Commentary by Cherie Jung

Some days I feel 93 – some days, not so old even as I am.

Today is one of those “feeling 93-years-old” days.

All of my muscles and joints ache. My head is throbbing. Sitting, walking, and standing are difficult. Plus I’m locked in a battle with my computer.

I want to FTP (upload) the new book review files and new fiction files to post on the omdb! website. Our webpage host’s computer keeps cancelling my request. I’ve also been trying to download an audio book to review. Between being told… “Shucks. This product isn’t available” and my password being denied, I’m not making much progress on that task either. Sigh. 1,372 emails were just dumped into my “Inbox” – a few minutes ago there were no emails. I doubt that any of these 1,372 are new emails…and I’m hoping there are none from my dead sister. (Longtime readers of these commentaries will remember that periodically my email server digs up old, deleted emails from years ago and occasionally tosses in old emails from my sister who has been dead for about 6 years now.)

I’m in a cranky mood.

I don’t want to read books from a cloud, or listen to audio books on my phone. My cell phone is a “dumb” rather than “smart” phone, and I’m fine with that. I only use it to call paramedics if I fall out in my garden and can’t get up…

I’m weary of waiting for my computer to connect with a website and being repeatedly informed,  “that page can’t be displayed” or queried if I’m sure I have the correct address – Uh, yes, I’m certain. I’m using their link, not to mention, I’ve been there before. I’m equally weary of ending up looking at the dogs of Amazon because their links aren’t working when I try to purchase a book. Don’t get me wrong, I like dogs…especially big dogs…I just don’t want to see them while I’m trying to buy a book online.

Update: in the past two hours, I have been unable to FTP any files. I have also been unable to “purchase” my free review copy audio book download. Somewhere between the page that indicates I have 1 credit and it is applied to the audio book I want to download and the next page – which is supposed to be the final checkout and confirmation page – I end up, repeatedly, with a “Looks like you don’t have any items in your cart…” message.

My Nook is in my sock drawer, I think. My cat Bob used it more than I ever did. He liked to swipe the “pages” with his paw, though he frequently moved the pages in the wrong direction – backwards instead of forwards. I think by now the battery is probably dead anyway.

Final progress report: No FTP files transferred. 1,372 bogus emails manually deleted in increments of 25. An email confirmation that I have successfully purchased the audio book that it claimed was not in my cart. “Listen now?” Sure, why not, I thought and clicked the “Listen Now” button. Ha! Surprise! I need to download an app for that. An app that refuses to download, or at least has refused to download for the past 46 minutes, no, 71 minutes, no, make that 95 minutes, 96, 108, 122…157…187 minutes…275 minutes…but then, who’s counting?

Me! That’s who’s counting. More time wasted. More aggravation.

To be fair, I don’t know whether or not I’ll ever be able to download the app I need in order to listen to this audio book…or any audio book because my main problem is that the past 4+ hours (4 hours and 58 minutes, to be exact...) have been spent just trying to get to the app. I’ve had my sign-in challenged 11 times, and then my password challenged a dozen or more times, then new passwords and security codes assigned and rejected. At one point, I was warned that I would be locked out from downloading the free app for 30 days while my security information was updated, then repeatedly assigned new security codes again, and eventually directed back to where I had started over 4 hours earlier…and asked to sign-in again. I think not.

It’s 2:47 a.m. and I don’t want to hear an audio book anymore.

My computer is old and tired, like me. It is clear that we are being passed by when it comes to up-to-the-minute technology. We can’t keep up…and I’m not sure we want to.

P.S.:  I wrote this piece 7 nights ago. As of this morning, on the 20th, I am still trying to get it FTP-ed to the website...

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