MY COMPUTER NIGHTMARE

I received my first, very own, personal, laptop computer in the spring semester of 2005, when I returned to college for the fourth time, to resume working on my bachelor's degree (you'd have thought I'd have learned my lesson 14 years ago, when two college careers in the family and raising three young children nearly gave me a nervous breakdown). We'd had a family PC for quite a few years, but I remained quite illiterate when it came to computers. Oh, I could write on a computer OK, but, that was just about all I could accomplish on one. I didn't know how to be creative; I didn't know how to change fonts, or type size; I couldn't adjust my line spacing, justification, or my tabs. I didn't know how to erase a mistake, print anything or maneuver the Internet; I couldn't cut and paste to save my life. Heck, I couldn't even set up my own e-mail account.

Yes, I had gotten my first, very own, personal, laptop computer. I had done my homework: I had shopped around for the best buy, the best quality. Still, by the time it was all said and done, I had spent $1200.00. I was ecstatic!-And I enrolled in school full time. Boy, was I in for it! Did I mention, I have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Bipolar Disorder (and two teenage daughters, one of which, also has the same two disorders)? Oh well, you know what they say about hindsight.

From my very first project this computer gave me trouble. It refused to do anything I tried to make it do. Even when I learned how to do something correctly, it refused to cooperate. It
had a mind of its own. For example, I had a book of poems to print for a printing class. I chose a decorative script type centered in dark blue, in size 16 pt. font, with a nice border.
Then, I went to a book-fold, and set the page setup on landscape. When I'd begin typing, the type would change mid-page; suddenly, there would be a new border (on the same page) when I hit enter; or, if I tried to fix it, I would wind up with five or six boxes vertically, all different sizes, around one, two, or three lines. The text would lose its alignment for no reason; it would change size; I would change it back (many, many times).It would not only change, it got smaller each time (to sizes there was no setting for). In fact, it eventually became so small that, even if you had youthful eyes, you wouldn't have been able to read it!

This wasn't just with the poetry project; it was like this the entire semester,

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