by jphilo | Jun 30, 2011 | Daily Life
Sunday afternoon, for the first time ever, I bellied up to the Apple Genius Bar.
Now don’t get the wrong idea, silly. I wasn’t on the genius side of the counter, though I’m flattered by your faulty thinking. No, I was on the side where the ignoramuses sit, the side upon which the rays of genius fall rather than emanate.
So why was I schlepping to the Genius Bar on a sunny June, Sunday afternoon?
Looking for some genius to perform some techie CPR on my MacBook Pro which was dead, dead, dead. I mean really dead. No lights twinkling anywhere. Not even on the power cord. No matter which outlet I plugged into. No matter how much I fiddled with the cord or pushed buttons. Yep, my sweet, little laptop was a goner. Until the genius at the Genius Bar (did I mention the nearest Apple Store is 45 minutes away) plugged it in. Then it started charging like crazy and powered up without a hitch.
Confirmation that I was appropriately seated on the ignoramus side of the Genius Bar.
The genius was really nice about it. He ran some diagnostics to be sure my turncoat of a laptop was functioning properly. It was. And he gave me a new prong thingy for my adaptor cord, since the prongs on the old one were acting funky. So the trip wasn’t a complete waste.
But I don’t think he’s going to recommend I join him on his side of the Genius Bar.
Which is perfectly fine by me. Because the Apple Store was absolutely packed, even on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon in June. Kids working the iPads, iPods, and computers with ease. Geeks in blue shirts patiently showing people our age how a touch screen works. Think Sesame Street and Big Bang Theory meet Grumpy, Old Men and The Golden Girls.
Who would want to work in a place like that anyway?
by jphilo | Aug 20, 2009 | Daily Life
I don’t want to get all gushy about this, but I think the little Skype chats between the web guy and me have become a bonding experience. These days, we talk almost daily – me with my list of new questions about problems I created while working on the Different Dream website assignments he gives, and the web guy with his ready list of answers and solutions for my missteps. He’s either remarkably patient or a glutton for punishment. I’m not sure which.
Without a doubt, he’s a good teacher because I’m actually starting to understand what I’m doing. And, when I log into the admin dashboard, (Don’t I sound all techie throwing around words like admin dashboard? I know lots more techie lingo, so if you need some, let me know.) I no longer feel like throwing up. If that’s not a sign of progress, I don’t know what is.
And yesterday, an amazing thing happened. I figured out how to do something before the web guy did! Please don’t get the idea I’m bragging and don’t hold your breath waiting for it to happen again. But certainly do take heart. If this old technologically-challenged dog can build a website, become a Skypette, and have a video on YouTube, there’s no limit to what you can do.
With that bit of encouragement, I need to stop blogging and log into the Different Dream website again. I have a lot to do before me and my web guy bond via Skype this afternoon.
The way I’m feeling right now, the first thing on the list will be to throw up. Hmm…am I backsliding already?
by jphilo | Aug 18, 2009 | Daily Life
In the past few days, my personality’s been split wide open. Half of me is this woman who lives on the edge of town, swept into a prairie woman persona due to circumstances beyond my control.
Since Friday this half of me has photographed a late summer fawn down by the bridge and scared up oodles of goldfinches, larks and cardinals during morning walks. Neighbors keep thrusting tomatoes, cabbages, zucchini, and fresh eggs at me, so our kitchen is a frenzy of cooking and freezing fresh veggies. And don’t get me started on the five dozen ears of corn we’ll get from our CSA today, along with who knows what else. Not only that, but Saturday our farmer son took us touring through every livestock barn at the State Fair. Pretty much country, don’t you think?
But the other half of me is taking a a crash course in technology under the tutelage of my web designer guy, who happens to be the same age as the former fourth grade students to whom I once taught long division. Now I wouldn’t want to meet all this technology alone in a dark alley, much less use to promote my book. But the web guy insists I have to learn Skype, Gravatar, Twitter, and how to update my own website. He refuses to let up. My only option is to bear down and deliver the goods, an adventure I thought I gave up after my daughter was born 21 years ago. Pretty much techno-savvy, don’t you think?
So here I am, being pulled apart by my inner warring factions: prairie mamma versus technology woman. By the end of the week, if one of the two doesn’t let up, things could get ugly. But if I can lasso both personalities into one cohesive whole again, my website will be up and the freezer will be stocked for the winter.
But for now, I better get a move on. Prairie mamma’s getting nervous with technology woman on a role writing this blog entry. Time to calm my inner granola crunchy without stifling my emerging techno-wizard. Life is so complicated sometimes.
by jphilo | Jul 15, 2009 | Daily Life
If you’re wondering what’s going on with this website, join the club. It has something to do with Mac’s launch of MobileMe: the newer, faster system designed to replace .mac, the system that posts my entries to this blog, along with your comments. The switch started July 12 and things aren’t going well. I was surprised to see yesterday’s post on my website. When I tried to publish the post, I received a message saying an error occurred. So I’ll be optimistic and hope I can publish again today, no matter what kind of message I get!
If you’ve tried posting a comment to previous entries, you already know that’s not working. The very nice and slightly overwhelmed Apple Support lady I spoke to on the phone said they don’t know when things will be working. So hang in there, and enjoy the picture of the pink fairy rose I took at my uncle’s Minnesota farm last weekend.
Also, I’m traveling from July 16 – August 4, and internet access will be poor at best. So keep checking in and look for a big update in early August. In the meantime, I’ll check in when I can.
by jphilo | Mar 19, 2009 | Daily Life
My latest technological leap forward has me wishing for simpler days, for some “old-timey radio music” performed by the Soggy Bottom Boys long before computers, laser printers, drivers and wireless routers made my life so much easier.
The leap began with the switch from an ink jet to laser printer, a good move my more technologically advanced friends said, considering how much printing of rough drafts I do these days. One look at the installation manuel, and I knew the double leap to a wireless laser printer was too much for me.
I spent most of last night confirming what I suspected: the quick and easy installation process was not what it claimed to be. Much of the morning was spent on the phone with a rather snippy, androgynous-sounding member of the Brother support system. By the end of the call, he/she had me feeling like a first grader on the way to the principal’s office (though he/she told me to have a great day), and the printer was still not hooked up.
At that point, I gave up on the wireless installation and followed the quick and easy directions for a USB cable hook-up instead. Those directions lived up to their name, and within seconds I was printing off the crisp, clear copies promised in the promotional literature.
So my leap forward has a happy ending, though the effort exhausted me. I want to take the afternoon off and watch one of my all time favorite movies Oh, Brother Where Art Thou?. But I can’t, because we only have the movie on VHS. At this particular moment, our VCR is disconnected because Hiram ran out of time to put things back together yesterday after he tore everything apart while trying to improve the reception on our TV. The reception’s been horrible since we installed our converter box to keep up with the HD technological leap forward.
Suddenly, I am very, very tired. Dapper Dan, where are you?
