Old Things Made New

     Let’s hope this is the start of a trend. I’m starting to appreciate working on the laptop. Not only does it seem to fit my typing style a little bit better than having my hands up where they “should” be, but I really like using the Word program. I had become kind of used to the program I was using, which I shall not name, but it started failing. I’m not sure if I was supposed to update the version or something. When I had bought the computer, the guy assured me that there were plenty of “Word-type” programs available for free download. I picked one. I used it for several years. At that time, I didn’t even know what Word was. So, it didn’t really make any difference to me, I just wanted a program to be able to write with. However, once my old program started failing, I noticed the little things that I wanted, that weren’t working. I was dealing with it, but I was not happy about it. Now that our daughter is staying with us, I have been using the laptop for almost everything. And, hence, I am becoming a lot more comfortable with it. I’ve been using it to write down all my comedy pieces, and it has been like a dream. So much so, that I actually got my computer back yesterday, and I am still choosing to write this to you on the laptop. Something about having a working program to help me keep from making mistakes is helpful. I really like the little corrective hints that it provides. I like knowing how it thinks I should put it, to differentiate my style, so to speak. Plus, I really like the automatic word count that shows what I’m up to. The other program I had to stop and check regularly, which slowed me down.

     Not that this is all about speed, but as I have probably mentioned before, interrupting the flow state is a bit of a bummer. I like staying in the moment. I know a lot of people talk about that, but once you have the feeling, it is a remarkable sensation that you really don’t want interrupted. Once my old program started failing, I would combat the desire to re-read everything, trying to make sure I didn’t make a mistake. But I realized I was not getting the desired effect, because I kept pulling myself out of the flow state. So, I tried just working through the thought, but then I spent so much time re-reading afterwards it felt like a waste of time. Especially because I don’t know everything. I want to know what the program thinks is “supposed” to happen. That is the information I want. Me re-reading it rarely helps fix the things I am unaware of. And I will say this, not to pat myself on the back too much, but there are actually not very many things that the program catches me on. It’s mostly typos, which I attribute to my lack of typing skills, not my ignorance of the American language. Wow, that was a lot about using a word processing program. I didn’t know I was going to do a deep dive on that today, but I guess that’s what was on my mind, so that’s what came out. It is a little strange to me that I didn’t even consider typing this on the computer. I missed it so much, it was weird. I don’t use it that often, but the fact that I couldn’t if I wanted to, left this hole. I’m just glad to have it back, with everything intact. My biggest concern was that my files would be gone. But they aren’t. Everything is still there! Happiness.

     I made our daughter pay for half. Part of me wanted her to pay for the whole thing. That didn’t seem very cool. Even though there was only one reason it needed fixed in the first place. But I did get an upgrade, so it didn’t seem right to have her pay for that. Something about a solid-state drive, or something like that. They guy at the shop recommended it, and I’m glad he did. When I plugged it in last night, I couldn’t believe how fast it was. Before, I had to turn it on for a few minutes before I wanted to use it, so it had time to “warm up.” Now it’s like “boom” ready to go. It’s nice. I’m often so bummed when I have to change something that I’m used to. But, quite often, I end up liking the change. So, it’s kind of weird that I don’t become more accepting of the change sooner. Wait, this sounds like something I’ve referenced before. I certainly don’t want to bore you, talking about the same thing over and over. I’ll have to just make a mental note, that I’m still working on that, and move on. So, to wrap up, the computer is fixed, and I am happy. I also got my bass amp back from the shop. It sounds great! I’m not exactly sure what he did, but it sounds better than ever, and I am happy. But then, when I got to practice this week, someone at the studio had adjusted all of my settings. I was pissed. We have a “verbal” agreement that we don’t use each other’s stuff. But someone touched my stuff! Not only did they touch it, but they didn’t even have the decency to put it back like they found it. We share the space with 2 other bands, so it could’ve been anyone. But now I’m like: “Was this the first time?” Not happy.