Off the Record – Computerlessness
This week has been tricky– time compression and computerlessness have compounded hotel fatigue. Newcastle is a hot spot with regard to fuel poverty programs and activities, and I’ve tried to get around as many different people and organizations as I could manage in a short space of time. Managing more than one appointment each day can be difficult, particularly if each session lasts a couple of hours, and there is travel to and from each unfamiliar location. I attempted multiple appointments each day for three days in Newcastle, and it was complicated by technological issues, namely an uncooperative sat-nav, and more seriously, a poorly timed computer failure. With regard to the latter, I melted the little white computer’s motherboard – well, that is what the British tech-guru diagnosed. Does Anglicare IT Helpdesk do outreach to England?
I had anticipated data loss, and was conscious of backing up (semi)regularly, but I did not have a plan for irreversible computer failure. The computer has been essential in typing notes, staying in contact with contacts here in the UK, following up web links suggested in the course of meetings, and to plan travel routes. Without the computer I was flying blind, and my head was exploding with notes that wanted to get out onto a screen. Use pen and paper you say? Well that is the problem. I have truly terrible hand writing and my notes from each session are scribbles that I have to “write up” before I forget what each of the dots and dashes and wiggles represent. Good luck to those to whom I’ve sent a postcard. I learned a long time ago to write straight to a word processor, and now without one I was stuck.
In desperation, I headed to a shopping mall and used the internet lounge to update notes simply by emailing them to myself. It is amazing what waffle you can write when the pay-by-the-half-hour computer tells you that you have 120 seconds to go before your money expires. I eventually found a more permanent solution to my computer issue, and I can now write into the wee hours…
