Good-byes and computer stories

Amanda, Tom, Nova and Roger are heading home this morning. Along with all the other joys of this holiday, we've had perfect weather-- bright, cool and sunny all across the state, so travel is good on the mountain passes. And what a change from last Christmas, when we were still snowed in, and it was a major expedition to just drive across town.


Amanda and Tom spent Boxing Day out and about in Seattle, but yesterday turned into a major Computer Day around here, for John at least. After 12 hours of intense work and countless trips up and down the stairs, the household devices are all running and relatively happy. Everything that needed one (I think) is now attached to its UBS port. John likes to remind me that I "married a genius," and I have to admit he's right when it comes to figuring this stuff out. How do the technically handicapped (like me) manage without live-in computer support?

Of course bringing one new "device" like a laptop into a house full of other "devices" sets off a chain reaction of incompatibility, mess, and new software/hardware to figure out. What a surprise! Windows 7 does not like old hardware, for example our functional but now obsolete printer and scanner. So off John went on an early morning trip to Home Depot and Office Max for cables, new printer and other bags of unidentifiable stuff. Then there is much moving of furniture, stirring up old dust, crawling under tables and desks, fumbling with a spagetti of cables along with the usual mutterings about the superiority of Apple over Microsoft.

What did we do with all that spare time before technology "simplified" our lives? As I write this in the early morning hours, our relationship seems to have reached a dubious milestone: John is propped up in bed with his own laptop, while I'm tapping away at the other room on mine. I'm expecting an email at any minute asking me "what's for breakfast?"

But at this moment in time, on a dark Seattle morning, everything is working and I can even sit right here and send a print job to the basement. Life is good. Thank you John! Without you, I'd probably still be trying to get the laptop of of the box. :-)