It does not seem fair that I should experience a sense of loss over a shift in my electronic devices. You see, I'm dealing with too much electronic change at once. My desktop computer is showing symptoms of an imminent hard drive crash, and I've switched smartphones. It doesn't take too much to rattle my sensibilities and challenge my abilities.
It is far too soon for my desktop to fail, but there you have the risk of purchasing a refurbished CPU. (I think that is the term for the box that holds all the circuits.) Less than a year ago, I transferred all my Lenovo laptop files to this lemon of a desktop. I have had enough crashes in my computing lifetime (since 1989) to make me very afraid of losing all my data--in my case, all those precious Word documents. But I hate computer change precisely because I do not know what I am doing when it comes to technology. So this afternoon, I meant to save my files to Google Drive (or is it Google docs)? Instead, the only icon available to drag and drop my files was Microsoft's One Drive. So that is where they went. And it took a very long time due to my desktop's unreliability and my own lack of ability; plus, I triggered a MIcrosoft email alerting me to possible suspicious activity on my account due to my repeated sign-ins on various devices as I was trying to figure out what I was doing. But at least now I can access everything--if I did not lose files in the process--on my Chromebook.
At least the other part of my technical stress is a positive improvement: a change of smartphones from an HTC One that never connected to wireless networks to a Sony Xperia Z1S that appears to do everything but my dishes. Bigger screen, fast connections, confusing display: fortunately, Sony remembers that some of its customers lack electronic savvy and provides a "Simple Home" screen option that I can almost understand. It is reminiscent, I think, of the much maligned Windows 8 home screen.
Still, the learning curve on using a new phone is rather steep for me. Plus, I have a new phone number. Given the option to change my number, I did, so now I am an Oklahoma local. But at least I am down to one phone again: for a few days I was using both the HTC and the Sony while my brother was working out the details of the family plan switch from AT&T to TMobile. Give me some time, though, before I customize my voice mail.
Tonight I'm feeling a little nostalgic for that 360 area code and a little blue over the terminal illness of my desktop. But I will get used to the larger phone screen and smaller Chromebook screen. And I will learn my phone number and how to use OneDrive. In the meantime, I need to load some toddler games for my granddaughter to my second oldest Kindle. But first, maybe I'll read one of the recent free ebooks I recently downloaded to my Kindle Fire.
