Thursday, June 17, 2010

new trechnology

OK, so I am not a big fan of new technology. Some of you knew that, and others I am sure could guess. Last night a friend gave me a new(ish) laptop. It is smaller and more lightweight than the big gray beast that I am typing this on now. It has cool political/sexual outlaw stickers on it. He loaded all kinds of necessary things onto it for me. Got me set up on a new gmail account, switched my email over from the old Outlook Express to gmail, did all the things I am rumored to need done to boldly step into the 21st century, and it was all very exciting.

Only there's a hitch.

Setting things up, he asked "so, what's your password for this account?"

"Password?"

"Yeah. You have a password."

"Oh. (long pause) Are you sure?"

See, my brain is filled with lots of important things, and is unable to remember passwords. For even 60 seconds, it seems.

OK, it wants you to re-enter your password.

I forget it.

What?

I forget it.

But you just made it and typed it in.

I know. But I can't remember what I made it.

~facepalm~

yeah.

You see, my head is filled with other things. Things like studs go 16 inches on center and it is important for things to be plumb and level and square and how to make them those things if they aren't and how to work around it if they refuse, how to measure and cut irregular trapezoids out of sheetrock to fit in a particular space and where the plumbers need to put vent pipes and how many holes the electrician will need to drill in my firewall and song lyrics to every hit record from the 1970s. And 1980s. And a fair number from the 1960s and 1990s, too. And all those little words at the top of the Budweiser label.

That's what's clogging up my brain. And somehow, I cannot dislodge any of it to make enough room to store a few passwords. Like to facebook. And to this blogger account. Oh, it will send my password to my Yahoo! account. Only I don't use my Ya-hell account any more and have no idea -- you guessed it! -- what my password is to get into it.

Sigh.

I have tried all of the normal passwords that I use for such things. I had them all written down on a sticky note once, but have not seen it in ages. I am screwed. I wish I could just plug this computer into that computer and transfer all of the data I want from old to new.

It is a given, of course, that the friend who helped me out with all of this is younger than I. That's fine. But it is frustrating that I am unable to master a thing. I used to be the one to do that stuff. I was the one "old people" asked to hook up stereos and electronics and such. Only with computers, I am out of my league. I am the "old person" now. I have not a clue what happens inside these things. I only know I want to turn it on and go where I want -- much like when I get in a motor vehicle. Turn the key, put it in drive and GO! I do not have to me a mechanic to drive my car. I should not have to be a software engineer to check my damned email or make a new blog post. Grr.

Anyway, that's my grumble for today. I am hoping that I can get this thing figured out, even if it means I have to resort to old-school technology and actually CALL some kind of customer support place to get it straightened around. Wish me luck. And as always, thank you for your patience.


11 comments:

AndyC said...

Right, yeah, I can do computers. I have been doing computers for a long time. My dad had an old IBM in the late eighties/early nineties. I learned dos coding on that machine. I get computers, and they usually get me. I don't know that it's totally a generational thing - I really think it's just a geek thing. My dad does the same stuff with computers that I do, and he's older than you by almost 10 years.

But you? You can decide you need a shelf in your house, go outside, get a piece of wood, cut it to the right size, find the studs in your wall, and hang it so it's level. in about 20 minutes.

It took me almost 3 hours to put together a prefab bookshelf the other night, and it's still sort of not right.

You should remember passwords, though. seriously. that's horrifying. No excuse.

Ghost Rider said...

If you use firefox I can probably help you get your pwds. Let me know.

AndyC said...

She uses google chrome.

msladyDeborah said...

Take it from a mature lady. The next time you're out and see a notebook on sale-buy it. Place it wherever you work and write your account names and passwords in it.
Believe me, it helps and you can keep track of your stuff. I paid 75cents for the one I'm using right now. The book does not leave the house and whenI need it i just pick it and flip to the page.

Anonymous said...

Dawn--We enjoy what you write a terrific lot. But why, oh why, if you're not using your computer to transact matters of state or balancing BP's cleanup budget do you need passwords for? Hmmm.... I don't think Bin Laden's fellas will be connecting any time soon. Use the same password all the time, if you must use one. Here take this one: noquinnno or dykeameye or debisgreat

Problem solved.

Ghost Rider said...

Google Chrome might have the same feature. Catch me over the weekend sometime and I can do a walk through of it.

unmitigated me said...

Always sue the same one, but with a catch. Take the first initial of the name of the site: B for blogger, or Y for yahoo, and add it as a capital to the beginning of the password.

Bdawnza10
Ydawnza10

I am way too old to remember anything else...

AndyC said...

ghost rider: don't worry, I got it all figured out. all the passwords are reset to something easy to remember.

Jen said...

I'd laugh, but I have a notebook with all my passwords and GOD HELP ME if that thing ever gets lost or stolen. That happens and I'm going Luddite for sure; I don't have it in me to recover from that.
Glad AndyC got it figured out for you. :)

AndyC said...

Jen, I suggest you save that post it to a file on your computer, or maybe on a flash drive that you keep on a key chain. Or something.

Ghost Rider said...

Cool beans =)