Unrealistic Expectations

Love.  There are people who love their computers.  They proudly carry their little MacBooks and Netbooks wherever they go.  There were over a half-a-dozen at last night’s meeting of the Lake Erie Moose Society, our blogger group.  I do not share their affection for all things high tech in general, or for computers in particular. 

I don’t have a love/hate relationship with computers.  I’m closer to tolerate/hate.  I view the computer, that black box on my desk, the dusty keyboard, and the lovely flat screen as a tool.  I expect it to function, like a hammer or a screwdriver, every time I use it.  True, computers are more like automobiles than hand tools, but I can’t help myself.  I just expect the damn thing to work every time.

You know that’s not going to happen.

I was switched from Outlook Express to Outlook three secretaries ago.  I did not move without a fight and the transition was less than smooth.  I confess that the participants were a large part of the problem.  It took awhile, but I adjusted.  Until today.

My Outlook is totally screwed up.  I’ve got an email with a large attachment stuck in my Outbox.  Microsoft’s online trouble-shooter had four ways to solve this rare problem.  I tried options 1 and 2.  My secretary’s attempt at option 3 has made all of my extra folders disappear.  We can’t get rid of the email and its attachment breeched in my Outbox, but we were able to eliminate several hundred emails that encapsulated my two terms as president of the Beachwood Chamber of Commerce and my last, and most interesting, divorce of 2005-2006.

Agitated?  You betcha.

Looking for a distraction, needing a way to clear my head, I escaped to Facebook.  That didn’t help.  Today was my day to get switched to the newest, least useful, version of Facebook.  Goodbye LiveFeed.  So long friends who disappear for hours at a time.  It got to be so frustrating I went back to retackle Outlook.

Big mistake.

This is, of course, no time to discuss impenetrable insurance company websites.  Outlook to Facebook to Anthem.  Repeat.  My blood pressure was spiking.

I hope to have someone in tomorrow to make this ferchackta machine work.  I  have become painfully aware of how often I scan and email documents both for my insurance business and for the chamber.  I’m currently dead in the water.  Worse, I just can’t grasp the cause of the problem or what can be done to resolve the issue.

I can’t imagine ever loving my computer.  It seems like I would just be setting myself up for disappointment.  That, and it would make my pen jealous.

DAVE

One more thought – A nice dinner, a trip to the whirlpool, and a CAVS win have all contributed to the relative calm of this post.  Right now I’m watching Jon Stewart spar with Newt Gingrich on the Daily Show.  For those of you who might be tempted, Mr. Gingrich will be in Akron next Wednesday as part of his “No Innuendo Left Unspoken Tour”.