My Laptop’s Destination is the Garbage
By: Lynn Zimmering
Tags: Responsibility, Intuition, Mistakes, Computer Science, Attitude

What I Learned While Dealing with a Computer Disaster.

If you’re a senior and on your computer many hours every day like I am, I’m pretty sure you’ve run into unsolvable problems -like I did this past week. Here’s what happened (it was dreadful!):

I keep a detailed list of bank accounts, credit cards, user names, car lease info, passwords, and other pertinent info about my life on my computer. I do this at the request of my children so that if I get sick (or die), they will know where the money is and/or how to take care of me.

The list has to be updated occasionally, as some credit cards are changed, sometimes new ones added, insurance companies sometimes come and go. All of this is normal.

On Friday, I was updating this list, and somehow I overwrote it with a story I had previously written on my blog. It was similar to having a cassette that chronicles a favorite event and then accidentally using the same cassette for another event. The second event eliminates the first one. The document’s title is still accessible on my computer, but when I click on it instead of the directory, up comes my story’s last page.

$@XDRAT&^(&$#H GOD<O*&^$#^HELP^&F — -&*&( 00)

I’m 88 ½ years old and have owned a computer since 1990, so computers are not strangers. Could this disaster have happened because I am old? Or did this happen just because weird things happen on computers?

Three years ago, I was able to switch from a PC to a MAC relatively easily. (I still use a mouse instead of the trackpad, and Apple has a nifty mouse.)

But my basic computer knowledge doesn’t exist. I’ve always operated intuitively, even at my age.

I called my son, who is a software developer, for help. We tried several ways to overcome this problem, but nothing works. The list is lost. Although my son was sympathetic, he told me that this sort of problem is usually caused by human error. Of course, I was ready to throw the whole laptop into the nearest garbage pail. Finally, I accept the fact that I DID SOMETHING THAT RESULTED IN THIS SITUATION.

Isn’t it true that we will try arduously to blame something or someone else for our problems?

You know the thinking; I not responsible; I’m the victim here!

Luckily I have a paper copy of the list. Yeah! So my only reasonable but annoying choice is to recopy, manually, all that information, all those numbers, names, and passwords, back into the computer. The list is 5 pages long, and the opportunity for error is enormous. You may wonder why it needs to be computerized. The answer is that corrections are frequently required for accuracy, and a computer can accommodate changes more easily than writing notes in margins or crossing “stuff” out.

What a bummer! I’m now on page 3, working my way through to the end of it.

I know many seniors who have never laid a finger on a keyboard. I run into some serious computer issues from time to time, but my life is enlarged because of my use of this MAC. I would be lost without it. Google and other search engines increase the scope of my knowledge just by utilizing my keyboard. I’m still amazed by the vast amount of available information.

In researching the internet as preparation for writing this article, I came across an organization listed on Wikipedia that might help these seniors. I have no relationship with the organization other than reading about it. So If you know any person over 55 who is afraid to try using a computer, you may wish to recommend this site.

SeniorNet is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. “It is the nation’s premier and most respected nonprofit organization” (according to them), specializing in computer and internet education for adults 55 and over.

There’s a 2014 documentary film, Cyber Senior, directed by Saffron Cassaday. The film chronicles seniors’ journies as they discover the internet through the guidance of teenage mentors. Seeing it may encourage seniors who might otherwise be afraid to join the computer world.

What I recognized from this experience is that I will survive while accepting culpability for a mistake. My first instinct might be to put the onus elsewhere; I can work toward accepting responsibility for my actions.