Not okay computer

by Rick Johansen

I have two simple questions for you, the second of which is not relevant if you come up with a different answer to me with the first one:

  1. Why is everything so fucking complicated these days?
  2. Or is it just me?

I’ve had one of those mornings today where I wish I’d stayed in bed. None of this is apocalyptic end-of-the-world stuff, but modern problems on steroids. Simple things that leave me a quivering, angry, neurotic mess. Look at this short list.

  • I’m trying to re-establish online links between my NHS account and that of my local medical centre. Despite eight visits to said surgery, online messages and too many phone calls to count, it still doesn’t work. The latest news is that I need to take some physical ID to the health centre in order to prove who I am. This is their third request and I took the ID down after the first.
  • It took me 46 minutes to arrange an Amazon return, speaking with two different people, having to explain things twice.
  • Trying without success to find out from our vet what’s happen to Reg the Cat’s tablets. (My partner called in the end to sort things out.)
  • Failing to register my online details with a local organisation, despite following their instructions to the letter and having already paid them a (for me) huge sum of money.
  • Tried and failed to register with a business that would enable me to (legitimately) acquire tickets for an upcoming gig via a pre-sale.

Seriously. As I asked above, is it just me?

I am not in that bad a place at the moment, or at least I wasn’t in a bad place. I’ve not long returned from a great gig in Birmingham and while clinical depression isn’t just for Christmas, or whenever, mine feels like it’s on the backburner at the moment. However, my ADHD has seen me virtually explode.

I honestly think I am not some kind of Luddite, who rejects technology and prefers the old ways. I spent insane amounts of time online, either on my computer or my phone and have a decent understanding of how it all works. But stepping outside of my comfort zone, like actually doing something a bit different, then I’m fucked.

Some of the situations have been satisfactorily resolved but not before they pumped up my stress and anxiety levels into space. Although I am not great at following any but the most straightforward instructions at the best of times, I was pretty sure that in everything I was doing today, I had followed each step assiduously. Yet I can’t have done because everything seemed to be incredibly complex and I got to a point where I had to stop and shout ‘FUUUUUUUUCK!” several times. “I GIVE UP.”

Has this IT malarkey gone too far? I’m sorry to disappoint you (although mainly me), but I’m afraid that it’s hardly started. An IT expert I spoke to a while ago said, “We are currently in the Stone Age when it comes to computers. You ain’t seen seen nothin’ yet!” as if he was in Bachman Turner Overdrive. That’s another way of saying, if you think this stuff is complicated, then just wait for what comes next.

Honestly, I thought IT was our friend. Yes it is for much, if not most of the time, but when it gets confusing and you are not a computer whizz kid, I sometimes feel a desire to acquire some cash and purchase a pen and a notebook. Today, and not for the first time, IT has been my enemy.

In many cases, I will now have to phone or even visit the places with which I have IT issues, which rather misses the point of the technology era. And phoning anyone with a query over something about which I possess limited knowledge and understanding can make things even more stressful. Maybe I picked the wrong week to have my blood pressure checked?

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