Would you believe that both my regular laptop and my travel computer are currently missing in action? Would you believe they both went psychotic on a Friday afternoon when they KNEW the repair shop would be closed for the weekend.
Which means this message comes to you from my old laptop–my emergency backup. Since dh is a computer guy, we upgrade my equipment fairly often. So this machine’s not too bad.
But I couldn’t just switch it on and sit down at the keyboard. First dh had to buy an update for my Norton virus protection. Then I wanted to get into my Outlook Express mail, which forced me to download all mail since the last time I used this computer. That was over 20,000 messages. No, that’s not a typo.
Off and on for the past two days, I’ve been shuffling messages into what I hope are the appropriate files. By switching to "sort by subject," I’ve gotten my inbox down to a manageable level. Of course, when I go to look for a message, I’ll probably find I’ve sent it to some file where it will never see the light of day again.
Then there’s my WIP. Twice while I was editing chapter nine, the main laptop froze. Twice I went back and reconstructed my work. The third time was when I got out this computer.
And then there were the two proposals I was (thank God) able to get off that machine before it froze again.
They’re rescued and safely huddled on dh’s computer. So I didn’t have a heart attack after all. I’m just coping with minor annoyances like looking for the delete key at the bottom of the keyboard instead of the top, where it’s been for the past year. Sigh.
Technology is great. But I hate that I’m so reliant on my computers. I can’t imagine people like Charles Dickens laboriously writing out long manuscripts by hand. Did he edit? Or was the manuscript perfect when it came out of his head?
Working in the pen and ink era would have been a nightmare for me. I’ve got horrible handwriting, and I’ve been typing since I saved my money to buy an Olympia typewriter in high school.
So I love working with a word processor, when the monster agrees to cooperate.
Ever get the urge to throw your computer out the window? Or is it just me? And what would I do without the damn thing?
Rebecca
A computer is a curse and a blessing in a box. lol
Comment by Paula — March 26, 2007 @ 9:02 am
I couldn’t agree more! Writing by hand hurts my wrists, so thank God I can type! But I’ve been through 5 computors since I started writing about as many years ago. Not a very lasting investment.
Just out of curiousity, how long does it take to download 20,000 messages?
Comment by Alyssa Brooks — March 26, 2007 @ 4:04 pm
How long to download 20K messages? A lot of the night. But dh took the computer down to his office and did it.
Comment by Rebecca York — March 26, 2007 @ 4:25 pm
I do sometimes get the urge to hurl them out the window - and I’m a software engineer by day so I work with them all the time.
Comment by maura — March 27, 2007 @ 1:05 am
I have a love/hate relationship with my computer. I love it when it’s working great. I hate it when it’s not.
I agree though–I can’t imagine having to write long-hand.
Comment by Julia Templeton — March 27, 2007 @ 9:42 pm