I invite you to log onto the home page - www.thealzheimerspouse.com - and read the weekend blog about my first experience with hiring a computer expert. It amazes me how much these people know and can do.
Joan we are all thrilled you have found some on-site help with your computer. I think on-site works much better for us older users. I need hands on demonstration instead of someone telling me what to do over the phone. I hope this will relieve some of your stress and if you can ship Sid out with the dog guy every week or two that would be great for both of you.
I don't think I'm clicking on the right thing. Joan's blog doesn't mention the computer guy. The most recent is about the doctor visit and the movies.
I wish Joan's guy made house calls to Texas!!! LOL!!! If it's not easy easy, I usually have a problem with my computer. I think I was born about 40 years too soon to be good at this. I still think of it as a fancy smancy typewriter. Maybe transmission to Tx is just slow.
You probably need to "refresh" your browser. If you have Internet Explorer, go to the top where you type in web addresses. To the right of that is a little square with up and down arrows. Click the arrows, and it will refresh the page, so the new blog should show up.
sweet, i can`t do much on the computer, am a two finger typer and am lucky if it works out right, wish i knew more, my small grandkids know more than me, but i must admit i am self taught, and i say again thanks for this site, wish i had some funds to send you , living on a small budget
Don't ever apologize for not sending a payment. I purposely am not charging for the use of the site, because I want it to be accessible to everyone who needs it. Those who are able, are helping us all by their generosity. And are helping put money into the economy, considering how expensive these computer specialists are. The cheap ones are $50/hr, and it goes up from there. The guys with the Masters Degrees who can do the really complex stuff are $150/hr. and up. So if anyone wants to make a lot of money, get a degree in computer science.
I just couldn't believe how much today's computer guy knew, and how easily he worked his way around the Dreamweaver software. He said I should take a night course in software design at our night college. When? In my spare time? I ordered the "Dreamweaver for Dummies" book, and it's so thick and complicated that it's sitting on my bookcase shelf. I use it as a bookend.
Joan-don't feel bad. I've given up on some of the "Dummies" books, too. When I was very new to computers I asked a young man at Sam's if he thought it would be good for me. He said no it would be too hard and recommended something else..
Joan, the best way to learn how to do web stuff is to find a web site you like and then look at the source and see how it's done. Also, if you see a javascript thingie, google it - a lot of times there are very good javascript help pages for specific things. Less is more though; the fewer script things the better (you need it for zazzle, etc, I know). There are a LOT of very helpful pages out there on the web if you google around. And free. Don't buy books to learn how to do things, unless they're very cookbook-y.
When you are redesigning your web site, Joan, would you consider putting your blogs toward the top and the advertisements along the bottom of the Home Page. The first few times I was on..I didn't even notice your blogs. Just like Briegull said, "Less Is More" and the older we get, the more "lotsa icons and so many choices" confuses our already stressed out and confused minds... This is only one suggestion...and it's your page...so you get to do it the way you want! I love reading your blogs...you write so well... And you know what they say about opinions...everyone has "one", right?
Oh, dear. I have an appt w/a computer 'doc' soon & I know that there will be no problem while he is here. Happens that way all the time. I have many younger people around but they are often too hard to catch and sometimes they can't fix the problem either. So this will be the first time I call in an expert, we'll see how it goes. My problem, and I admit it, is that sometimes I really don't want to make the effort to learn new things. altho when I was younger I said that I'd never get that way.
Betty, I'm exactly like you. They sit there and click back and forth and show this and that..and I'm saying "OK" "uhhuh" and it's looking so easy with him doing it. Then......he leaves and I can't remember the first thing he did. I like things written in "steps"...Step 1...do this Step 2 do that... I have lost all of my learning skills.
