The downside of technology

or What do you do when the damned thing brakes?

OMG. It's Dead. I jab the at keys and buttons

viciously, hoping the urgency of my touch will

wake up the monster, get it on my side, coax it to be

willing to help. But no amount of prodding or kicking

or sweet talk will wake the demon. It just looks back

at me with its expressionless face awash with my latest

desktop photo. I resist a desire to throw the whole

collection of computer, printers, hard drives, scanner

and all the interminable wires and cords through

the window. Not a very sensible thing to do, but it

sure would make me feel as if something was happening;

something was being accomplished.

Look, I'm of the older generation. I don't get all

this electrical stuff. I don't get the twitters and

the Facebooks and the instant messaging. I just

learned yesterday what OMG means. So now let me

say it again. OMG. I'm sunk. So much work to be

done. My panic level rises. The list of prompts for

The Daily Write (my current religion) , the organizing

that needs to be done for tonight's rehearsal,the lists

that are waiting for completion for this afternoon's

meeting, the addresses held captive and the emails

that Ican't respond to -- all totally out of my grasp..

All as dead as the damned machine. Lifeless. I am

undone without my computer.

I call Apple help. It rings and rings and then

they say to leave a message. I do. No return call.

I call again and leave a message that's not quite

what they might have been expecting. Bad girl!

Such language! It feels good to be screaming at

something, even though the only things receiving

my rage, hearing my screams, are machines.

This is a recipe for killing one's self. I am not

good with machines. We have never been friendly,

hence the Mac. PC's and I parted company years

ago, when DOS was naive enough to think I could

understand a word it was saying. I have to admit,

the Mac is a beautiful machine. It's pretty. It's

easy -- most of the time. The little icons are so sweet.

They take away the need to think about what you're

doing. Just click and play.

But not today. I have tied my partner to the chair

of my desk so she will stay there until it's fixed.

She understands these things. But it seems that even

she isn't going to be able to fix this problem.

%**^&^$$%^&**@#! See, her computer is perfectly

willing to swear right along with me. Let's make

it into a duet -- in the key of "screwed!"

Perhaps I'll calm down in a little while. I doubt it,

but it's the healthy, sensible thing to try to do.

Blood pressure raging isn't going to help a thing.

So I am now going to go make a cup of coffee. And

I am going to take the cup of coffee into the garden

and breathe deeply and smell the roses. And the

hydrangeas and the jasmine. Do you really

think this therapy will help? I have my doubts...