Thursday, July 8, 2010




The Terrible Tales of a Technophobe


Don’t you just hate them? Well, maybe hate is too strong a word. Resent might be a better one.

I’m talking about those people who can turn on their computer and get it right, first time. No problems. No hassle. No fuss.

Or maybe a friend shows you what to do on their computer. Looks so simple, yeah?. Uh uh. You can’t wait to go home and try it on yours. But just you wait. What worked on theirs, doesn’t work on yours.

In fact, it’s got so bad now, that even I end up laughing at myself. I expect it to go wrong, and so it does.

When I sign up for a course that tells me what I’m supposed to do, and follow instructions to the letter, my computer is the one that never plays ball. There’s always a different response to what is expected and the course convenor ends up signing me up manually. I just hope and pray that nothing ever goes wrong because I wouldn’t know how to get back.

Surely, the way to stop bothering friends and family and learn from the bottom up is to buy the Word Book for Dummies. That will help me get over the many problems technophobes must endure. Won’t it?

Well, I brought the book that would turn all my computer dreams into reality, confident that all the hassles of compterdom were behind me.

But oh no. Nothing that simple for you, my girl. You see, I never got the response from my friendly PC that the book said I would, no matter how many times I went back to the beginning and started again. Did I miss something? A vital point? You already know the answer to that.

Maybe it’s a conspiracy by the powers that be, and they are having a laugh at my expense.

And take something as simple as this blog. It will be fun to join my chapter sisters in a mutual blog, won’t it? Please?

Uh uh. Problem from the word go. So if you are reading this sad tale, it’s thanks to Mona and her step-by-step, handy-hold instructions that I got it right.
I hope.

8 comments:

Mona Risk said...

My poor Jean, your post is so touching and so funny. Many of us share the problems and are hassled by their unfriendly PC. Just ask Ginny. Believe I had the same problem, but I am lucky to have computer tech guru at home who knows he won't eat dinner if the computer is not running smoothly.

JACLYN DI BONA said...

OKAY,

TRYING AGAIN. GOT KICKED OFF THE FIRST TRY.

JEAN,
DON'T FEEL BAD. WE'VE ALL GONE THROUGH WHAT YOU HAVE. AND STILL GOING THROUGH. LIKE MONA, I HAVE MY OWN GURU HERE AT HOME. HE GRUMBLES ALOT BUT HELPS. I HAVE MORE BOOKS ON FOR DUMMIES AND HAVE FOUND SOME QUITE USEFUL.
UNLIKE MONA, MY GURU WON'T HELP UNTIL AFTER HE'S FED...:-)
JACLYN

Jill James said...

I'm so sorry for all these woes. I learned a long time ago my computer has a mind of its own. Somedays it will go to a place on the internet and somedays it won't. My tech guru is better at building the computer than making it work right, but between us we sometimes get it right.

Anonymous said...

Nice blog, Jean.

Aahh! There is nothing like knowing you aren't alone in some unlikely endeavor. It's with pure unadulterated wisdom that the computer companies do not issue a Louisville Slugger with their product. Think of landfills all over the USA and everywhere else that would be littered with broken computer body parts. Still, is it fair to blame the computer? It's only as good as its user and we all know how good that is. (sigh) I wish I had a computer guru to go to, but I left them all behind in California. Woe is me.

Ginny

GINNY said...

Hi,

I can't believe my comments actually made it to this blog. But how do I get from Anonymous to my own name? I know I don't want to pick Open ID because it gives me choices I don't understand. So I picked Anonymous. Now I shall pick Name/URL and see what happens. Maybe someday I'll know how to run this little critter who has a strangle hold around my neck. Aaarrggghhhhh!!!!!!

Ginny

Paisley Kirkpatrick said...

I feel your pain. Luckily for me I have a son-in-law who has a degree in computers. He even has the ability to work on my computer from his computer in a different city. It's amazing, but lately I have been mastering some of the difficulties on my own. The first thing out of my hubby's mouth when I do something on the computer on my own is "WOW you didn't even cry."

Don't give up. I had trouble getting on this blog as well and still mess up. Luckily Mona is very patient and we will get this figured out one of these days. Keep the faith.

Mona Risk said...

YEAH!!! I see Jaclyn and Ginny. Yeah, Ginny came TWICE. Hurray!!!
Slowly but surely, that';s how I lost weight. Very very slowly. But surely!!!

Josie said...

Excellent post, Jean. Know that you are not the only one struggling to keep up with technology.