Yes - I am going to streamline the front page, including putting the blogs closer to the top. The reason it is so darned cluttered now is because of the technical problems I had putting things on the side. Unless you run a website, no one can possibly imagine all the time and work that goes into it. I surely didn't. I am not kidding when I say that I need a full time staff of 3 to handle all of this, but I have been trying to do it all myself. Can't be done. All of the changes will take time - over a period of months, but this week, I will be looking into getting someone in here to do a lot of background organizing. As for learning to do computer stuff - This is the way I teach others computer stuff, and this is the way I insist someone teaches me - I use a notebook, rather than pieces of paper that get lost. I watch what the expert is doing, and then I make him tell it to me slowly, one step at a time. I do exactly what Nancy B said. I write it as Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, etc. When the guy was here yesterday, I flipped open my giant 3-ring binder - went to the page that said - "Add new boxes to the side", and went through the 13 steps that I had written down when Joel taught it to me. The guy was impressed - said I did everything by the book, just as I was supposed to. Then he replaced 3 of the steps with better ones, let me write them down, and watched me try them out.
Nancy - you haven't lost your learning skills. You are using strategies to help you learn. Nothing wrong with that.
Betty - when the computer doc comes to your house, tell him you need to write things down in steps. Years and years ago, when home computers were just getting started - It was during the time of Windows 3.1 - anyone remember that? I had a computer expert living across the street from me. I got into trouble all of the time, and he would come over - click, click, click, zippidy fast, and he would then go home, and I'd be sitting there in a stupor. That's when I came up with the Step Notebook idea.
Joan, The more you share with us, the more we can appreciate why you need our help to pay these computer geeks (that makes me laugh!) to keep you calm and sane. Count on me for continuing help, - I can't do more than that.
And, you have all become such friends and I feel like I know everyone...if only by name, Sunshyne, Bluedaze, Briegull (!!), NewRealm.. I used to just sit and watch TV or read...when all was done, and now I can visit all of you...and share your days.
Joan, don't you have a background in Speech? Go to my box and address the subject of my husband's inability to speak. Is that an Alzheimer thing?? He might have had a mini-stroke if it wasn't AD. He's in the early Severe stage. (our doc doesn't refer to number stages) He scored 11 out of 30 on his most recent mini exam.
Nancy, yes, losing the ability to speak is part of the dementia process. I say dementia and not Alzheimer's because it does not matter which kind of dementia is involved. Somewhere between stage 6 and stage 7 they lose the ability to talk. Stage 6 is severe dementia. Stage 7 is the end stage. And you can go online and see descriptions of the stages and figure them out for yourself. It really does help to know which symptoms are coming up.
My husband scored 11 out of 50 in his last mini mental exam (there is more than one type).
Joan: Several yrs ago I began renting rooms to male students from a nearby college. The first one was a computer whiz and kept adding things to my computer. One day he offered to wire my house to get high speed internet into all the bedrooms so I followed him around the house as he installed wires under the eves & i handled him the plastic staples to hold it in place. Any day I expect the house to launch into space. All computers operate from mine and, by and large, I don't understand most of it. It was fine when he lived here, now he's moved on to another state & we do keep in touch. When I have problems he'll often take over my computer and while I sit like a bump on a log, he maneuvers everything on my screen and life is good. It all got messed up when I had to change to Time-Warner and they came out & got it all right again. But if mine goes down, they all do & I have enough wires under my desk to light up half the city. All goes reasonably well now, but I think it's my own computer that needs the tires kicked. Originally I'd have notes on scraps of paper & on my bulletin board, etc, and now I like the idea of a book--keep it all in one place. Took me forever to become easy w/cut&paste, things like that and I was a whiz at all office machines before they all went electronic, but my mind set isn't always in the 21st century. Those gears in my head just don't always want to keep moving. But he's giving me a senior discount--wish that helped my lack of learning skills these days.
I was such a dunce with "cut and paste"...and my daughter taught me to cut and VASTE..use the "V" key. That was years ago and I still mouth "VASTE" when I hit control V. Hey! I can do it!!!!! right??? VASTE worked for ME!!!
OK, so I said to my daughter that the Spouse website has a thread about computers & this woman said 'vaste,' and what is she talking about. So she told me about that & I said, 'but I just use the drop-down menu to cut & paste.' So she said this is just another way and so=so=so no wonder it gets so confusing!
