A computer day

My new computer absorbed my day. Pretty much I got along okay with it--better than I expected. But there were problems: email is not bringing up my address list, though the university tech resources people did call, take control of my computer, and install Outlook for which I am everlastingly grateful. Still can't figure out how to save a file in Dropbox--which will be a big problem in a week when I start to do the neighborhood newsletter.
I have joined the computer wars--is Windows 8 as bad as they say? Not really, and I'm trying to get used to it. Jamie installed Windows 7 too, so that's a help. But I figure I should get used to 8. I'm sure there are shortcuts I haven't discovered, but my big accomplishment for the day was to write a guest blog post for a fellow author. But it seems every time I do something I have to close out that program and go back and start over, whereas with Windows 7 I could keep several things open. The touch screen is great--but I don't use it much because I work on a monitor. The screen saver on the monitor is a picture of six of my seven grandchildren--so large that it's fuzzy--and I feel them staring at me. Oops, just discovered a new problem--I can't upload a picture. The upload button takes me to Outlooks which is not where my pictures are stored. I can get to some pictures--arranged in I don't know what order--but not to the pictures files in my computer, where pictures are sorted and arranged in labeled files. You'll have to take my word for it--it's disconcerting to see six faces staring at me, some smiling, some looking concerned, as I sit at my desk. But, hey, this is day one. I figure I'll work all those bugs out--sooner rather than later, I hope.
The new phones are great. They call out who's calling. At lunch, when I had guests, the phone boomed, "Burton. Christian." I wondered why my son-in-law was calling but it turned out to be my daughter. She came over and was delighted with the huge monitor because she could look at pictures of Jacob from the camp.
Just now I hit something and I have this post on half the screen and half the picture on the other part. Not sure what to do without losing what I've written. But I figure a learning process is inevitable. Meantime I may ask for help on the Sisters in Crime Guppies list.
I'm ready to give it up for the day and read A Little Night Murder, the newest Blackbird Sisters Mystery from Nancy Martin.

The excitement and fright of a new computer

After two hours in Best Buy with my second son and oldest granddaughter, I am the proud owner of a new computer, a  new remote monitor, keyboard and mouse, a subscription to Microsoft Office, and a new landline telephone. Best Buy is their favorite store and they are like two happy children cavorting around in there. Jamie looks at this one, then that one, then decides on one, then changes his mind. Wants me to judge which weight is better, which keyboard. I finally sorted out my priorities--keyboard matters when I travel and don't have a remote keyboard; weight is less important because the difference is small. We've been so preoccupied with the computer, no one has even looked at the phone--have to figure that out later. I must say Jamie has been absorbed all afternoon--I have had a nap and kind of been a casual onlooker--I have no idea how to transfer files, etc. And, frankly, the idea scares me--what if some deathless piece of prose doesn't make it to the new computer. So far, apparently, everything has been transferred to the new Lenovo except my email, which is causing great angst and may well take someone from TCU to figure it out. But of course no one is there on a Saturday.
Jamie was out the door this morning at 5:30 to bike and ride--30 miles and six. I know he's tired, and I've urged him to quit. But he says "just one more time." I wish I could be more helpful."
But there's a plus. I've had the company of some of my favorite people today. And I'm so grateful to Jamie for doing this. When he's really frustrated about the email he says, "I'm not a computer guy, not a tecchie." Unfortunately, his brother-in-law who is a computer consultant by trade is in Hawaii--which is another story. Now I have to worry about children and grandchildren in stormy Hawaii.
And Jacob, who had a wonderful day at football scrimmage at Baylor and met players and the coach, leaves for a week at camp tomorrow. Sometimes it's all too much change to comprehend, but I figure being flexible about change is on way to keep young. On the other hand, not sure I wanted to keep young by learning Windows 8.