TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGED GRANDMA

I am in my seventh decade and learning to use new technology every day. I turned on the TV today and my favorite channel was black! All the other channels were working. Is this a trick?

I was baffled.

After calling Comcast and actually reaching a live person, I found out that they were having troubles receiving Channel 7. So, it was not only NOT my fault, but there was nothing I needed to do except wait.  About an hour later, the issue was resolved.

I learned that you can go to a website called "Is it _______or is it just  me?" You type in your server and it will tell you, No, Comcast is working fine. It's just YOU." But once in a while it tells you that Comcast is at fault and it saves a lot of trial and error on your own computer.

All this is to say that people my age lose heart very easily when don't work right . If we  don't have a daughter,  a grandson, or a nerdy nephew to call, we are left with two choices.

We can say "the heck with it" or give up. Or we can persevere.

I don't know of anything that can make you feel more stupid than a computer! Well, maybe a VCR recorder. We see young children who are able to manipulate cell phones, recorders, computer games, etc. and we wonder, "What's wrong with me that I can't do that?"

Well, I'm determined to learn to do these things if it means another lifetime! After all, I've got a whole quarter century t go and if I learn as I go, maybe I can hold my own.

I read a lot about how to keep your mind sharp and avoid senility in your dotage. I'm planning to do just that by learning something new every six months. This last six months, my focus has been computer technology. I learned to start a website and get a  blog going. You are reading the results. 

That's me in the photo, getting even grayer as I try to connect a new tape player to my TV. Getting it connected was just the starting point. I then had to learn to program it. Since tape player/recorders are going out of style, I had to replace my broken one with a used one from Goodwill Industries. I was lucky the one I bought had a remote but there was no manual. I had to go on line to the manufacturer to get an instruction manual and then I  was in business.

All this took me the better part of two days. Of course, I had better things to do. I could have been knitting. Or baking cookies, OR putting up preserves. Or watching the Democratic National Convention, which I did.

Now my player records AND plays and I am so much smarter@