Computer Challenged: are there support groups?

Tweet

If only there really was a key like this...

This is not an easy topic to write about. Think: AA meeting*.  (Burnt coffee smell permeating the room) Someone near you stands up and says:

I am user. Everyday I use a computer. Everyday... (Smothered choke) I cannot find files and pictures on my machine. It started from the very first document. I just did not know it would take over: my...life...my computer...my...world. (Voice trailing off to a whisper) The random photo, uploaded from a camera, lost. Inside, somewhere..."

Others nod, from their uncomfortable folding chair, in the drafty basement of the; church, rec center or deserted public building basement. There is consensus:  feelings of; shame, frustration, and fear of being exposed for the Luddite, you really are.

Sure, from a distance, you look like you are competent. You send many emails, links to YouTube videos and maybe, if you are lucky, an attached file.

Maybe this is not your world. Searching for files and photos and any other data that is stored in your computer, but it is not far off in describing mine. Or at least it was last night...

I am reasonably good at using a computer, am able to: use key-board short cuts, re-size a photos (kinda), edit documents, create power point presentations, and various other tasks that come up in my day to day existence. That being said, finding files/photos are tasks that repeatedly challenge me.

With careful planning, I can get through a day without loosing a file on my computer. On the occasions where I need to upload a photo, find a previous document from my former life; I don't know what comes over me. What worked in the past, say five minutes ago, no longer works, not to even mention what worked last week or month or millennium.

If only this would help...

Just gone.  All gone. I waste hours and hours looking for it. Photos? It is too painful. I can't even talk about it. (Head hanging down, voice getting weaker and with a sense of desperation) I ask any young person (say: 2 or 6 years old) and they find it with out even breaking a sweat.

I live in a house full, and I mean full, of people that effortlessly save and retrieve: documents, photos, excel spread sheets; the list goes on and on.  Then there is me. Sigh.

Sometimes, in my mind, I see flares going off over the roof of my house, notifying passersby: computer user drowning inside.  Enter at your own risk.  (It is dark and cold, just like the waters surrounding the Titanic) Send: E(mergnecy) M(etadata) T(echnician).

Then, the picture, document or whatever I was searching for, appears on the screen, how it got there, I have no idea whatsoever.  I welcome it like the Prodigal son. No questions asked, just glad to have it home.

My consolations are: I know where just about every item in this house is: and where to find it.

* I truly don't ridicule or diminish the useful work of this organization.