SPINNING THROUGH TECHNOLOGY &
TRICKERY
In the last few weeks, adventures in livingness were spent troubleshooting a new laptop. The fourteen-year-old HP frame separated from the screen, the keyboard frame had a crack, copy and paste didn’t work, and something else I can’t recall.
As a born stubborn ( I think it thickened like my midriff) I continued to manage working and watching films with a screen at a 30 degree angle. I was in the middle of a film when the screen suddenly mutated into abstract forms with Chinese text scrawled, moving along.
The next day I chose an HP with a smaller screen (rationing dollars). When it arrived, I discovered the screen was too small, the speakers were muffled, and the text was overlapping when searching.
Back to browsing for a replacement. You’ve figured out that I am not an alpha beast, more like a bee buzzing around all the choices, reading reviews comparing Ram and something new called Razen.
The replacement arrived the next day. Yes, big screen for a writer, and sensitive eyeballs.
Four hours setting up 2-step verification, passwords, scanning codes, and formatting. I called my tech helper, and he walked me through a few steps,
” I can’t find my docs on the desktop.”
” What are the other choices in the drop-down?”
” Personal folder, home, gallery, and PC.”
” Look in personal folder,”
” There they are, all of them! How does that even happen?”
” Technology, now, if you want, I can email a link and get into your laptop, and we can go through the programs you’re not familiar with.”
” Evan, my eyes are bleeding. I need a break.”
” Of course, there is a lot to manage, that’s fine. Why don’t you navigate some on your own, and when you hit a wall, make a list of your questions. How does that sound?”
” Perfect. We also have to delete everything
from the HP I bought and am returning.”
“I can do that.”
“You’re better than the HP!”
After a recess, I sat down and spent another four hours pushing through all the windows to see what was behind. What threw me is it did not come with MS Word! A writer without Word is like a musician without an instrument.
Obstacles seem to follow me from one task to another. The last few weeks were with PODS. My furniture, and all that other stuff, is in NY waiting for an address. Now I have one, so I started the process to transport. PODS added $850.00 to my originally agreed price because the drop-off point is eight miles from the original, and without prior notification, they charged my account. Over the past two weeks, I sent four emails. Then I recieved a response that they would honor the original agreed price. Another week passed, no credit. I sent a message to Corporate Headquarters, and today, I received an email that PODs would credit my account for the overage.
I remembered what I learned and took legal action against the mortgage servicer on my home in NY for mortgage misconduct. After three years of legal research, consulting every NY financial agency and mortgage consultants, I retained an expensive attorney, and two years later, it paid off.
Trickery is sneaking into every window in our lives. Put up your defensive drapes and fight it out.
I
ADVENTURERS IN LIVINGNESS 