I’m getting too old for this…

Commentary by Cherie Jung

And so is my computer, or I should say, so are my computers.

I’ve an old XP that contains most of our morgue files – those coded in the old .htm format (which isn’t fully compatible with the newer .html coding format) and another old computer rebuilt last year when it crashed that is still limping along with Windows 7. And there’s another CPU at the far end of the queue that hasn’t been willing to turn on reliably in quite some time. If I remember correctly, it is also running on the Windows XP format. But who knows?!?

There’s not much I can do about my age and declining health but I dare say it’s time to upgrade our computers and increase our line speed. (When I had trouble recently with the dial-up phone line we use for the website, the service rep remarked she didn’t even know that computers could go as slow as 50.6 Kbps. I assured her they could and that they can even go as slowly as 28.8 Kbps but practically nothing will load at that speed.)

So over the next couple of months we plan to upgrade our computers and such. I’m going to have to convince Sparkle – he hates that name, by the way – the last of the feral cats living in our computer room to allow the DSL installer to work in the room unmolested.

It’s a long story…Suffice it to say, Sparkle has an attitude and after 18 years, considers the computer room his room. The other cats in our household have to get permission from him to even enter. Sometimes, I do too.

And now something more related to mystery and crime fiction…

Last summer several readers complained that there were too many cozies being published and promoted. This spring I was hearing a similar complaint only readers were complaining about too many thrillers. Publishing trends vary but since I read a wide variety of mystery and crime books – both for review and by personal choice, I can’t say I’m bothered by those trends. I can always find something I want to read. However, if you have a particular fondness for only one type of mystery – let’s say historical – does it become too frustrating or annoying if the trend is more towards legal thrillers or psychological suspense? Or can you find enough historical mysteries to keep your reading list full?

Any thoughts on the matter?

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