Bump's Stump

Getting old is a pain in the neck and not having to work has made it worse. It's my own damn fault.  I should have been more realistic when I made plans. My wife of 54 years is the brightest shining light I've ever known. I have no wish to do anything she has a good reason to object to. No, I'm not getting off the subject. This is important to understand because she objects to many things.  I know every one. I have known for years that she is timid and is not keen on new adventures. When I actually pulled the plug, closed my little business, and began talking to her about the future . . . I had my eyes opened quickly. I suppose we should plan to live at least 10 more years. It seems prudent at the moment. I had developed a short list of things I would really like to do. I wanted to sell our house, move to a small apartment in a slower moving and less frantic community. There's no way she will (or should) leave her job with her brother Jim. I've accepted that....

I bought an Apple with Great expectations. Friends kept pushing and I finally jumped ship. I had been using pc for over 20 years and the change was expected to be traumatic. It was. Now there is  perfectly good (but very old) Gateway pc sitting next to my new Apple iMAC 21". Before making the big move I tried to read about the Mac. That seemed to confuse the issue and didn't help. So I elected to accept that the new machine would be smarter, more intuitive, easier to use, and more or less, better in every way. Well . . . . I learned a valuable lesson. Never listen to friends.  Granted, my new iMAC is impressive and does many things very well. My surprise is that it does so many things NOT so well. In fact, after a couple of months struggling with the new (to me) and strange,and incomplete operating system of the iMAC, I am convinced that the old semi-reliable Gateway pc has one hell of a lot more to offer.  I am certain that: once I PURCHASE 2 or 3 special prog...