One of the great mysteries of the digital age, as far as I am concerned. Actually, it is a question followed by another : What do I do to send it off, if it has no title?
I went to the very informative session at the PCDL—there are more to come, I hope—with a class or two from the high school, featuring very knowledgeable young people assisting semi-retarded individuals of more advanced age, such as myself to deal with their computers and/or their phones.
My first session was with a tableful of young men who were seriously amazed at how very ignorant I was about those two devices—phone and laptop. I also have the feeling that their good manners and helpful suggestions made it possible for me to stick with it and come back the next time. It was funny, the fact that they were trying to show me how to do things while simultaneously grinning at each other (You could almost hear their eyes rolling.), acknowledging their superiority but not rude about it.
This last time, I was working with two very pleasant and helpful young ladies, who stepped up to take over where the guys had finished. To start with, I had no idea what my password was and had to go home (helps to only live ten minutes away) to get my password notebook. When I returned, Mr. Knerem had poached my territory and was getting help from one of my mentors, so the other one stepped up for the challenge…which involved figuring out which of the passwords in the notebook was the REAL password. Took a couple of tries but we finally got it.
From there, it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing but we did get some things worked out and I was able to read the Akron-Beacon Journal on Monday morning (They do not publish a paper-and-ink copy on Mondays; it’s on line or nothing). I got to see the headlines, the news stories throughout, the weather prognostications even the funnies—though not in the same format as before—and Dear Abby( something in the device did not like Dear Abby before, wouldn’t let me read it). The stories all hung together, did not jump around, proceeded from one page to another in order; it was almost like reading a real paper—except the cat could not lie down on it.
So, anyway, if you’d like some help or clarification for working with your phone or laptop, c’mon down the Garrettsville branch of the PCDL on a designated Tuesday—check for schedule. It’s a good thing.
