Low Tech Girl In A High Tech World

Many of the posts that make up this blog talk about how I have a love-hate relationship with technology. It's true. There are days that I hate technology (such as the day that I put a file on my ebook that I cannot get off, no matter how hard I try) or the day that my cell phone stopped working well and I started getting the runaround from my cell phone company (but that is a whole other post in and of itself). But I must admit, these days I am loving it a little more than I normally do. My husband is in the military and we have been dealing with a posting that has taken him away from the home. Quite far away. Although he is still in the country, the distance makes regular visits home almost impossible. The cost of airfare is high enough that it really is not a viable alternative for a weekend visit. In the past, technology has helped us to stay in touch when he has been deployed and, although spotty and intermittent at best, it was good to know that a message could get through rea...

I am curious how many of us avoid unpleasant things. Unpleasant things that we know we need to do, and will get around to eventually. I know I tend to, although I am trying to get better about it. Confronting things head on, taking the bull by the horns kind of things. I must admit though, this blog post is partially an attempt to avoid doing something unpleasant, and partly an attempt to ease into the work without it being overly painful. Today, one of my work assignments is to write about death, and specifically to produce some sample eulogies. Ick. Death is never a fun topic although I have learned to write about it objectively. I was able to get through writing the articles on grief, on planning funerals, on cremation. But not the eulogies. Having written one this summer for my grandmother, you might think that I would be able to do this quite easily. I did think that there would be no problem whatsoever with me doing this. And yet, today, when I sat down at the keyboard to try and...

For about a year and a half, I have been working out of the house as a freelancer. I have found it to be an interesting experience to say the least. I must admit, I have enjoyed many aspects of this career choice. The first that I have enjoyed is the way it has made me more available to my family. Today the school called because my youngest was sick. Nothing major, but a head cold had made her dizzy and she wanted to come home. Old me would have had to say "no" because I would have been unable to get the day off work (most likely). I have time to deal with school and the Sparks unit I help to run. Sure, it makes me less productive, but it is worth it. The second is that I am doing something I love. It doesn't hurt that it is something that I love doing done in such a way that I am able to work in my pj's. Today, the only reason I got dressed before 4:30 is that my daughter's reading tutor came by for a session. ( note to self: dressed by noon. No exceptions ). How...

Dear Crappy Service Provider As I am writing this letter, I am currently on hold with you awaiting assistance for the problem I am having with my (insert service here). After entering my account information fifteen times, I have managed to make my way to the options menu and been given my options by your peaceful and eternally cheerful artificial assistant. I think that either she or one of her relatives may be named Emily. I have selected my option which is, of course, to speak to a customer service representative. I have been informed that you are experiencing a higher than normal call volume and that I should stay on the line in order to keep my call in priority sequence. Which is what has brought us to our current impasse. Coincidentally, I am calling over lunch and suspect that the message you are broadcasting should actually state "Many of our customer representatives are choosing to take their lunch at this time rather than being online to serve you at a time that is conven...

What a difference an operating system makes. As you may know, I bought a new laptop recently (a blue one). It uses Windows 7. My old computer uses (used?) Windows Vista. Ah well, I thought, what difference does the operating system make? Answer: even if all you are doing is working on word processing and surfing the net (and writing infrequent blog posts), it makes a huge heck of a difference. The problem, I think, is that it is so close to my old one in many ways that the differences really tend to stand out. Oh, but I sure as heck did think that I would love 7. That snap feature, for example. Oh, how great it would be to be able to look back and forth from one document to the next. Ah, yes, it would be. If, for example, either of the documents were large enough to see clearly when I snap them. I tend to find that even with a wide screen monitor my wee aging eyes are not good enough to see text without making it large enough that there is a whole lot of scrolling going on. Up. Down. O...

Sorry kiddo, I think your computer hates me. Because of this, and the fact that it is fighting me on the whole refurbishing process, it may be a little while before it ends up in your room. Okay, so here is the back story to that comment. As you all know, I bought a new computer. My old one (the one that I think may hate me) was just not doing what I needed it to. Remember, I have simple needs when it comes to my computer. So unfortunately, what it wasn't doing was turning on reliably. Now, I may not know computers from a hole in the ground, but I do know that that is a sign that something is wrong. Deeply wrong. The problem is that I don't know how to fix the problem. If I did, likely I would not have gone out and spent cash on a new computer (sorry Gateway, I love you so and I am happy I bought you, but I am cheap). That being said, once I have a reliable computer for work, I am quite happy passing my old one on to my youngest daughter. It's been an uphill battle getting...

