Got Change?

When I'm not hanging out with John, Erin & Mike and/or the grandkids, I really do still have a business (sort of) that I'm trying to keep alive.

My computer is my lifeline for my work since I'm a marketing and technical writer. Over the past few months, my computer has been getting decidedly more temperamental and hinky. It needed CPR to start in the morning and would freeze up or decline to respond during routine activities. Any time new applications were added it would need cajoling and sweet talking to wake up the following day. We added a new version of Weatherbug a few weeks ago and then the computer stopped shutting down gracefully too. I had to exit Weatherbug first, then shut down. We discovered over this past weekend that it hasn't been backing up my hard drive since late August and hasn't been alerting us that it wasn't happening. Aggravating!

The handwriting was clearly on the wall that it was going to need to be replaced sooner rather than later. A couple weeks ago Johnnie suggested that I pick up a new PC at Aldi's (of all places!). Besides the strangeness of my shopping list that day (peanut butter, refries, cauliflower, PC, little carrots) was the bizarre feeling of putting the PC box on the conveyor belt and then checking out with a $500-something charge.

So Johnnie has been working to get my new PC set up while I continued to work on the old one. He switched me over to the new one yesterday. Please let me say how wonderful it is to have a husband with such comprehensive geekiness skills. He does computers (even owns an iTouch), auto/truck repairs, woodworking, electricity, plumbing, etc. And he's really normal, except for that early childhood foray into accordions -- but that's for a future post.

While sometimes it's tough to get his attention to get things done because he has such varied skills and interests, it is wonderful to have a resident expert who doesn't have an overly inflated concept of what he can and cannot do. Usually I'm the one who won't allow him to do things such as building an additional garage or cleaning the gutters. Been there, done that. No need to prove you can. Write a check and have someone else do it is my motto.

Anyway, so now I'm on the new PC and the old one is sitting here silently (probably sulking) under the desk. I really hate changing PCs. You never know what didn't transfer successfully. And I know where I put things and my own special filing system that Johnnie doesn't necessary comprehend. What's more, this is now a Vista operating system so we don't know whether all my specialized applications will make the trip. That's the next step.

I just discovered that I can't IM with Erin this morning. My calendar transferred OK but it lost the most recent appointments I've put in it. Offered to scan a couple pages of cross stitching patterns for Erin and realized my graphics packages aren't here yet. Sigh. Patience is not my strong suit on all this stuff.

Generally I can tolerate change fairly well. But changing PCs taps every drop of patience I have. Please help me pray for patience. And I want it RIGHT NOW!