Technology

We put together my old computer when I was doing real estate appraisals. That makes it at least 7 years ago, because that's when I changed jobs. So, probably 2 or 3 years before that. It was, at the time, top of the line, if not a "name brand." It had the then-enormous amount of 256 mb of memory--needed because of the graphics programs I was running for the appraisals. We owned a computer repair company at that point, and the foreign-born techs from our company who built it for me assured me that it was wayyyyyy overpowered, especially for a woman.

Fast forward to 2007. Neither of the two USB ports work, and really only one of them ever did. But who cared, back then? What in the world would "woman" do with more than one USB port? So, when the working port failed, no more printer. And it makes these odd noises. The semi-spouse believes that it has to do with overheating, but the fact is, it starts to make the noise, sort of like a repetitive ooh-a-ooh-a-ooh, almost immediately. At other times, it might go days before making the noise.

New computer needed. The semi-spouse, long away from the technology world, still thinks it's overpowered and I'm overreacting. I finally stopped talking to him about it, and just began plotting to get a new one. I decided on a notebook, with wireless capability, not because I think I'm going to be running around the country with it, but to give me some flexibility.

Well, I've had it almost a month, and this is the second time I've used it. Jake set it up for me, which was a big mistake because something doesn't work right and, since I didn't set it up myself, I don't know what it is. I think it's an incompatibility between the wireless router and the external modem supplied by my internet company, but I'm damned if I can figure it out.

And to top it all off, it's Windows VISTA, which probably means that none of my programs from my old computer will work anyway. Hmmm....another f'ing growth experience.

And it hasn't been a great month for technology. Let's take it in order:

(1) computer - 'nuff said

(2) new digital camera - maybe I'll figure it out eventually, but I haven't yet.

(3) my daughter gave me her Bluetooth device for my cellphone. I couldn't make them recognize each other, but one of the guys at work got it to work in about 2 minutes. What was I doing wrong? No clue

(4) forgot about the portable DVD that Jake gave me for Valentine's Day. I managed to play one DVD on it, but now I've got it hooked up to the auxiliary battery and can't unhook it.

(5) our TIVO died--Direct TV brought a new box and a new remote. I can't figure out how to record with the new remote. What's the point of a TIVO if you can't record?

(6) finally, we went to Virginia this weekend and I drove K's Suburban. Was baffled by both the air conditioning and the GPS, and never even attempted the DVD player or the satellite radio. What a waste!

At one point, I would have asked "is it the technology or is it me?" Now, I guess I know the answer.