Saturday, November 8, 2014

Word of the Week 11/07/14

This past week my life was taken over by my broken cell phone, a computer with issues, and research on self-hosting my blog so my Word of the Week just had to be:


I have been completely out of my league this week as I have been consumed with technology issues and questions.  I have learned a lot about various forms of technology…but have also been reminded of how little patience I truly have.  Windows 8 and I do not get along AT ALL!  From the first day I turned on my new computer I was at a loss.
  

I have never claimed to be technology savvy by any means but I could manage my way around my old laptop and was able to fix minor problems that came up along the way.  That was on Windows Vista and to my surprise Windows 8 is NOTHING like the previous versions and I have quickly learned it does not like me.  As my patience wears very thin and thoughts of throwing my laptop have now become threats spoken out loud to it this past week.

After the first few weeks to a month I thought that I had worked out all of my issues with my new laptop and Windows 8 being new to me but little did I know it was about to get worse than I ever believed possible!  One day out of the blue, “IT” decided I was no longer allowed to access certain websites.  Yes my computer was now telling me I was not allowed to view websites that in my opinion “IT” chooses and as those affected I need the most.  An error page will pop up instead of the website that states, “Your connection is not private.  Attackers might be trying to steal your information from (insert website here).” 
I discovered this when working on my blog one day and trying to log onto Twitter but it did not stop there…

First it was Twitter, then Microsoft, only to have the list grow adding up to an important list of sites I really need to access and use.  When it first popped up I thought, WHAT?!?!  Not Private?!?!  How could that be?  I hadn’t changed anything so why did it change on me?  I checked the things I was capable of checking and from what I could tell it was set to private so why this dilemma?
 
After some Google research I found that it was an error that commonly occurs with Windows 8 and 8.1 but was unable to find a solution to my problem.  A friend and fellow blogger’s husband suggested refreshing the entire computer as that should fix my problem.  So this past week I finally found the courage to refresh Windows 8 and my entire computer after hours of backing up files as it is a form of reset and I was not taking any chances!  To my frustration and with non-existing patience left towards technology this did not correct my problem.
 
I must admit that this is the most frustrating thing that has ever happened to me in regards to using a computer at home.  I find myself now stuck with a non-working computer without a clue as to where to go from here.  The person I would normally ask to step in and help has not yet used Windows 8 therefore cannot come to my assistance, or so that is what I think.  I have resorted to using my cell phone to access Twitter and the list of other sites no longer allowed on my laptop but what I really need is for Windows 8 and I to finally get along and agree not to give one another problems from here on out!  And to think this was just the beginning of my week… 

My next bought with technology came in the form of my cell phone, yes the same one I am relying on these days to get me through the computer issues at hand.  I have become accustomed to having to use a headset with a microphone to make or receive phone calls for some time now, despite going through two or three over the past few months.  But, this week, of all weeks, my cell phone has decided not to recognize the headset when plugged into the device.  So now what because that meant was no more phone calls for me.  That is until my husband offered up his Bluetooth.  Another quick solution that I thought should carry me through until I could afford to purchase a new cell phone.  All was well for a day, until the charger for the Bluetooth fell apart in my hands while taking the device off of it.  Great, at this point I felt technology had it out for me as I was now left without a working phone and a computer that totally hated me!  Ughhh is all I could think as this is really going to cost me!

The week brightened up a bit, technology cursed and all I set forth on researching self-hosting my blog.  Something I have wanted to do for some time now but was not yet sold on the idea.  Do you blame me after my history with technological difficulties this week?  I have been learning as much as I can on the entire process of switching over and the end results with much confusion and so many questions.  

Finally, my fears were set at ease as I was sold on the idea after a lovely two hour chat with my friend Debbie from Deb’s Random Writing’s.  With her encouraging words as well as her do-it-herself wisdom and helpful hints I realized it really is easier than it sounded like to me.  So I have done a little more research and am happy to end the week saying although technology still scares and frustrates me I will be making a big change here at Welcome to My Circus as I will be officially self-hosting my blog sometime before the New Year! 

How was your week and what would your word be?

xx
Lysa




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