Well, I did it. I bought a new laptop. The wisdom of typing that sentence out on my old laptop is somewhat debatable. If you know me, you know that I have a firm belief that computers KNOW when you are planning on replacing them and will do the electronic equivalent of "sulking" which roughly equates to losing data, refusing to turn on and causing all sorts of mayhem. But, if you know me at all, you will have heard the saga of my current laptop. The fact that it will not turn on reliably. The fact that I have been typing enough to wear off the letters on some of the keys. The fact that one of my directional arrow keys fell off and now stares at me from the table beside the couch. If you are my husband, you will have heard this saga on a daily basis, accompanied by much sighing and hand wringing. So, I did it. I bought one. The government was very kind to me this year and as a result of my home-based business, I received enough back from income taxes to pay for a new computer....

The other day, I had a small window pop up on my computer screen courtesy of Apple. They were scanning my computer to see if there were any new software updates that I needed (how very kind of them). This had happened before and so it was not really a surprise when it happened again. A while ago, I blogged that computers were sneaky because they tried to install programs on the sly. A Google toolbar with my Quicktime and so on. Now, they are beginning to be a bit more blatant. I was informed via this lovely little window that while I could originally download a QuickTime update separate from iTunes, that did not seem to be an option any more. According to this window, in order to get a Quicktime update, I had no option but to install iTunes. Now, many people wouldn't think that this was a problem, but I do. Perhaps I am the only person on the planet that does. not. use. a. mac. Or an iPod. Or that glorified doorstop called the iPad. It is not that I think iTunes is a bad program. ...

Yesterday, I was packing my purse (it's a large purse and requires packing) with items to take with me when I took my daughter to her basketball game (see the post about mommy-mobiles). I took a look at what I was putting in, and wondered.... can I still call myself a low tech girl? Contents: 1 BlackBerry (with Internet capability so I can check out assignments that may be available) 1 Sony e-Reader (gotta love it, but not exactly low tech stuff) I look at how much my life has changed. Previously, I would have taken a book (made from actual paper no less), some paper and a pen, so that I could amuse the kids by playing x's and o's or the dot game or hangman, and perhaps some snacks (with my youngest daughter, going out without snacks is a dangerous proposition). It is true that I have slowly come to embrace high tech devices. And, my BlackBerry is great because it allows me to pack the equivalent of a camera, music player, video game system and cellphone in one. This allow...

I never wanted to be one of those moms. The mommy-mobiles. The harried, twitchy women forever gazing at wristwatches and staring at calendars. Oh, don't think that I have anything against what these women do. They let their children take part in a variety of activities. Its great for the kids, I just never wanted to be in the position that the parents are in. Its not as though I can dislike these women, especially since slowly, one activity, club or sports team at a time, I became one. Yes, I am a mommy-mobile. I realized it today as I was taking a lunch break from writing. "Oh," I thought to myself, staring at the calendar, "I guess I can't cook that for dinner tonight. It's Monday and basketball is on Monday. Okay, so tomorrow... no. Tomorrow is Brownies and then there's Guides the next night." Wow. Where did the week go? The monkey wrench this week is that we are expecting house guests. Which means that the standard crazy-day fare of pogos, sou...

Well, Spring has arrived. I am staring out the window at the gloomy gray sky, wondering where the time between January and April has gone. I would like to mention at this point that when the blogs drop off in frequency, that means the bank account is a little happier since I am often bogged down with strange deadlines. This past week has been no different. I tend to work on projects for a number of clients and have deadlines coming at me from many angles. While I enjoy the work, after eight hours a day of writing about toilets, fish recipes, modeling websites and basketball (not all at the same time and not all in that order) I find it difficult to sit at my keyboard and work on a blog entry. Especially not at 12:30 in the morning as I am logging off and heading for bed. My brother in-law once said that you shouldn't do what you love for a living because after awhile, it begins to feel like a job. He was referring to being a professional chef, but it applies here equally well. Whil...

