The honeymoon is most definitely over.
I’m not really a serious relationship type person, but I’ve watched enough rom-coms to know that the harmonic co-existence that I had been experiencing with technology was what is commonly know as the Honeymoon period. I think I’ve had a few of them with technology over the years, but this one, well the end to this particular one feels a whole lot worse because for one, it’s a bit more public, as in my “dirty linen” is on the internet, plus I’m at an age now where society thinks that I should know better.
Nobody cheated on anyone and I didn’t find my laptop looking at adult material on the internet or anything like that. But suffice to say there was a definite element of “it’s not me, it’s you” about this particular juncture.
So, incident number one. The computers on campus had a new operating system installed on to them. So I was unceremoniously lumped onto Windows 7. It looked pretty much the same as all the others even down to the retina penetrating blue hue emanating from it. But I knew there was something untoward with this new system, and I soon found it, or rather I couldn’t. I don’t know how familiar people are with Windows 7, but you know how when you open up a new browser you can see it down the bottom of the screen? Yea Windows 7 doesn’t do that, it hides them, causing a minor panic attack and the thought that perhaps valuable course material has been lost forever. I managed to compose myself and retrieve the course work in question, but have absolutely no idea how I did it. Also for some reason the sound won’t work on them. And it was typical that the one day I remembered to bring headphones that I found this out. So no song from YouTube to set me on the road to productivity that day. This is why I shall not be frequenting those two computer centres for a while yet, these wounds need to heal.
Incident 2. I was back at the dentist getting yet another wisdom tooth taken out. I went through the obligatory; rush up because public transport is not accomadating to my appointment time, then only to wait for about an hour, which in fairness isn’t that long in Ireland. I had myself all psyched up and ready to get rid of that tooth when I was called into the surgery, only to be told by the dentist, “There’s been a bit of a problem”. “Bring it on doc I thought, whatever it is, I can handle it”. Apparently the x-ray system was down, meaning that the dentist couldn’t see the nerve that ran alongside my tooth, he said it would be reckless of him to proceed without an x-ray, and by reckless he meant that he could leave my face paralysed. So I was given another appointment that would see me going back up, 9 weeks later, Happy Days……not. I wanted it out then! I wanted to have another medical haze filled Saturday afternoon, I was even looking forward for it, only for some dodgy looking x-ray machine to take it all away from me. How cold and heartless of it.
Now technology and I aren’t broken up altogether, but we are going to seriously re-examine our relationship. For one, I feel like my independence has been compromised by it. When Destiny’s Child sing “All the women who independent”, I don’t think I will be able to throw my hands up at them. But then I thought, Christmas is coming. A time for consumers to peruse whatever latest fad technology has to offer them, and then present them to loved ones as gift. Now I haven’t asked for anything tech-wise from the man in red, and I don’t really want anything. But my brother has asked for stuff. I’m thinking I can use him as some kind of mediator while technology and I seek to repair our tempestuous relationship. The mind boggles at potential outcomes.
