It seems to me that most people can be classified as either a “Starter” or a “Finisher”. By this I mean that people tend to either be more comfortable starting new things or finishing them. Or maybe it’s just that I am a Finisher married to a Starter. 
 
I like to finish things! Most nights I stay up late trying to finish something, while my husband often wakes up early to start something. If you ask me, he may start a few too many things; more than he can finish. And if you ask him, he’d probably say that I am reluctant to start things or don’t know when to “let it go”. He’s probably right. But I say, why start something new when there are so many things left to finish? The good news is that we balance each other out.
 
In addition to being a Finisher, I’m literally one of the most directionally challenged people I know. (And I don’t mean that "new" definition of literally, which means figuratively. That’s literally the craziest thing I’ve ever heard ;) Most who know me compensate for my navigational shortcomings which only means that my ability to find my way around keeps getting worse and worse. To keep things interesting, I have a false sense of confidence regarding my sense of direction. It's really weird. Thank goodness for GPS technology. 
 
My biggest gripe about my GPS was, until recently, the fact that it was so slow. So, so slow. My family helped me realize that the GPS was slow because my phone was old. So I took the bold move to buy a new smart phone; a big step for a Finisher because it still worked. To provide a perspective on the slowness of my GPS, I found the AT&T store by driving around town. The GPS didn’t locate the store until I was pulling into a parking space.  So I guess I really was ready for a new phone.
 
I bought a Samsung Galaxy on Amazon and have been getting it all set up. I like it, and boy is it fast. The functionality that was on my old phone is now on the new phone, and I even added a few new things. Maybe you’ll find some of them interesting, and maybe some of them will help you avoid some Tech Frustrations.

• Fingerprint Access - The phone enables me to unlock it with a thumbprint or a pin number. I set both up, and at first the thumbprint was unreliable and more trouble than it was worth. I was even being forced to wait 30 seconds before trying either again. The other night I found the setting that enabled me to re-enter my thumbprint (they call it something like “add a fingerprint”), and now it works really well. In hindsight I’m guessing that the first time I entered my thumbprint I’d just put lotion on my hands. Don’t do that to avoid Tech Frustrations :)
• Bill Pay - I’ve used online banking for years, but never via my cell phone. After adding my credit union’s app to the phone, I used it to pay a few bills. Whoa! That is slick and a lot faster than using a PC. The app also enables access via my thumbprint which is cool and fast. Let me know if there are other online banking/finance apps that you use and like.
• OfferUp - This slick app is like a melding of Craig's List and Pinterest.  It's optimized for your phone and lets you go from photo to "Offer Up" listing (for sale or to give away) in a matter of minutes. I continue to have the most luck with Craig's List, but find the OfferUp experience so enjoyable. I sure hope it takes off. (I also use TrashNothing! and Freecycle in my quest to avoid personal use of the local landfill whenever possible.)
• HP 12C Calculator – The HP 12C calculator app I had on my old phone is no longer available.  So I was happy to find the free app “Touch Fin free” from epxx.co which works fine. If you’re over 30 and not used to RPN, you probably won’t want this app. But if you came of age using an HP calculator, you may appreciate it.
• Springpad – I continue to mourn the loss of my all-time favorite app, Springpad. It was discontinued almost three years ago, and I’ve yet to find even a collection of apps to replace it. The user interface was beautiful and the functionality robust. I include it in this list because I dream of the day I find out that it has been resurrected with a new name or maybe that the source code has been Open Sourced. As I recall there were >5M users, but the company was unable to monetize the app. Let me know if you’ve found it or know of a suitable replacement. (Evernote just doesn’t cut it for me.) 

 
That’s what I’ve finished this week.  (And in the meantime, my husband has started about eight new projects ;)

A collection of holiday Tech Frustrations
 
Tech Frustrations at the holidays are generally kept to a minimum around our house with three notable exceptions; 1. Christmas tree lights, 2. Addressing Christmas card envelopes, and 3. Timers. 
 
Lights on the Tree
In an attempt to “save time next year” we had been leaving the lights on our artificial Christmas tree each year when we put it away. That was a bad idea. Most years, as we attempted to re-light the tree, the lights didn’t work on one strand.  And most often it was the strand in the middle, of course.  This time saving technique turned out to be more (as in way, way more) trouble than it was worth. Last year we took the lights off the tree before we put it away, and this year all strands, which were stored separately, magically worked when we plugged them in. Go figure. And, problem solved.
 
