Computing for Geezers

Here's a piece written about the challenges that computers bring those those of us of "a certain age."

Those of us over the age of forty remember the good old days, when Rapunzel was a prisoner in a tower, an apple was red and delicious, mail came with a stamp, not a chirp or chime, and a laptop was the cushion where we cuddled our toddlers. But by the late 1980s, home computers made their presence known, and geeks and nerds began to make their living introducing new uses of words into our vocabulary.

While my mother and father may have shared the joy of a bowl of ice cream every night, they had two different views on the home computer. My mother wanted nothing to do with it, not when my dad first purchased one nor when her grandkids wanted to introduce her to Facebook. But oh, how my dad enjoyed his computer. He loved surfing the Internet, and would often pass along the joke of the day so prevalent in the early days of e-mail. I’m not sure he ever fully caught onto the intricacies of the computer, and I can only guess what he might have done had Facebook been around before his death.

Unlike our children, those of us in our golden years didn’t grow up using computers, and so we had to learn “on the job,” so to speak. As a writer, I spend a great deal of time at the computer screen, but I feel technologically challenged as I watch my seven-year-old granddaughter, the lovely Madelyn Simone, navigate on her tablet and my laptop and cellphone screens.

I believe I’ve crossed the line of knowing just enough to be dangerous, but there is such potential in the world of technology that I’m just not adept enough to access. And I’m guessing I’m not alone in this among my over-sixty friends. So what do we do to catch up?

A first step is to acknowledge that we’ll never catch up. An understanding of how to operate a computer wasn’t injected into our DNA at conception. We didn’t learn this in elementary school, so it’s not our fault. I still may not “get” Twitter or LinkedIn, but I’m not the only one.

If we appear technologically challenged, we come by it honestly.

But we can experiment. Nowadays, the early dangers of losing an entire document are less likely, as there are automatic save and recover functions, not necessarily true in other avenues of life.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. In lieu of paying a real expert, there’s lots to learn on the Internet. Make sure you’re using reputable sites if you’re googling. The “help” function in many programs contains exhaustive information about how to fix page numbers in a document or how to change note values in Finale. And there are limitless videos posted as tutorials or trouble-shooting sessions available at our fingertips thanks to YouTube. There are helpful “for Dummies” books out there as well, often found at the library book sale for $.25. As the proverbial saying reminds us, it’s never too late to teach an old dog new tricks – it just takes a patient teacher.

It also helps to talk with friends. If you’re a photographer, talk with other photographers; if you’re a writer, with other writers; if you’re a grandparent, talk with your grandchildren (they’re much more patient with us then our children are when it comes to computers). Other fellow wanderers may not have all the answers, but at least they can commiserate with our sense of failure. Do you know how good it is to hear: “Gee, I thought I was the only one who couldn’t figure out how to crop a picture, center a column, or edit a Facebook post.”

Here are a few helpful hints. Look for reviews that repeat the words, “user friendly.” Beware of “reply to all.” The “find” function in Word is a life-saver. Learn to report offensive content and to block insistent game invitations on social media. Become best friends with the “unsubscribe” click on e-mails. Spammers are required by law to have a “remove from mail” function, although sometimes it’s hard to find. Be persistent. But don’t sweat it if you get ads for Russian brides or certain medications to improve performances of many kinds. Just delete them and send them on their way back to Russia or parts unknown.

When I was an active Salvation Army officer (pastor and administrator), I understood that my job would never be finished. I would never study enough, organize enough, learn enough, visit enough, or pray enough. Nor could I please those who saw those deficits in my performance. There is a similar thing going on with technology. We’ll never fully get it, especially those of us who’ve come to the world of computers after high school graduation. When you’re frustrated, remind yourself that even the computer geeks can’t always figure out the technology.

I fully understand my mother’s hesitancy toward the computer age, but I’m glad for my dad’s genetic influence and example that encouraged me to befriend Google. It’s no coincidence that the www prefix in websites stands for the “world wide web.” There’s an amazing world out there in the land of computing, available at the touch of a fingertip in the comfort of our own homes. And just think – we can access it all in our pajamas! Happy computing to you.

Healthcare Secrets

How do Americans talk about our health? We’ve come a long way from the days when we whispered about Aunt Suzie going into the hospital because of “female problems.” HIPAA regulations may protect a patient’s right to privacy regarding medical records, but many people do speak quite openly about their health, articulating specific prayer requests, posting comments and photos to social media, and even giving “organ recitals” when asked, eliciting my response: TMI (too much information).

How I wish “TMI” was the problem with the life-and-death healthcare decisions being made in Washington, D.C. these days. Instead, we’re caught in a bubble of TLI – too little information. If the American Health Care Act (Trumpcare) passes as approved by the House, what will it mean to us? And how much will it cost?

We ask these questions regarding most life decisions, including medical care. Thinking about a knee replacement or a tummy tuck? The questions are simple: what will it do for me, what are the risks, and how much will it cost? I might look a bit better on the beach this summer with some help from the plastic surgeon, but at the cost of considerable pain and a $6000 out-of-pocket payment? Nah, not worth it to me. But when a knee replacement offers a new lease on life, a $2000 out-of-pocket fee sounds like a worthwhile investment.

