Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Now WHAT!



Why do I have to be a computer guru to have a quilting blog?


Why do Blogger and Google keep changing things?


Why keep fixing things that aint broke!


My dashboard can no longer be accessed. That is where I go to read blogs I follow. I get a message that I should add Google Chrome but my computer won't let me do that. So now what? Am I the only one with these problems?


As if I didn't already know that I am OLD and not too hip, tomorrow I have to take another OLD AGE driving test. At this point I have become not only old but DANGEROUS. I must get stickers for the front and back of my car to warn the public of that fact.


I did this exercise at 70 so it is not a new thing. I must pay to go to a driving school. There I sit in a lecture about how the statistics show that old people are involved in more accidents. Of course, those statistics also include old people who are passengers on cars (because they aren't allowed to drive) and old people who are hit by cars walking or riding bikes or driving) Forget the fact that this is an aging population so there are just more old people to get in trouble.


The last school had a machine to test your reaction time. It was a cartoon TV screen showing a street with cars parked on each side. A guy in a red shirt popped out between the cars, at which time you had to hit the breaks as fast as possible. Trouble was, the accelerator was only set at off and on. No adjustment of speed was possible. I would never be driving down a street that was one car wide with cars parked on both sides at 40k in the first place. The tester did not like the fact that I kept taking my foot off the gas and making the video stop.


Then there is an eye test. I already went and had my glasses adjusted for the occasion.


Then there is a fake driving course. You can not drive in your own car. That would be just too easy for an old person to drive something they are familiar with. You must drive the school's car over a fake course winding around something that looks like a kiddie course. Other than the fact it is in a strange car, that part is no problem. No trucks or traffic, just follow the yellow brick road, so to speak.


One of my friends said, "Don't worry, my mother passed the test and did perfect on the memory test", Memory test? I'm going to have to memorize something in Japanese? Don't worry?


So, now that my computer will no longer allow me the distraction of reading other blogs, I guess I will just have to sit and cut fabric scraps and try not to worry (and start feeling my age)!

17 comments:

  1. hmm, I am not a computer genius either - I have google reader with all of my blogs that I follow on it but at the time I did this my husband who is my computer guru walked me through it step by step. Before that I bookmarked all blogs I was following and checked them every day - a tedious process for sure. Do you have something like a senior center with a computer class? maybe someone there could walk you through the problem you are having?
    Karen

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  2. Hi Julie,
    Which browser are you using? I use Mozilla Firefox and haven't had a problem accessing my dashboard. Maybe if you uninstall your browser and re-install it? Sometimes that helps. As for your driver's license, I'm sorry I can't think of anything helpful. Good luck. Take a break from it all and go sew.
    Hugs,
    Irene

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  3. LOL, the driving requirements would make me nuts.
    Makes no sense to not use your car, since that is what you drive, of course I would do bad if I had to figure out where things are.

    Debbie

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  4. You need a better computer! Believe me, when I got a new laptop, everything became so much easier. And Julie, I hope I am half as good a memory/learning and as active as you are when I get to 70! Don't forget to breathe! You will do great on your driver's test.

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  5. I can't help you with the computer but I can wish you good luck with the driving test.

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  6. I'm a regular reader, through Google Reader! Go to this address http://www.google.com/reader and you should see all the blogs you follow and can keep updated that way :)

    Good luck with your test!

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  7. Hi, dear Julie ;>)
    I know that frustration feeling, and I love this post of yours because it shows me I'm not alone. I'll be celebrating my 60th birthday by next month (OMG that can't be true!), and I can figure all those tests coming along...
    My DH keeps telling me : "the problem is that you're a USER, you don't try to understand how the whole thing works!" ...
    Maybe that's one of the reasons why our marriage lasts for such a long time ?? HeeHee

    Keep quilting, my friend, this - at last - will never change, and no quilting police willcome and tell you what you should do, or test your abilities ! ;>)

    XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
    NADINE

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  8. Oh dear, poor Julie. Sounds like technology and drivers licence fairies are out to get you at the moment. I hope you win the battle. I can't help you much either with the computer stuff except to say that i access all teh blogs i follow thru google reader as well and that was pretty simple to set up coz I was actually able to do it myself. Good luck!

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  9. Hi Julie, I love reading your blog. It makes me feel like a world traveler being in Maine and you in Japan. I have macs, and only the newer macs can use google chrome, my G4 ibook (about 5 years old) can not use google chrome, but you should be able to get google reader (instead of dashboard to read your blogs) on any of the other browsers, just not chrome. Happy Quilting and good luck with your drivers test!

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  10. Julie I couldn't help but laugh. We don't have those age requirement here for a driver's license but quite often I wish we did. There are far too many driving who should have given up their keys years ago. I have told my children already to tell me when I need to stop and I will listen - and if I don't to take the keys! I will stop driving at 80 regardless, if I haven't stopped before. I use Google Reader - you might try that. blessings, marlene

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  11. I had the same issues with IE but switched to Chrome. Unfortunately that is not without its issues too!

    I laughed when I read about your "licensing" regime. My Mom has just gone through something similar here in Canada. Eye test, paper test, a reaction test.We just don't have a road test unless you have had an accident. This begins at age 80 and repeat every two years.

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  12. Julie, don't let the turkeys get you down! Good luck on getting your computer back the way you need it, and best of luck on your driving tests.

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  13. I think this is a temporary glitch Julie, which I am also experiencing, very annoying but not permanently serious I hope. A friend has lost the search facility from her blog but mine is ok. Why do they keep fiddling when things are working? Good luck with the driving test, I feel for you.

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  14. I have regular computer frustrations....Currently I am away from home and using my brother's computer. It won't let me comment on some blogs so I don't know if this will go through or not - until I try to send it. I had to upgrade to Google Chrome at home a couple of months ago so that I could continue reading and commenting. My brother works for Microsoft and knows about many computer things. He told me that the reason I get Adobe upgrades almost every day is because Adobe has to do upgrades that often. I thought it was just something not right with my computer. Adobe has to upgrade often because the program is very vulnerable to those things out in computer land that are bad for computers. He said Microsoft insisted that Adobe tightnen things up. Good luck with your driving test. REmember that the more relaxed and casual about it you are, the better you will do. Practice your meditation instead of your Japanese :)

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  15. It's not the older drivers that bother me. It's the teens (I have one still at home) and all the people driving around on their cell phones. Truckers all over their lanes (and mine) then, when you get up to the cab, they are on their cell phones. Good luck.

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  16. I'm with you... I wish "they" would just leave things alone. I'm not so computer savvy either so I have been "off the radar screen" for a bit as well. Hang in there!

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  17. Julie, you may be old and dangerous but your sense of humor is intact! Great post! I hear you about the blogger changes! I don't like it one bit!

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