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I’ve just taken delivery of an up to the minute, spanking new computer and I’m finding it hard work setting it up and getting going, so I’m keeping the old one going while I get used to the new one. But when I’m up and running with the new computer its going to be so much better.

 

My old computer is a dear friend. We know each other, but we’re not functioning as well as we used to. We get stuck more frequently. There are so many things I can’t do. I can’t open many files attached to emails. I used to, but now all that comes up is “Sorry this view is not available”. I can’t load the software to handle running a website. I slow down and often I don’t have enough memory. I have to remember not to do too many things at once or I run out of memory and the whole thing seizes up and closes down.

 

A bit like me really. Only I can’t just send off for a new computer and discard the old one. I’ve got to make do with the old one and try and work out what is causing the seizing up and how to release a bit more memory. You can buy extra memory for the old computer. We did that, but actually it didn’t seem to solve anything - obviously something fundamental is causing it to work less well than it did. I also used to be OK (after a fashion). I did wonder occasionally if I was only functioning in part of me, I felt a bit shallow - was there more I wasn’t tapping into? But I got by. Had the occasional breakdown, seize up, overheat. But not enough for anyone to get a ‘mechanic’ in for more than a cursory glance.

 

Now after a good run at life, seemingly functioning pretty well, I’ve found the breakdowns are more frequent, the lack of memory, especially working memory, almost a permanent problem. Frequently nowadays, just as on my old computer, a message pops up on my screen “There seems to be another network running underneath the one you are using - do you want to shut it down?” I press the ‘yes’ button, but it keeps on appearing. If I knew why that happened I could do something about it...

 

But now I’ve found some (mostly old) files that I didn’t know were there, ones that were taking up space and making me feel shallow. Sometimes they pop onto my screen without any warning. When that happens occasionally I can find the ‘close’ button. Often I can ‘minimise’ and carry on with the intrusive file in the background. But other times the old file overwhelms and the system shuts down and I need time out before ‘booting up’ again. In the end I’ve had to find an ‘engineer’ who is happy to take on a long term project and work on the memory and seizing up problem while trying to keep me up and running in between times.