See that empty Reminder page on my IMac? See that empty Calendar page on my IMac? Both of them were filled yesterday, the Reminder app with about 6 categories just chock full of things I needed to remember to do...home things, craft things, things to ask J to do the next time he came over, things my mom needed J to do the next time he went to her house, things I needed to remember to talk to my mom about, calls to make, things to buy. And now they are all GONE. My calendar was filled with doctor appointments, things that I needed to mention to the doctor, symptoms plotted by date to establish a pattern, appointments with repairmen, dinner dates, etc. And now they are all GONE. Poof....GONE...all of it! There are days I really HATE computers!
Don't get me wrong. I have always loved gadgets of all kinds...especially computers. Back in 1980 I worked together with my boss (a doctor) and a computer programmer to develop one of the first medical computer systems available for the average practice in our area. Personal computers really didn't exist back then. The Commadore 64 and TRS-80 were the computers of the day. Since turn-key medical programs didn't exist at the time, the programmer shadowed me day in and day out...questioning why I did certain things, why I didn't do other things. He began programming and every line of code was based on the way I ran the office. It took close to a year before the full program was written. When it was finished and was ready to sell to other practices, I went to work for the company part time...traveling and teaching the staff how to run their practice more efficiently using a computer system. I even did minor hardware repairs when required! We had computerized medical records LONG before most people knew what they were! Now HIPPA is the bane of our existance! It's funny when I go into medical offices now and see brief glimpses of similarities to the program I helped develop. I sure hope the programmer got full credit for his developments. Our first computer was so antiquated that when I tried to type, the processor couldn't keep up! Granted, I type 130 words per minute...but imagine a computer in our day and age that could not process 130 words per minute! I even began attending college toward a degree in computer programming before Dear Hubby and I became engaged! I just LOVED computers!
Fast forward 33 years and technology has left me in its dust. Somehow in the years of raising J I lost my technological edge and have fallen the way of the dinosaurs. Don't get me wrong...I understand a lot of what my "computer geek" son says (He works for a computer repair company!), but to "do it" on my own...I'm lost! Hence, all of my important information that is now floating around in cyberspace! Of course, J may be able to recover it all and patch it all back together again, but I can't ask him to be at my beck and call whenever a techie rescue is needed!
So, I've decided to cry UNCLE...at least for my calendar and other types of organizational/note-taking functions...and go back to pen and paper. Today I ordered myself a Filofax personal organizer. I will ALWAYS have my up-to-date calendar in my purse and I don't have to worry about whether I remembered to sink my PDA with my computer. And sinking my IPAD and my IMac through the cloud? Well, you've seen the results of that endeavor! Nope. From now on I will have my reliable...electricity, bug and virus free...stone-aged organizer with me at all times. Yup, I'm a dinosaur. Just call me Dino.
