Juggling Christmas: card mailings, gift buying/wrapping, decorating and maybe a little baking is about all I can handle this month. I am not religious, but I am NOT anti-religious...and yet...someone who rules this universe has decided I am stronger than I think or just not worth worrying about.
I love my husband of 49.5 years... I really do! And somedays I have to tell myself that out loud. He is great at editing my Christmas newsletter filled with all our brags for the year. He is great at giving me a definition of a word when I come across something I am reading in a paper book. He knows history, chemistry, and biology and explains stuff to me. He remembers the names of people I have long forgotten. He is the social animal that keeps me from being a hermit.
BUT...he does not know how to use a computer. I will never understand how he got through decades of bureaucracy using computers when he does not understand the difference between save and save as, the difference between Adobe files and Powerpoint files, how to connect his laptop to the Internet when the signal gets dropped, or the difference between a browser and an operating system!
He is a (very) friendly soul and when someone asks if he will give a talk using Powerpoint slides he jumps right in (he loves to expound). I groan inwardly as this means hours ahead for me helping him find lost photos, lost files and various saved versions of the slide show as he plunders ahead. I wish I was a more patient person. I have taught all age groups in my lifetime and did not find it so frustrating as I do with him. While I did not teach computers, except briefly to my son's high school teachers, I think I would have done well.
I will try to be more understanding as he does get frustrated with himself. Will you all light a candle this season for our silly problem?
I am a Grinch where it comes to Christmas. I stopped doing a Christmas letter or cards a couple of years ago. I offered all my list to join me on FB where I post more about what we're doing. They did not. I feel a little guilty this time of the year but also relieved. It does come across as bragging as very few talk about the negative things of their year. It's always how great it was. The younger generation of my family had stopped them years ago. It could be it will someday be a 'remember when' thing.
ReplyDeleteI don't see a problem. I see you being superwoman, saving him from going over a cliff.
ReplyDeleteConsider it lit. In our case, I am like your husband and my husband is the computer person.
ReplyDeleteYes, i will, as i understand. How such smart people can be so dumb about one thing always boggles my mind (although in our case, it's not about the same thing, but equally frustrating to me as your husband's is to you).
ReplyDeleteOh my, yes, I can relate to this problem!!!
ReplyDeleteWe all have our limits that perplex and frustrate both ourselves and others. One of mine is a lack of vision and aptitude for mechanical things. A DIYer I am not.
ReplyDeleteUh oh. Now I realize how certain people feel about me when I sit down in front of the computer.
ReplyDeleteI'm one of those that doesn't 'do' christmas. also, like you not religious but not an atheist per se. however my understanding is about as diametrically opposed to the Abrahamic religions as it can possibly be. also, it's a rip off of much older traditions. I do enjoy all the lights people put on their houses and in their yards this time of year though.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I wonder how it would be, if we turned off the t.v. and computer (and podcasts and radio)! Even our home appliances are noticeable to our ears. I know because when our power is lost (during a storm at night) I actually wake up from all the quiet! One of these days I am going to try it. Meanwhile on Christmas day, I hope you find the peace of Christmas. Andrea
ReplyDeleteI guess it must be harder to find patience with someone else than it is to have patience with your own inadequacies, which is my problem. And finding someone to offer patient assistance is not easy! If no greater problem presents itself between now and Christmas, I'll be happy.
ReplyDeleteHe should be directed to YouTube where you can learn everything! LOL
ReplyDeleteAlthough, he'll ask, "What's YouTube?"