Apparently my blog has a new look. The world just keeps changing I guess! What is funny is that it sort of ties in with what I was going to talk about, in a kinda sorta way.
So Peter bought a new computer for his office and therefore needed me to transfer all the stuff from the old to the new, etc. It became quite apparent to me while doing this that the old computer was in great shape and certainly had plenty of life left in it, so I decided to give it to my father. This would seem like a fairly innocuous gesture (damn, new set-up doesn't do autocorrect!) perhaps I spelled that innocuous word correctly, but anyway, the gifting of this computer would mean that I would have to teach my father to go from a PC to a Mac. In other words, was I crazy?
I did the transfer of information and the teaching of where it was all located in the new operating system over the weekend with Peter. It amazed me how little he knew of what he did on a daily basis, and I showed him how to do things faster, more streamlined, and yet, he kept asking questions about things that don't really matter. Like why was this particular file (an application) where it was. Honestly, I have been working with computers since the beginning of time (or so it feels sometimes!) and not ONCE have I EVER questioned the location of a file. It's like if I went into an office building and it just drove me INSANE that the receptionists desk was to my right and not to my left. (I use any type of analogy I can come up with to try to point out how ridiculous such comments and concerns are, but thus far no one seems to get it!)
I found it interesting the things that bothered Peter. For example, the original computer I was transferring the files, applications and documents from had been mine. I have always been quite convincing, both at home and for all the years I worked at the newspaper, that it made the MOST sense for me to get whatever new computer we needed and then I would relinquish my older model to whomever it was actually needed a computer. Makes sense, right? No one ever questioned this, including Peter, so whenever he has needed a new one ... well, you get the picture. I like to have the fastest, newest, biggest and best, and no one else has ever really questioned that! LOL But he was getting a new fancy schmancy printer/scanner/copier at his office and needed more oomph, and here is the thing ... I didn't need an upgrade myself! I couldn't have a bigger screen or I would have to go outside to see it, I have plenty of juice for all the applications I need ... I'd hit the top and that last peak just isn't necessary!
So Peter actually got the new computer, but because I used Migration Assistant in transferring files, it also came over on his new computer that I was a User, and an administrative user at that, and well, he doesn't like to see my name in HIS computer!~ He wanted it to be his, and only his. Fine, I assured him that I would delete my pesky name from his computer, but in the meantime, there were more pressing urgent matters ... like getting a PC and a Mac to get along. The big new fancy schmancy printer thingamabobby is PC-run, and Peter wants to be able to share files between that and the Mac.
But I am getting ahead of myself. In the meantime, Peter took his new computer to the office, all set up and ready to go, and I took the older one to my father. I knew there was going to be a learning curve, so I packed clothes in case I needed to overnight it. I made myself completely available to him for a full day so that he could ask any questions he wanted and I could help solve the problems he encountered. Then I left him with tons of sticky notes tacked all over the computer with simple directions and told him to write down any further questions and I would return in a few day's time.
In the meanwhile, Peter asked me to come to his office while the new fancy schmancy thingamabob was being set up in the event the person doing so didn't know how to connect Macs and PC.s (He didn't.) But the actual set-up took hours, and I wasn't able to work on connectivity until it was getting late and we still had other things to do, so I said I would figure it out another time because he could still print, scan and copy files from the mac and vice versa using a thumb drive, and really, that isn't the end of the world in the interim. BUT ... before I left, could I PLEASE do something about my user name being in there, it was DRIVING HIM CRAZY!
OMG. Seriously?
So I removed it from all the directories I could find, but you see, these people, and when I use that term I refer to my father and husband, are obsessed with SEEKING OUT THE THINGS THAT DRIVE THEM INSANE. I just don't get this. I taught myself how to program computers, I taught myself how to desktop publish, I taught myself how to use PhotoShop, I taught myself how to use Excel, which is no easy feat I might add (to use as a database), certainly not as easy as true programming, and never for a single solitary second, not even a brief, passing millisecond, did it ever occur to me to give a damn about something that didn't keep me from doing what I needed to do. Never. So I just don't get it.
I can address problems and I do my best to solve them. But those actions are secondary to the fact that I won't be as bothered by these non-essential things as they are! In fact, the fact that I have come across this issue twice in the same week has left me most curious. Is it the male brain?
