SMASH it with a hammer...

I’m no technology wiz, but I have always been interested in “new shiny things.” And, since I have always tried to live by the motto of “Opening Doors”, I am usually willing to try something new – at least once. But like most folks I have my preferred tech choices and we get used to how they work.  A comfort level is established. I know what is going to show up when I boot up the laptop. I can find the settings on my phone and make changes with relative certainty. The other day I figured out how to add SiriusXM to the Sonos – yeah!

But then there are days….

Earlier this week, my laptop decided to do an update. (After working with some really smart tech guys for a while I am always leery when this occurs.) Hitting the start button, I quickly realized that I had entered another dimension – where things were not the same, even though they sort of looked like it. But I wasn’t fooled. My icons were missing, the photo of my grandchildren was hidden behind a screen – I could barely see their beautiful faces. Big blocks of color crowded the screen. AAAACKK! Where was my desktop with all my files? I took a deep breath – and started clicking.

I won’t bore you with the details, but I did eventually find a way to see my email (which I of course can deal with on my phone, so that really wasn’t a help.) It quickly became apparent that frustration with the inability to work the way I normally do was going to outweigh being productive at all. I sent an urgent message to a friend of mine – HELP! My computer has entered a parallel universe! – and decided to go get some errands done. At least I could be productive on that end of my life.

Nope. Got in the car and the SiriusXM decided to do an update to the channel list. Okay, no biggie. I headed on my merry way waiting for the screen to say !00% updated. It did. But there was silence. I started pushing buttons (you see a pattern here?) All my presets were gone! And this isn’t the first time this has happened. AAAARRRGGGHHH!  Technology was conspiring against me. There was nowhere to hide!

I took a breath. Laughed at myself and remembered the sign that hangs on my office wall - If it’s not fatal, it’s no big deal. I could reset the presets. If I didn’t get to every email it was okay. And all I had to do was wait until the following day when my friend could take a look at the laptop. (He did and with two clicks all was right with the world again. And he showed me what to do if it happens again.)

Disconnected from all things that ring, ping, and click for the rest of the day - it was an incredibly productive afternoon. I recharged my batteries. Perhaps put things in a little better perspective. Just because my technology wasn’t working, didn’t mean that I couldn’t still think. I grabbed paper and pen, jotting down notes for my class, ideas for my clients. Gave my sister a call. Perused some cookbooks. Then I sat in a comfy chair and read a book.

Today, I’m back on the computer, getting things done. And I know that the next time I have a technology-trying day (and there will be a next time, we all know that) I will laugh first, then breathe, and then try not to “smash it with a hammer.”