple as someone checking their emails. *sigh*
There is nothing John likes so much as mounting his white charger & hastening to rescue his maiden in distress so he was on his computer before I could say *jacky*, checking all the specials, comparing & contrasting, while anxiously aware I am fussy about what I get. Eventually he had narrowed it down to 2 computers & called me over for consultation. Sadly I was less than gracious. Whatever I got was going to have windows 8 & the thought of having to relearn everything I thought I knew about computers horrified me. However I dutifully looked at both computers & pointed out my preference though ASUS is no longer in the medium range cost wise because they make a seriously good computer.
I believe the buying of the computer was more than a little fraught because the young salesman thought he had a pair of gullible oldies who would buy whatever he recommended. I was singing in town with Cait so this unenvious chore fell to John & his mum, neither of whom are particularly gullible & did not appreciate being treated like fools. I came home to a big brown carboard box & a man who was seriously pleased with himself while I eyed that box with serious misgivings. Cait, on the other hand, was thrilled to bits & asked permission to play. Given gladly!
She put it all together for me, down loaded everything I needed downloaded, showed me how it all worked & assured me I was smart enough to adjust. Hmmm. With some caution I proceeded. The lack of a top toolbar is a pain ~ but negotiable. I have no real idea where my photos & documents are stored ~ but I have managed to find them again. I have played & won all the levels of Mahjong in all 4 backgrounds. In fact I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. As you do. Then on Monday night I went to make myself a cuppa & when I got back all I had was a blank screen & the cursor chasing itself! Nothing I did made the least difference so I borrowed John's computer & googled. Oh. My. This is, apparently, a windows 8 quirk. I tried a couple of the suggestions but the computer screen remained frustratingly blank. I could have cried. Less than a week & I was once again computerless with what looked like being a recurring problem.
Tuesday morning [yes, Christmas Eve] I rang the number thoughtfully provided by the makers of Windows 8 for people like me who experience difficulties & have no idea what to do. Hold down the start button for 6 seconds I was told. 1 Mississippi...2 Mississippi...Voila! Well, that was easy! How embarrassing!
So what do I really think? I had Windows XP when it came out & that was a fantastic working tool for nerds like me who spend a lot of time using Documents. Nothing I've used since has even come close. In fact computers have become toys for grown~ups. I am adjusting ~ seeing as I have no choice ~ with John anxiously breathing down my neck because he wants me to iron out all the quirks before he too has to upgrade & relearn everything I've taught him. Long may his old computer run!
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