When I first used to teach secretaries to use computers, back in the early 80s, they really didn't like the mice. Much preferred to keep their hands on the keyboard. Even with the earliest macs, apple-c (command c) was Copy, apple-v was Paste, apple-x was CUT, and apple-z was ZAP. Apple p for Print, Apple-s for Save, Apple-w for Window (as in close the current window). Highlight a word and apple-b will bold it, apple-i will Italicize it, etc etc. Now that's macs - but Windows has exactly the same thing, with the control key instead of the apple or command key. I wrote a whole page of "avoid-a-mousies"...
I've sometimes been accused of doing everything so fast that the person I'm trying to help can't keep track. When that happens, it's because I'm basically pushing the RESET button like Hillary Clinton. You know how sometimes you are trying to go somewhere you've been before and you make a wrong turn and get hopelessly lost? Well, you can do that with computers as well. You can get things so bolloxed up that you need to start all over again. Sometimes just turning the computer off and starting over helps, or clearing the cache, but sometimes you need to have a bunch of things done THAT YOU WILL NOT NEED TO DO AGAIN!! And you don't NEED to know all the steps to clear it up because it's highly unlikely you'll find yourself lost in that neighborhood again.
Joan needing to put more items on the sidebar - that's different, that's something she needs to write down EXACTLY in her notebook. But not everything does fit in that category. All that said, I'm as likely as anyone to watch carefully and write things down when someone does something, so I can do it again.
It took me a couple of times of calling the cable guy before I learned: if the cable connection isn't working, so I can't get the internet, STOP. Turn EVERYTHING ALL THE WAY OFF, including the cable modem, the router, etc. GO look for the mail, get a cup of coffee, feed the cats. THEN come back and turn on the modem. Count to fifty and turn on the router. Count to fifty again, until you see the lights burning constantly, not flashing, THEN turn on the computer. Haven't had a computer guy here in years. (my son doesn't count, he only knows Unix and Linux. Refuses to consider Windows and is a bit condescending to macs. I don't LIKE linux, thank you.)
Briegull, you continue to amaze me. Totally! I feel so inadequate tonight. I wish I could turn my life off, Reboot, and start all over again. If only it was that simple. I'm at the point of making a list of where all my lists are.
briegull, in my last job the rule was that you called me BEFORE you called our computer guy. When I first went there he did our company and another one and was not our employee. Calling him cost the company money. I walked so many people through turning off their computers and WAITING for all the crackling sounds to stop completely that after a while, they would call me and tell me they had already done it and were still in trouble. I had half a dozen other people trained to stand over their co-workers while they turned things off and WAITED before turning them on again.
As the Company got bigger the computer guy not only stayed all day, he had staff. But when people would come to him with questions, from time to time he told them they were questions for ME to answer, not him.
I was a power user, but not a techie. I did software, not hardware. We made a great team because between us we could take care of almost anything. And, even when I didn't quite understand what he was talking about, he could come to me and talk something out. When I did understand I could add stuff to what he was thinking about. And when I didn't understand, I asked reasonable questions, which also helped.
When I worked in the school system, we had 7 schools in our town. Every classroom teacher, therapist, administrator, and office worker in every school had a computer. Not to mention the computer labs. We had TWO computer guys. Now there was a job to have - We would jump up and down, hug them, and cheer, when one of them came into our office!
Years ago when our law firm really got into computers there weren't hardly any tech guys around our small town. Finally found one just starting his own business. We always called him for tech issues and I did the software stuff - we made a good team. We kept him for almost 20 years - then I retired- and the firm started using someone else. BUT---whenever I have a computer problem at home I always call him - he doesn't do house calls - except for me! And he doesn't charge me anything either unless there is some part to buy. He's a gem. He said I helped him when he was getting started, so the least he can do is help me now. Plus- he always hangs around and visits with my DH - they get along great!
I think we're about in the same boat here, Starling and Vickie. At Brown I was the go-to computer person for (by the time I retired in '97) almost 100 people, mostly software, but at home I could take apart my own PC, etc. But there was a computer repair department, several guys whom I respected and who respected me; they'd send people to me. I could usually solve problems and not have to call them.
But as every school year started, and they got in bright young student interns, I'd have to start all over again teaching them that even though I was an old broad, I knew what I was talking about when something didn't work. The young "men" were the worst chauvinists!