Computer shopping adventure
I’d like to think I have a sense of adventure but that hasn’t translated into buying a new computer.
My workhorse Dell desktop would be in middle school if it were a child and I live in fear of the blue screen of death appearing like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse when I’m on deadline. An external hard drive has been in place to alleviate some of that concern. I refuse to admit publicly how long my computer was connected by dial-up to the Internet although we’re fully wired at this point in time.
But it was long past time to upgrade. Bert and I have been shopping around, to the point that our heads were likely to explode from all of the choices and information. Our stop at Best Buy produced a young “blue shirt” by the name of Bridger, one year out of high school. He was knowledgeable and courteous even when at one point, while he was describing the features on a laptop we were considering, I started to chuckle and admitted that he may as well be speaking the language of a lost tribe in the Amazon.
It’s not that I don’t embrace technology, just don’t ask me to explain how a fax machine works, and I’ve owned a cellphone for over two decades. I’m a smart phone user who is lost without it. It’s just that I like familiar and the thought of learning a new system and computer and programs is daunting. I also lack a wee bit in the patience department.
So a week later we returned to Bridger at Best Buy and walked out with a new Dell laptop that cost more than my first car and a large monitor for when the laptop is functioning as a desktop. I’m taking baby steps on setting it up and familiarizing myself with everything. This week’s column is being written on my old desktop in a program I don’t even think exists in today’s world, Pagemaker. Baby steps.
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On Jan. 17, 2008, I was emceeing the Post Falls Chamber's Annual Banquet. During the evening I felt a bit clammy and muddleheaded, but finished the event. I told Bert that I was feeling "odd" and didn't want to go home, I wanted to go to the emergency room at Kootenai Health. That decision saved my life.
At the ER within minutes the doctor told me the bad news was that I was having a heart attack but the good news was that I was at the hospital. Within 30 minutes I was receiving two coronary arterial stents. I was 55 years old. Today I'm 64 and since 2008 I've enjoyed 3,286 bonus days. Every day is a blessing.
Don’t wait for Heart Health Month to learn about heart disease, which claims twice as many lives every year as all forms of cancer combined. Visit www.heart.org.
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The newest member of the Main Street Birthday Club arrived on Sunday, Jan. 15 at Kootenai Health. Welcome to the world, Cooper Charles Leary! Weighing in at 7.6 lbs and a lanky 22 inches tall and making his parents, Shaun and Megan over-the-moon happy, Cooper’s grandparents are Jan and Dan Leary; Paul and Debra Rich and John and Pat Motley.
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Happy Birthday today to Kenna Smoot, Travis Chaney, Mike Webb, BJ Holinka (70!), Suzanne Bowers, Amanda Kralicek, Kristy Walsh, Mike Taylor and Nina Tikalsky.
Tomorrow Austin Isakson, Wade McLean, Roy Carlson, Gavin Krieg and Terry Drapeau take another trip around the sun.
Bob Short, Mary Spridgeon and Larry Sackett share birthdays on Friday.
Ryan Davis, Chelsea Camarata, Nicole Jones, Carrie Beals and Mary Crosby blow out the candles on Saturday.
Eric English, Analisa Raynor, Nora Horn, Larry Spencer, Angie Phillips, Glen Abbott and Peggy Brothers will celebrate on Sunday.
Chelsea Dickinson, Daryl Gankema, Joy Lynch, Paul Lash and Jamie Crawford mark the date of their birth on Monday.
Sue Myers, Marion Richardson, Tina Nowoj, Kylie Frank, Josh Adams, Cindy Shepperd, May Lynn Hammon, Ed Santos, Danelle Reagan, Jillian-Kate Scott and Acaja-Lyn Scott share Jan. 24 birthdays.
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Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email mainstreet@cdapress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kerrithoreson.