Addressing Envelopes
Years ago, and I’m sure this was more than 20 years ago, a person very close to me commented that Christmas cards that were not addressed by hand might be considered somewhat offensive. Goodness knows that the last thing I wanted was for someone to find my Christmas card offensive in any way. Yet, I was harried. Very harried. Christmas has always been the one time of year when I’ve claimed that being a good working parent just isn’t possible ... at least for me. Especially when one is concerned about offending people. Long ago I ran a failed personal campaign to update expectations and traditions which went over like a lead balloon. But I digress. So, way back when, I cleverly found (or more likely, my husband cleverly found me), a way to order a computer font with my own handwriting! I was so desperate for help during the holidays that I still remember what I paid for it: $100.00 (USD)! While that may sound like a lot, especially 20+ years ago, I will tell you that it has been worth every penny. (This was so long ago that the font was provided on a floppy disk. Click here, kids, if you don’t even know what I’m talking about.)  To this day the font enables me to fake people out in the spirit of Christmas. Or maybe it just enables me to think that I’m faking them out which clears my conscience. Either way, and unfortunately, the font didn’t completely eliminate all frustrations associated with addressing envelopes. Since I paid $100.00 for the font, I feel compelled to use it every year. Even now when I’m guessing that people are so surprised to receive a paper Christmas card that they wouldn’t remember to feel offended by the way it is addressed. This year, I think I managed to address my envelopes using the computer and printer in only five hours. That’s probably about two hours longer than it would have taken me to address them by hand :) BUT … one reason it took so long is because I documented the process in excruciating detail AND the other reason is that I figured it out all by myself (i.e. without help from any other tech expert except “the Google”).  Use the Contact link on this site if you want a copy of the instructions I created for myself.
 
Interestingly, I just used the Google to see that there appear to be free and cheaper ways to get your own font these days. Let me know if you’ve tried any of them.
 
Timers
Finally, because I am chief decorator, energy conscious, and delighted by efficiency, I like to put some of the holiday lights around the house on timers. My frustration with timers has to do with their size and odd design. Do they need to be big or are ours just old? Maybe my husband, who bought them, likes them big. For all I know, he paid extra for the big ones. I have a cool lit tree from Restoration Hardware that has a built-in timer. The timer is built into the on/off switch which consists of two buttons. I have no idea how this thing works, so just randomly start pushing buttons in early December until I notice that it’s going on and off at reasonable times. What’s that about?
 
Christmas Morning
Christmas morning can bring its own Tech Frustrations, depending on the year, but somehow the cookies, fire, and tech savvy recipients seem to make them feel more like fun challenges. As you play with your tech gifts this year, please be sure to report all of your Tech Frustrations via this web site. We’ll be eager to hear about your experiences.
 
Until then, I’ll be writing Christmas notes and hoping to receive some too.

Do you have any Tech Frustrations?  If so, tell me about them on the Tech Frustrations web site.

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Thanksgiving was a low-tech holiday at our house. We fed the geese that live at the end of our street and colored with magic markers. We used a lot of dishes and a lot of dish soap. The oven was put to good use.  FaceTiming occurred and it worked really well, thanks to somebody else’s expertise. There were no Tech Frustrations!
 
My role this year, and each year we host, is something like “head of housekeeping”. I make sure the table is big enough and set, the house is clean, and the guest rooms are ready. I also make sure that there are age appropriate toys in the basement and the serving dishes are ready. Lucky me, not only am I’m married to the “head chef”, but we have extremely helpful relatives who bring lots of the food along with their smiles.
 
Previously I mentioned that I had listened to the audio book the life-changing magic of tidying up by Marie Kondo. While I have not fully adopted all of her suggestions, I have started to use some of them and started to think differently. Basically she encourages you to rid your life of all items that do not “spark joy”. Her guidance enabled me to see at least a few things we had been storing for years in a new light. And some of these things now find themselves in new homes via freecycle, TrashNothing! and craigslist. The amazing thing is that it made a real difference as we prepared to host Thanksgiving this year. Finding things was easier and therefore the prep was more efficient and more fun. 
 
This experience of rethinking the things I chose to keep in my house got me to wondering if we’d all be better off if we also applied some new thinking to the technology we use. Rather than chastise myself for not knowing how to use every single feature on every single device, instead, I think I’ll start trying to simply appreciate the features I do use and understand and forget about the others. I may even delete a few things.  This doesn’t mean that I’m opposed to learning new things, of course, but it does mean that I’ll focus most of my attention on the features I need, like, and use already. I’ll appreciate what I have instead of what I may lack.
 
We’ll see if this helps avoid some Tech Frustrations in the future. Stay tuned.

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​Do you have any Tech Frustrations?  If so, tell me about them on the Tech Frustrations web site.

Subscribe or unsubscribe to this blog.