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How does one become competent with today’s electronics when as soon as one learns the basics like turning on ones car, computer or camera, the car, the computer or the camera changes models and all of last years things become obsolete?

When I mention to some one under 50 that I have a new car they get all excited and begin to talk about all the new things on the latest model and ask me all sorts of questions. First they ask me how I like the new changes. I tell them for the most part I don’t like many of the changes; no key for instance, a steering wheel that if you aren’t careful the buttons thereon will do all sorts of things you don’t understand yet, and all time 4 wheel drive just to name a few.

First the no key thing means I either have to wear clothes with a pocket or take a purse with me. Having no key means I have to have on my person or on my body the ‘clicker’ device that will sense I want to unlock the door, it will adjust my seat by automatically throwing me up against the steering wheel and raise the seat to a place where I can see over the steering wheel, then if I push this big round button in the right place and with my foot on the brake it will engage the engine. Recently I sat for a full two minutes cursing the new system to turn on the engine until I realized that my husband had adjusted the seat to fit his legs and because of that I wasn’t reaching the brake pedal.

Not getting with this program of a new way to turn on the ignition keep in mind that the first vehicle I operated and drove was about 64 years ago and for the next 64 years a key would be the only way ( except to hot wire) to start the engine. Old habits die hard. But it is not the keyless thing in my new vehicle; it’s how to lock the car, what the different bells and whistles do to call you to attention. I left the car one day and thought I had locked up but this different noise called me back to have a look and what had happened when I glanced inside was to notice I had not put the car in park. Good thing I was on flat ground and didn’t roll.

I have a friend who has the same car as I and she admits that she doesn’t know all the stuff on her car either and suggests we might get together and teach each other (with book in hand) the things we know and trade secrets of the automobile. I never wanted the GPS on my car and I don’t have a Bluetooth so I can drive and talk with both hands on the wheel yet. BTW, while I was driving the Mule around the other day 3 year old Maddie Hacker said to me more than once, "Granny, put both hands on the wheel!" I will say she had good reason to admonish me in that way because the last time they were out here for Mule ride, I rode off the road just a little bit.

Now to the subject of my computer, I have had a computer for about 14 years I suppose and I have in that time had four computers. I am told anything over 4 years old is considered prehistoric. This newest computer is about or nearly two years old and of course it had new stuff I didn’t want and never asked for and I had to have some of the old stuff that I was familiar with put on this one.

The computer supposedly is updated almost every few months with the newest things coming out yearly and I haven’t’ learned the most recent rudimentary things. I was at the Hackers the other day and Carrie, mother of the twins, Katie and Maddy asked if I would like to see how Katie can play games on the computer. Well I figured she could turn it on and that’d be it. Well no, she can find the game in list, click it and then she can work the mouse to change the clothes on the fashion doll like a pro. I mean she knows where the icons for shoes, hats, dresses, etc and the mouse goes like lightening to that icon, Katie clicks and voila, the fashion chick is dressed. If you are new to computers you might realize that the mouse is one of the harder things to control. For me it was like rubbing your stomach in circles while patting your head! But this tiny mite is only 3 years old! She’ll probably be on Face Book when she can navigate that page. And she and her twin sister play lots of games on the computer. I never got the hang of the remotes at their house back when Nanny Mary and I were there every day but they knew how.

It was Katie who taught me how to use the little roller wheel on the mouse. I knew it was there but didn’t have a clue as to what it would do and I never touched it being afraid I would do something irreparable. You all know this but I was surprised to know it would move the page up or down and other things I can’t remember.

The whole series of F numbers across the top of the keyboard are unexplored by my fingers and the set of numbers on the far left the calculator I have not touched. Pretty much the only keys I use are the alphabet and the numbers 1-0. The others remain a mystery.

My camera is not complicated to most people, but to me still a challenge. It has several settings and if I am not careful I will take a movie when what I wanted was a still picture or vice versa. I was printing out some pictures for a friend recently on my printer and I kept getting thumbnail pictures when I had clearly ‘told’ the printer that I wanted 2 photos to a page. I had printed three pages with what looked to me like 12 thumbnails. Upon closer inspection I noticed that these 12 images were all just a tiny bit different then it dawned on me that I was printing the movie images in slow motion. Oh duh! Why can’t you teach an old dog new tricks? I know the new tricks come too quickly.