email me macgeo2345@hotmail.com
read my blogs http:/macgeo1234.blogspot.com
If someone had told me in 2010 that I would be operating a computer in 2011, I would never have believed it. Simply because, being 75 years old in less than a month, I hadn't even wanted to turn one on, let alone operate it. I could not imagine learning a new revised English language especially fabricated for computer use. Why did I buy one? Well, it was a moment of weakness inspired by previous suggestions from my oldest daughter Kim over a period of recent years, that I should think about purchasing a computer to stay in touch with the family. Whenever she would visit me from Canada, she would bring her laptop with her to show me the latest videos and snapshots of my other children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Kim recently recovered from Leukemia treatments and we had just lost her older brother and my son, Allan, to a brain tumor early in 2010. After thinking all our bad luck was over, for a spell at least, I was diagnosed with Prostate cancer. I was scheduled for 44 Radiation treatments on a daily basis. After completing treatments and thinking I was good to go for a few more years, It was discovered I had 4 major blockages in my heart and eventually received 2 operations to correct that as well.
I wasn't really surprised, upset or frightened by this, since I had already been preceded in life by the death of my two oldest sons and always felt, if it was my turn, so be it. Why not me?? Since I sincerely believe there's a God and a life after this one, why not? The whole episode brought me closer to my family and ultimately, that was a good thing.
In planning for the treatments early in 2011, I wondered what I would do with my Idle time.
I always had a "flair for the pen", and having taken courses in letter writing in a past life, I thought about writing things from the past. Just anything, having lived a colorful life,so to speak.
I was in Office Depot in Mt Vernon doing some other business and leaning on the counter while it was being taken care of. As I looked down, I spotted a flyer advertising a laptop computer with $200.00 off the regular price. It was a flash in the pan moment and I bought it.
After I got it home, I announced to my wife, who was already computer friendly with one of her own, what I had foolishly done. She looked at me with a "deer in the headlights" look, we both laughed and she wished me luck and all that. With her computer being of a different kind and her just learning as well, compatibility was at a minimum. My impatience wouldn't help either.
It sat for a couple of months until Kim's next visit. Surprised as all "get out of here!!", she patiently began to show me the basic things needed to learn it. And learn it I tried!!
First of all the lingo was totally foreign to me. Cursor and all that. My cancer treatments began and I busied myself attempting to learn the darn thing. My spelling was suddenly atrocious and It took me the longest time to just write a short note. There were soon to be two cursors involved. one is spelled different.
One day while working for a lady who just happened to be a computer whiz, and made part of her living repairing and programming them, she asked me to bring it by and she would program some shortcuts for me to make it a little easier.
The instant she sat down, she began having trouble typing anything. Her spelling wasn't any better, and after a half hour or so, she bypassed my keyboard with a remote one of her own, to discover my keyboard was faulty and needed replaced. Just my luck, right?? I had purchased a computer with a defective keyboard. No wonder the bad spelling!
The drama continued, because the computer was under warranty, it had to be returned to the manufacturer. Six weeks went by before it was returned and things went back to normal. Lee, the computer lady, reprogrammed it for me and with further patience on her part, I was finally on my way.
With her help, she set up a blogging page for me and I started in. It was therapy for me in more ways than one, and I have enjoyed doing it ever since. It not only causes me to refresh my memory on happenings of the past and brushing up on my English literature, but it allows me to clarify anything I may be dubious about, by just typing in any question on the internet and the answer is right there in front of me.
It's great for blogging because I can express my opinion with facts to back it up. With the few short years I have left, there's little room for falsehoods or misconceptions. Besides, if there are other people reading my blogs, and they can, I want to be telling truth as I have perceived it.
It helps them and me to learn the other side of the story sometimes, I mean no malice to anyone who reads them. Just sayin'.
No comments:
Post a Comment