You may be surprised to learn that I think computers are sneaky. Well, their programming is. Sneaky is a word that is normally ascribed to thinking individuals who are capable of underhanded action. So, labeling an artificial intelligence source as having human characteristics may be surprising to many people. But it shouldn't be. We have been anthropomorphizing animals for years, why not computers? Today, I turned on my laptop and was given the option of updating Java. Automatic updating is wonderful for people like me who tend to forget that changes to programming become available on a fairly regular basis. So, when the option came up, I was all for updating. But then, a new message came up. It was quite simple... another installation message. But, tucked into it was the option to install the Yahoo toolbar. In fact, conveniently, the option to do so was already checked so that should I simply click "next" I would be on my way to installing both of them. I have made this...

I work from home. I had a conventional office job (albeit in a creative and interesting environment) and, for reasons that need not be mentioned here, I opted to give it up, drop out of an external paycheck-granting office environment, and work from home. I was ready for many of the usual challenges. Dealing directly with clients for payment, finding said clients in the first place and earning enough money to make it worthwhile and contribute to my family's financial success. For the most part it is going quite well. But there are days when all of a sudden it is noon and then three and I have not been able to finish all of the things that need doing. Today has been a very productive day. I have set up several assignments, answered all of my work related emails and prioritized according to due dates and deadlines. The article writing machine in my head churned out many articles and my output has been quite good. And all before noon. Which is the reason why I have been able to justif...

Today, I have to do a very frightening thing. No, not restock the Tassimo stash. I know, I know, that's probably what you were thinking first but no. I have been quite good and, apart from lacking green tea discs (actually, if I'm going out anyway....) I have been quite good. No. What I need is a printer cartridge. And I know how much it's going to cost me and I am oh so displeased. But I am out of ink. Not just low, OUT. My printer has been bleeping piteously at me for several days and every document is a gamble. But now, alas, there is no more blood in the stone and as I have printing to do, out I go. I am interested in knowing exactly WHAT in that small plastic doohickey (that's technospeak, that is) that is worth forty dollars. Forty. Dollars. Of my hard earned money. And, as some may tell you... that's getting off easy. Years ago, I went shopping for a new printer. Not this one, a predecessor. I walked into a store and asked for an inexpensive printer that woul...

Are you familiar with the saying "be careful what you wish for"? Believe me, I have recently discovered just how true that can be. I wished for, and got, a Tassimo for Christmas. And, I have found out just how addicting single serving hot beverages can be. If you aren't familiar with the Tassimo, let me praise its worth. From tea to coffee, the Tassimo allows you to brew a hot beverage in a very short period of time. You can even make hot chocolate. All it takes is a T-disc which is filled with the dried materials to brew the beverage of your choice. You pop it in the machine and, with the press of a button, it whirs into life and, only a moment later it seems, you are in hot beverage heaven. "Oh," I said to my loving husband, "I just want one. Friends of ours have one and I like the drinks it makes. Not that I think I'll use it a lot. I like plain tea. But it's Christmas and this is the time for frivolous things you can't justify the rest of t...

I originally intended to keep this blog fairly upbeat and positive when first I began to write it. I still do for the most part, but I wanted to take a moment to address an issue which many writers are facing. The issue of getting paid a wage that we can survive on. The written word is an important thing. It could arguably be considered one of the enduring signs of civilization and has helped elevate us out of the general squalor of day-to-day living. Writing, in general, has allowed us to record our history. It permits us to find out what is going on in other parts of the world and keep in touch with our friends and family. It even allows us to escape from the general squalor of day-to-day living by providing us with fictional universes where we can spend a little time now and again. I graduated from college with a diploma in print journalism and, while I have not pursued a career at a newspaper or magazine, I have been keeping an eye on what is happening to the careers of the people ...

It has been some time since last I posted. I have always meant to try and keep this blog up on a regular basis. Okay, a semi-regular basis. But, as many people can understand, life often got in the way. Luckily for my bank account, often I was working and did not have time to update the blog. Other times I had plans and projects on the go which prevented my sitting at the computer to get a post together. But, it is a new year. And, as many people are wont to do at this time of year, I have decided to make some changes. I hesitate to call them "resolutions" since I think that that term automatically leads to apathy and failure come March. I like to think of them as goals. One is to become more organized. The other is to not procrastinate quite as much as I have been. I think they tend to go hand in hand, really. If I am more organized, I will not be able to procrastinate as easily. And that bodes well for many parts of my life from writing to parenting to *ahem* housework. I h...