I returned to my father's domicile and addressed the list of questions he had. They were fairly simple and I spelled it out for him (literally) so he could access the answers at any time. But there were a few things driving him crazy. One of them? MY NAME was in the computer, why was that. Seriously? Do people not like my name? LOL
Oh. And there were icons on the dock that he didn't understand. I tried to explain that when you open an application, it seats an icon on the dock so that you are aware that you have that particular application open. If it drove him nuts, then he could close it. I gave him examples, but then the printer icon popped up and he exclaimed SEE, like that one, why is it there? I calmly explained that it was because he was printing a document. Will it go away he wanted to know. Yes, but if not, he could close it. Why did he have to close it?
You can see that in my head I am screaming WHY THE HELL DOES IT MATTER? But I calmly and clearly state that he doesn't HAVE to close it, but since it appears to be BOTHERING him, closing it seems the most appropriate thing to do since ignoring it doesn't seem to be an option.
Both my husband and my father are most curious as to why I don't do something with computers as a job, (you know, because I obviously NEED a job since I have so much time to help them!) And when I was watching the guy set up the thingamabob for Peter, I even gave him a few pointers to make things quicker ... so it's not as though I couldn't. But I will tell you why. It is because computers are easy, but it's the PEOPLE I can't deal with! My brain doesn't seem to work the way others do ... and anything you do with computers is insanely frustrating because sometimes one thing will work perfectly and then the next time you go to do it, it won't. That isn't logical, but you can't deal with great amounts of information without the knowledge that it will try to beat you down in one way or another. To me, it is a challenge, but what if I spent my time asking WHY such and such happened? You just can't. If you want to know what I am talking about, use any complicated software for even the most simplest of tasks, and then try to do the same thing again using the same method. There is no guarantee that it will work. In fact, I bet it won't! I am not talking about opening and closing files, either. I will work for hours and hours and hours to solve a problem, build a database, try to format a document (that is hell no matter how you slice it!) and not let any of the things that could push the average person over the edge bother me. So you can see why the most silliest of things bothering someone seems just ludicrous to me. Maybe it's because I know too much? I don't know. But the bottom line is, I have no patience in explaining the same things over and over and over only to have someone ask me why my name is in the computer. Huh?
But having spent a full week doing computer-related things, I did realize I enjoy it. Not the people part, no way no how, but trying to figure out how to get Mac and PC to play is fun and challenging because I don't think anyone really knows for sure! Oh yes, there are directions on how to do this and do that, but that doesn't mean it will work. Very often you will have to do the opposite of the directions. But I get that. It's always been that way with computers. They are illogically logical. Or at least software is. And I started to think, is it because when programmers are writing code, they do what I used to do, and copy and paste large chunks of already written code and then modify that to do what you wanted it to do. Because that makes sense, in an illogically logical type of way, that software is so much more complicated than it has to be, and it would make sense if it was trying to do something to a certain point, then it runs into another piece of code that sends it off in another direction. I was never sure which parts to get rid of (and since it worked, why bother) but think about this happening to a huge degree. Well, obviously most people don't even know what the hell I am talking about, and a computer programmer would say she has no idea what she is talking about ... yeah, whatever. And therein lies the problem. LOL
So as I was thinking about what it would be that I could do that would incorporate my interest in computer-related things, I went to Trader Joe's to buy food and the check-out woman was talking to another employee about the raw food diet. She looked at me and said, I know, you have no idea what I am talking about, and I said, actually, I do. And she tried to catch me up on it, asking if I had a juicer (yes) and then she said, well, my excalibur is on order. And I said I have one, don't use it very much, but my favorite recipes are kale and onion bread. Oh, she said, you really do know what you are talking about. (Why would I lie?) I explained that I had taken a very expensive course on it, but had concluded that while I could find a lot of benefits to it, ultimately I had determined that eating an almost strict organic diet (she had noted that everything I had bought was organic) of lean meats and vegetables and fruits, no processed foods and now no wheat was where I was at now. At this point she had called the other employee over and they were both asking me questions. The other person behind me in line also started asking things, and there was nothing they asked that I didn't know about. You should be teaching about this stuff, the woman told me, and it just cracked me up. I do NOT WANT TO BE A TEACHER! I have no patience for people not getting it immediately, and while I had no problem answering all of their questions, what would drive me nuts if I was supposedly teaching and advising them would be the fact that they would continue on with their normal eating patterns no matter what I said.
I don't want a job, so afterwards, as I was driving, I pondered exactly what the universe was trying to say. I still don't know, but it was a very clear message in that I got it, and when you have that feeling of knowing, it definitely means something.
Right now it is about chickens ... I feel strongly that this is going to be a lesson I need to learn, whatever it is and for whatever reason. And maybe somehow all these things will tie together in a much more coherent manner than it is now. But the only thing I know for sure is that I have no control. Oh, and that having my name on this computer doesn't bother me one bit!!!
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