Computers

The laptop computer I use at home – the one on which I’m composing this missive – is getting a bit long in the tooth. I haven’t had a new computer in maybe a decade, perhaps longer.Oh, I’ve had them new to me, but not, you know, new. This is because as One and Two went through high school and then college and Mary through various work-related upgrade needs, there has always been a hand-me-down available when my then-machine wore out. And since my needs are limited to creating Word documents and the occasional spreadsheet, there was never a need for me to have the latest and greatest machine.

The thing is, since I got a discounted copy of Office Pro 2013 and was gifted a good program for transferring VHS home movies to digital, where I’m going is no longer supported by my confuser. Plus, since it was a hand me down from my daughter, it’s a girl shade of purple, which is always a bit disconcerting when I take it out in public. So, Mary is currently shopping for a new computer for moi.

Why Mary, one might ask? As head of household, of course I make the big decisions – how to achieve world peace, whether there will be rain this Fall, etc. Mary makes the small decisions for which I don’t have time – where we live, schools for One and Two and which computer I get. It works for us.

Of course, she had to first know where my comfort level resides, so last night we went over to the computer emporium so I could try different arrangements of keyboards, sizes of screen, swipe screen versus mouse, etc. And it appears that my next computer will be substantially lighter and faster, small enough to use on an airplane fold down tray, flexible enough to comfortably use in my lap.

Of course, the same (except for being faster, of course) could be said about a pad of foolscap which has always been my favorite writing medium. But with my age has come shaky hands, which has made my horrible-at-best penmanship largely indecipherable. And I can still type about as fast as most people can talk so more and more, my writing is done by keyboard rather than with #2s on yellow pads.

So, as has been the case with so many small decisions over the years such as when she bought me my pickup truck, I’m a bit on pins and needles to see what my next keyboarding device will look and feel like.

I spend a lot of time with a keyboard. This is a big decision.