What happens when an old dog tries to learn new tricks?

-
Dear Mr. Murphy:

I used to scoff at your laws. Now I have one simple request - can you please stop collaborating with Ms. Karma? I need a little break to get me through this deadline! Cheers, from me and my Mac ...

I am sending a plea out to the universe to get me through this week ... and through these next few months. How much new learning can this middle-aged brain really deal with? Well, that question is being put to the test in some serious ways. I suddenly feel so much more tech-savy today than I did a mere 6 month ago. But, I have paid for it in stress and sweat. Going back to grad school at age 50+ is already challenging enough, but I wasn't counting on all sorts of technological hiccups. When my reliable PC decided to implode during my final assignment for my first course last October, I decided to invest in a MacBook Pro. But first, I resorted to my little laptop PC to get me to Christmas. The plan was to purchase a new laptop after the holidays. And then course number 2 wrapped up and the laptop started to sputter. So, I had to make a quick decision.

I based my purchase decision on some strategic research - I consulted my Facebook friends and then went to every living relative under the age of 30 to elicit some opinions on what I should buy to get me through the second phase of my new self-employment venture, and equally important, to get me through this academic year. After all, they are the "Apple Family" generation, right? They were born with IPods instead of silver spoons in their mouths, no? Well, I figured they know more than I do about this stuff. And everyone said Mac! Fearing the inevitable learning curve, I tried to at least pretend that I felt undaunted ... and I plunked down my emergency credit card on a MacBook Pro.

It took a while, but eventually I adapted. Then, the unthinkable happened! Unthinkable, unless your are me, evidently. Because if something "gonna broke-it down" as my papa says, it would be something in my posession. Yes, folks, my Mac crashed! What? It must be me, right? I am doing something wrong! Either that, or I emit some sort of radioactive or magnetic frequency that causes electronic equipment to go bonkers! I mean, just last month, I set off a bunch of alarms while going through security at the Miami airport. Then they made me go stand in a glass booth for punishment. Took me a while to realize that I was going through the body-scanner. It was the stiffled laughs and condescending smirks on the faces of the young security staff that finally clued me in. The least they could do is give me a copy of my x-ray (kinda like expectant parents get a copy of their baby-scan, no?) - so I could see what they found so amusing!

But, back to the Mac issue -- Everybody I know has never had a problem with their Macs. So, I really wasn't prepared for what has transpired over the last 5 days. Long story and many grey hairs later, within 4 days, the Apple Genius Bar has restored my MacBook back to its original glory. It took 4 days instead of weeks or months, as would have been the case had I invested in a Dell or other equally efficient PC. Apple service is indeed as efficient and awesome as everyone said. It is just that I was hoping that I wouldn't have to put their Genius Bar (cute name, huh?) to the test so early in my relationship with Mr. Mac. And as an added bonus, despite having to negotiate a series of checkpoints, and mini-interviews, I was allowed to go stand at the vast desk, resplendent with state-of-the art, 19-year-old diagnostic professionals! At least they didn't make me go through a body-scan!

And still, I missed a very important deadline, which means that now I am scrambling to pull my research materials together in some coherent fashion, so that the professors, when they compare notes don't think I am a complete "Complaining Connie." You see, I have had some sort of technology issue with each and every one of the 6 course I have been enrolled in since last fall. I am sure the MSW faculty are starting to detect a pattern.

Can any one adult send the same e-mail 6 times to 6 different professors and still have any shred of credibility:

"Dear Professor, PhD,
May I please have a deadline extension? The computer ate my homework!
Signed: Calamity Jill, MSW in waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ..."

Comments

As the Crowe Flies and Reads said…
Hi, Ms. Jilly. I didn't realize you had a blog, too, until I saw it in your signature on a post on the Anguilla Forum. now I'm your newest follower. Here's hoping your next Anguilla trip is just as stellar as your first one!
June 28, 2011 at 9:22 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Travel Tales Part I - Footwear is Always on My Mind

-
Image
Footwear has been on my mind a lot lately. Actually, footwear has been on my mind for most of my life, because, you guessed it – I come by my obsession honestly - my dad was a shoemaker. Not just any old shoemaker, but a real old-world craftsman. He taught me all the finer points of selecting the appropriate shoe – everything from assessing and choosing just the right type of leather, soft and supple, to ensuring that every boot, shoe or sandal had exactly the right amount of properly engineered arch-support. Now footwear only figures into this particular story in one way: I had spent several months stressing over how to fit the various sandals and flip-flops that are required for a two-island Caribbean holiday into my carry-on luggage. My allotment of travel “necessities” should have included at least one pair of high, Italian (of course, what else!?) cork and patent-leather strappy wedge slip-ons that I could hardly walk in, but that would have been just perfect to wear to a casino
Read more

This is so Me!

-
Image
We probably all start out with great ideas, and good intentions ... but quickly ... almost as quickly as we fall of the fad diet wagon, yet again ... or as quickly as we lose interest in our latest gym membership   ... we  "reluctant bloggers" act something like this ... 
Read more

Update from "Guarda La Yarda" - Nonna C's Canning Factory

-
Image
Over the next few weeks I am hoping to clean up my blog, delete forever the blogs that I started but will never finish or even attempt to follow through, and finally learn how to post photos artistically and effectively. I am even toying with the idea of moving away from Blogger and going elsewhere to host my blog, as I move away from travel stories (interspersed with a few rants here and there) to a whole other set of themes. In the meantime, I thought I would share a few photos from late summer in Guarda La Yarda. Like any self-respecting transplanted Italian, my mother, at age 82 and struggling with health issues, still insists on maintaining a vegetable and flower garden. In the fall, she and my father (who suffers from macular degeneration and insists that he is now completely blind, therefore unable to assist in chores) set up their makeshift factory in the garage, order a few bushels of field tomatoes to supplement the back-yard harvest (a necessity to them, since the kitchen
Read more