It's Weird

 Was looking around on Amazon the other day only to discover a mug with "It's weird being the same age as old people" boldly printed on the front. It got me to thinking about becoming what appears to many as being an "old fart' and wondering how close I am and if I will admit it.  (Brief pause...) Actually I think I may be there and have no trouble admitting it.  I sometimes think I would wear the Old Fart hat with some degree of pride and a pretty good sense of humor.  (The thing is ... I just don't wear hats... or hardly ever.)

What makes me think I belong to this senior citizen group -- other than my age?  It's simple really.  I love paper maps -- have an entire drawerful even though I rarely go anywhere which involves the need for a map.  Sometimes I take them out to just look at them and to see where things are in relationship to each other.  My Geography skills have deteriorated.  (I also have an atlas. I love it.)   Then there is the fact that I adore receiving hand written letters and write them myself if my fingers are having a good day.  Another clue -- I have fond memories of the days of S&H Green Stamps and phone books. And... I have a manual pencil sharpener screwed to the wall of my garage.  I remember the days of wet wool mittens and polyester was yet to come. We ironed everything including handkerchiefs.   Yep -- I am of that vintage for sure and committed to it. Like I have a choice....

Perhaps I should buy the hat I also saw on Amazon that reads...  "Hang in there. It gets worse."  The only thing I am completely sure of at the moment is that those of a certain era need to stick together. It's a matter of support and of just plain fun. We appreciate many of the same things. Those things bond. We "get" each other and laugh at the same things without any explanation needed.  It's nice really.  Very nice. 

Today I am heading to a monthly gathering of my graduating class. I am looking forward to it big time.  So fun.  Am also feeling thankful ....  

Hope for the Technologically Challenged

Last week's blog was about setting goals and trying to move forward in positive ways.   So..  of course I reminded myself of that when looking at the box containing the WiFi extender that I had ordered from Amazon... the one I had been looking at for several days as it reposed quietly on the kitchen table.  The key words here are "looking at".  There is an important difference between "looking at" and figuring out what to do with it.

You would think I was trying to formulate a plan to save the world or something when all I wanted to do is to be able to access the Internet from the back guest bedroom and perhaps out on the back patio. Technology scares me.  Even trying to deal with it is a personal challenge.  

The thing is -- the description of this "thing" said easy installation. Easy?  As I understood it, all I had to do was plug it into a wall socket and push one button to activate the connection to my current router and extend the WiFi capabilities.  Whoever wrote that description lied.  I hope they, at some point in time, find themselves confronted with a box they are trying to ignore -- a box containing something they want to figure out, but are struggling with... a box that haunts.

Here's what I am thinking as I write.  Today is the day to stop rereading the six step instructions and get it done.  If I fail, I have options.   I can try again tomorrow or ...  I can beg for help from my grandkids or wait until my son comes from Indiana for Thankmas -- whichever opportunity for help comes first.  

~~~~   So...

Day One -- After rereading instructions for the who knows how many times, I plugged the extender into the wall socket - the first of the 6 steps described in the instruction booklet. TA DA!  Success with that first step -- plug in and turn on. Downhill from there.... worked on it off and on all day.  It was total failure as the flashing blue lights on the gadget indicated, but ...   I succeeded in not taking a hammer to the device and ... after considerable thought ... opted to try again tomorrow  I did, however say a bad word ... just one ... but it was a beaut.

Day Two -- Repeat of utter failure.  Tried working through my router directly rather than through my phone.  So much for suggestions found on YouTube.

Day Three.  If at first you don't succeed, ask Chat GPT. It was a good "listener".  I described both methods I had tried unsuccessfully.  It offered a step by step  method that sort of combined working through my phone and through the router - the two methods I had tried with no luck.  Chat GPT is smart and easy to talk with... conversational really. Success in under five minutes.   Ta Da!!!  Nothing quite like the solid blue lights of a working WiFi extender.

My conclusion?  Chat GPT offers hope to the technologically challenged and doesn't talk to you like you are an idiot.  Refreshing.  AI (Artificial Intelligence) that really is intelligent.  Yep  SI (Super Intelligence) is more apt when talking about Chat GPT.  

I am advancing.  From now on -- I am going forego instructions written by someone for whom English is a second language and also skip YouTube videos.  I am going straight for "the" Chat GPT.  I wonder if it could motivate me to clean out my garage?  Might be worth a shot. 

Ain't No Place for Sissies

 Was it Bette Davis who said that "Old age ain't no place for sissies."?  I mean, if you are "lucky', you get to that stage where you sometimes forget how old you are, start reminding yourself to stand up straight when slouching is easier  ... and ... to pick up your feet if there are throw rugs in the room.  Considering this and other things you are thinking of-- perhaps it is time to take a personal inventory.

Challenges are not just for younger people and neither are goals. With that in mind - as well as from talking with others -- I think that many people function better with a To Do list -- hardest things at the top of the list so that if you do only that one thing in a day, you know you did something that matters. You did the hard thing.  That's important -- to know that you can.   Ever feel that way? (It's also fun to check things off the list... morale boosting.)

It may be easier to sit, but actually it is way more rewarding to get up and move a bit if possible,  and to accomplish things or to make the effort ... to realize once again that you are in charge of your own life and can decide what it will be and become. Or -- you do the best you can do.  Every age has it's own unique challenges. Aging is no exception to this. ( Notice the difference between the words "growing up" and "aging"? Huge...)

Actually  -- if you think about it, "the later years" are not or may not be, the hardest time of one's life. (Even thinking back to the adolescent years makes me shudder a bit...)  Think back and realize what you have accomplished in your lifetime in spite of what your trials and tribulations were/are,  and then set some goals, figure out a way to overcome some of the current challenges. That is what you have always done in your lifetime.  Don't stop now. Modify if necessary, but continue on. Perhaps these challenges are just another path to personal growth of a positive nature. We can do this.  Trying counts.

It's also okay to talk to yourself.  Actually I think that is what I am doing with this week's blog. 

By the way ... BlogSpot tells me that From Pencil Box to Keyboard, had almost 2000 views this past week and over 7000 views in the month of September, 2026 - the highest ever.  I have no idea why.....  Seriously ... Thank you, once again, for reading my ramblings.