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Along Life’s Way
The Turkey Was Me
By Lois E. Wilson
On Thanksgiving morning, I clicked on my computer to bring up the
incoming emails. There was one from CNO editor, Bob Robinson. In it he
explained that my latest submission for “Along Life’s Way” was in a
digital file. He could not edit it that way and asked me to resubmit it
in the format I usually use.
I didn’t know what I had done to change the document. Before sending it
to him, I had copied it to an email and noticed some letters in the
original text were spaced unevenly. On the clipboard the actual text
didn’t show—there was a small rectangle with horizontal lines across
it. The lines were of various widths and lengths resembling text, but
no words.
I am a novice in computer use. Years ago I took a short course in the
basics, but had never had a computer. My husband taught farmers in
several counties how to set up their books electronically. We took a
course together—but found it wasn’t focused on computer use. It taught
what to look for when purchasing one. We attended a computer trade show
and were overwhelmed with choices and did not purchase one.
A friend typed my early articles and submitted them for me. My son
surprised me with a computer and set up an area for me to work. He
taught me how to proceed. I had “Microsoft Office Word 2007
for Dummies.” My other son gave me “Computers for Seniors for Dummies.”
It promised: “Start using a computer today with this easy guide.” It
was Volume II in large print.
I got along pretty well until the manuscript locked. I tried finding a
solution on the computer desktop, wrote questions on Google search and
hoped for answers. I got some but I couldn’t understand how to
implement them. It was all to no avail. My son who had helped me with
computer problems lives out west. On Thanksgiving morn, I waited until
I thought he was up before I called him. He said he didn’t know what to
suggest. Later he called back. I told him I had Googled for help. He
confirmed that is what he would have done. When I mentioned I had
called Bob for help, but did not leave a message. He responded, “Good,
it is Thanksgiving!”
So that I would not miss the CNO deadline, Bob and I exchanged emails
with different attempts to correct the problem. When one didn’t work, I
tried another. Needless to say, Bob is very patient. He suggested I
retype the article. I wasn’t in the mood to do that, so I tried one
more solution. It worked—the document was back to a format that could
be edited. I jotted down how I thought I had accomplished the
change—but you know how forgetful we seniors are.
I have some ideas about the computer world: If you are about to enter
it, always begin with Volume I of any Dummie book. Each should have a
glossary of terms so one can learn what it is talking about. We need a
Dummie book for purchasing Dummie books. One definition of “turkey” is
“an inept person.” I qualified for that description on Thanksgiving—and
when the incident was over, it did increase my thankfulness.
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