Is it too much to ask our elected representatives to reveal the details as they determine the affordability and accessibility of medical care for millions of Americans? Shouldn’t those serving us in the House of Representatives and the Senate articulate the benefits and risks to Americans, and know how much the American Health Care Act will cost in both money and lives before voting for the bill, not after?

Why the secrets? David Leonhardt offers his take on the secrecy: “The effort to take health insurance from the middle class and poor and funnel the savings into tax cuts for the rich is a little like mold. It grows best in the dark. That’s why Republican leaders in the House handled their bill as they did. They did not hold a single hearing, because they knew that attention would have been devastating.” Is he right?

But the “other side” did it this way too, didn’t they? I’ve heard that comment often, so I looked at what happened when the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was passed in 2009. The New York Times reported, “In June and July 2009, with Democrats in charge, the Senate health committee spent nearly sixty hours over thirteen days marking up the bill that became the Affordable Care Act. That September and October, the Senate Finance Committee worked on the legislation for eight days – its longest markup in two decades. It considered more than 130 amendments and held seventy-nine roll-call votes. The full Senate debated the health care bill for twenty-five straight days before passing it on Dec. 24, 2009.”

Is it time to lift the veil, to release details and hold senate hearings? Insurers are concerned, as Catherine Rampsell of the Washington Post reports: “Will there still be an individual mandate? Will the Trump administration continue reimbursing insurers for the discounts they are legally required to give to poor people? Will there be huge cuts to Medicaid?” And our own questions. “If my neighbor with cancer loses her job at sixty, will she be able to afford insurance? How much will it cost to have a baby (asking for a friend)? Will my adult son have to live without insurance again?”

Here’s my plea to Congress. Ditch the secrets. Schedule hearings. Let the people of America hear and speak. If we can handle the details of Aunt Suzie’s female problems, we can handle the details of the AHCA. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy knew this about us: “We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.” It’s time Washington remembers who Americans really are.

Investment

From time to time, my mother would tuck a roll of Reed’s butterscotch or Regal Crown sour lemon candy in her purse, a special treat for us on Sunday afternoon car rides or physicians’ waiting rooms (not church – no candy in church). I learned a tiny lesson in patience with those candies, as it took time to peel off the paper, and then more time to savor the hint of butterscotch or the tart lemon flavor. As I spotted both variety of sweets on the shelf at the newly-opened Village Point Market in Hayesville, I wondered – is it possible that those golden discs might taste as good as I remembered? And could I still wait until the very end to crunch into them?

While the presence of Reed’s butterscotch, Royal Crown lemon drops, the chalky-white candy sticks (formerly known as candy cigarettes), and a multitude of other sugar-coated childhood favorites may draw me back to Hayesville sooner rather than later, there’s much more to be discovered on the shelves, in the deli cases, and throughout the patio at the new market. Cheeses and meats, pies and produce, and a flourishing assortment of plants, attractively displayed and ready for purchase. And yes, ice cream too!

Kim and Ben Ferguson and their family and staff have turned a long-empty shell of a building into a bustling hub for the Hayesville community. Instead of heading to Loudonville or Ashland for a gallon of milk or a pound of sugar, Hayesville neighbors will be able to walk to “the corner store” once again. And although Hayesville doesn’t have an interstate exit to call its own, I’m guessing that the Village Point Market will soon become an Ashland County “destination.”

While I’m always happy to discover a new source for ice cream cones, there is much more to this than dairy products or retail therapy, because Village Point Market is a symbol for both restoration and investment. In the past, the structure at the corner of SR 60 and XXX was a place of work, where men and women toiled on a daily basis, earning a living for themselves and their families. Like so much in life, the time came when their labor was no longer needed, and the brick walls no longer sheltered its workers – only the dust of neglect.

Yet now, the space has been reclaimed, reshaped, and restored. Having seen some pictures on social media, I’m guessing the restoration project included some blood, sweat and tears on the part of the Ferguson family and their helpers, as they labored together to bring their vision to life. As Ben told Ben told the Times-Gazette, “I grew up in the community and I've walked by that building ... and to be able to really improve the community has been very rewarding to my wife and I.”

True restoration begins with vision, but can only be completed with the investment of time, money, and hard work. Thankfully, investment of that sort is happening in our downtowns, our neighborhoods, and even in the lives of our neighbors. Restoration is taking place in warehouses repurposed as sacred ground, in homes receiving a facelift, and in people claiming the hope of recovery from addiction.

We may be tempted to leave the work of restoration, of investment, to those we perceive to have deep pockets or exceptional skills. Of course, LeBron James can afford to invest in the youth of Akron – he’s got more money than most of us can even imagine.

Fortunately, Ashlanders aren’t waiting for their bank accounts to overflow – instead, they’re courageously investing in bricks and mortar, in entrepreneurial adventures, and in the future of our children, because they know that investment in community can be accomplished one corner at a time, one child at a time. Perhaps, like Ben Ferguson, there’s a corner you’ve walked past for many years that longs to be restored, or would benefit from a regular litter patrol or a scattering of wildflower seeds.

Here’s hoping investment in our communities will continue. But even more, might we be spurred on to invest in each other, because, as Henry David Thoreau understood, “Goodness is the only investment that never fails.”