A Gift from a Dear Friend

I am very appreciative and happy tonight. This desktop computer I am using is one my brother-in-law bought for a great price when he retired and he is letting me have it now. I love it. It comes with monitor and keyboard as well.

My computers have been nothing but frustration for me the past summer and I was ready to toss them out. It all began when I installed Windows 10. This computer has Windows 7 and works great for me. I purchased a Netgear N300 WiFi USB adapter and immediately picked up wireless service.

The computer had been wiped clean so Stu had a friend install Windows 7, Chrome and Word for me. I will install a photo program later. I feel I have stepped back a few years into my comfort zone. I will keep this computer as "bare-bones" as possible. I am tempted to take my older computers and have them stripped. Then I will only add back the programs I like to use.

If only the makers of Microsoft understood that many of us want the less sophisticated machines, not the ones with all the bells and whistles. I'm sure many young techies love all the extra stuff, but folks I know prefer the less complicated and more user friendly computers we used a few years back, before Vista, Windows 8 and Windows 10. Who decided we needed all the extra options? I need Word, email, Google, Blogger and Facebook. That is it!

If you hear me singing and see me smiling, it is because I am very happy with this computer. Thanks, Stu. You are the best!

Stuart A. Moring

In this time of high technology, when people think they cannot continue without the computer or Ipad, or whatever electronic item is kept with them, I think it is sad and even more it is frightening.
Recently my friend said she called her doctor's office with a question. The person who answered the phone said, "I'm sorry. I can't get into your records. Our computer is down."
I still think we need to have a paper backup, especially for important records such as medical reports.
This made me think about what would happen if a doctor in a far distant city was calling about my records because I had been in an accident. Would the woman on the phone tell him, "Sorry we can't give you any information on Glenda. Our computers are down."
I am certainly not against modern technology. I love my computers -- when they work right.
For months I've complained about my server. I could not get Internet most of the time. I paid for it, but could not get it upstairs in my office. My laptop has been completely gutted and no virus lingers - nor do most of my programs they took out.(I learned that is the cheap and easy way to get the bugs out, but it is not necessary.)

At my wit's end, I called a responsible man who makes house calls for computers. His name is Bob Williams and he lives down the road a piece from me. He sat down and I gave him my history with the computer from the time it quit communicating with my printer to bogging down when I try to get e-mail. He worked and worked and finally said he could not find any reason it would not recognize the printer. Bob got up and turned the printer around. He pulled the AC cord from the back. He then put the AC cord right back. Voila! Now my computer and my printer are speaking again.
Next he went downstairs to see the modem. He said let's try moving the modem up higher. He untangled some cords and set the little black box on the top of the wall cabinets.
He also rearranged the lineup of my networks and now I have Internet popping in quickly, and I can print with no problem. 

Someone suggested to me today. When the computer malfunctions, get down on the floor and crawl around unplugging and replugging everything. Then, if it won't work -- Call the computer man.

The problem is I can't get down there and crawl around, and if I tried, I'd have to call someone to help me get back up.(Ha)

Oh, Barry. My technical man! You could have saved me forty dollars if you'd been here.

ORCHARD HOUSE

This is Orchard House at John C. Campbell Folk School. Here, in the living room, in the middle part of the old farm house, I met Nancy Simpson thirteen years ago. That was a turning point in my life.
We sat in the large room with big windows across the back, framing a veiw of field and forest and mountains, and wrote poems all day for five days in a row.
Now added on the far end of the house, just last year, a combination photo and writing studio houses eight Mac computers and a printer/copier. Some students prefer paper and pen and that is fine with me. I create better on paper than on the keyboard, but I LOVE the computer for re-writing. And we all know we must not be afraid to write badly, to pour out our thoughts, because we will re-write several times before we have a piece perfected.