Technology--"It's Really Simple"

Jim and I have heard that phrase too often in the last weeks.  I would like to think that we are reasonably intelligent, somewhat tech savvy, and able to follow directions.  But we have been frustrated as we ventured into newer items of an electronic sort.

First, there is our new furnace and air conditioning system--run by a digital thermostat.  We let the fan run continuously and just change the temperature at night.  One of these days we will hold our breath and change it to the heat mode.  Apparently we can even regulate it when we are away from home by adding an app.  We are not quite ready for that yet.

Then there was the new TV for the basement purchased from Best Buy at a real bargain.  We set it up trusting that we did not need the Geek Squad because we were told "It's really easy."  We did get it set up but found it would not connect to Comcast.  So we contacted Xfinity, they came out, and not only hooked up our basement TV but also set us up with a new box and a remote that is voice activated.  Wow!  We say "CNN" or "PBS" and it finds the channel for us.  We're not sure if there will be a $60 charge on the next bill--but if there is, it was worth it.  I do mourn the password we had for years--the Fibonacci sequence--but Jim couldn't remember how it went and chose an Ethiopic word which was more his style.

Then there were the problems with our four year old iphones.  Jim's was charged at night and dead by morning; mine refused to text until I turned it off and back on again.  Jim has been saying for a while it was time we traded them in and yesterday he convinced me.  We spent well over an hour at Verizon buying our new phones, getting all the gear that the young lady convinced us we needed, and listening to her say "It's really simple to transfer everything from the old phones to the new ones.  Just follow the directions."

We tried.  We really tried.  Jim managed to get everything but email on his.  I could not even get that far because it said I had not backed up the old stuff when my settings clearly said that I had.  So we headed to the Apple store and despaired of a 1 1/2 hour wait.  We went back to the Verizon store which was not busy at all.  Jacob (who said he really went by Hank!) helped us with great skill and patience.  It was clear to me that even he had to do some problem solving but he was not discouraged or dismayed.  All my favorite apps (Dark Sky, Fitbit, NPR, Hilton) are there now and I haven't lost any photos or videos.

I feel as if I am a password generating machine.  I know it is not advised but sometimes I'd like to change them all to one easy to remember code.

Time to clear out all information from the old iphones and mail them in for a refund.  Hope we can do that with ease.