RE: “Use Linda’s computer”

Yep, spot-on; a capital idea!
-1) I dutifully waddle into her ‘pyooter-room, bowing humblee to the incredibly wizened advice of my all-knowing, vastly superior siblings, siddown, and fire up her machine and Internet-Explorer.....
.....Which I have done in the past, just like similar PCs all across this great country. —So I can check my e-mail and fiddle FlagOut, parrying the almighty Bluster-King.
The process is irksomely slow; no macros, and respond directly to the reply-box. No spellcheck without a lotta horsing around (although she does have the Google toolbar spellcheck) — expect fevered pontificating from Steno-Queen.
It can be done, but takes about twice as long as my machine. I can’t run circles around the bluster-boy like I do with the so-called “silly MAC.” (He probably wants to slow me down to his speed.)
-2) Next item of business: fiddle my Excel Schedule-A file.
But what ho?
No Excel app.
And even if she had it, will it magically open a data-file on my hard-drive?
Okay, so we network by e-mailing files back-and-forth — have before.
She can’t open the attachment without the app.
-3) Next item of business: update my Quicken files.
Again, what ho?
No Quicken app.
And again, even if she had it, it can’t open a data-file on my hard-drive.
So again we network via e-mail, but she can’t open the attachment without the app.
Simple, yaz all say. Just network your two machines and install Excel and Quicken on Linda’s computer. (Or better yet, dump that silly MAC in Canandaigua Lake and perform miracles on an XP PC — [um, I had to fix the Greenie myself, the Lord didn’t do it]. Yessirree Bobby, an XP PC will open files it’s not connected to.)
Except the time to do all this is more than straightening out my so-called “silly MAC.”
I can’t just “use Linda’s computer” to magically open files on my hard-drive, especially when she doesn’t have the apps.
Sure; I can fiddle FlagOut and do my e-mail from Linda’s PC, if I accept it taking twice as long as my machine; about the same as any ‘pyooter all across this great land.
And FlagOut is only about one-third of what I do — add the e-mail, and we’re up to half.
I can’t “use Linda’s computer” to fiddle my Excel Schedule-A spreadsheet, or update our Quicken accounts. (Any ideas, oh all-knowing great ones?)

I’ve already configured the dreaded MAC to fiddle Quicken, and can do my e-mail — even my non-Internet e-mail [Netscape/RoadRunner — and that’s about a third].
And I did this post with Tiger [10.4] on the so-called “silly MAC.”

RE: “Use Linda’s computer” was the response from my all-superior siblings, who use Windoze PCs; whereas I use a so-called “silly MAC.” “Linda” is my wife of nearly 40 years, and she has a PC-laptop, very similar to the one she used at work. I have used it on occasion, but there are many ‘pyooter-functions I can’t do, because the files are in my ‘pyooter, and she doesn’t have the software applications. I had the awful temerity and unmitigated gall and horrific audacity to upgrade my operating-system from OS-X Tiger (10.4) to OS-X Leopard (10.5), since I had upgraded from Jaguar (10.2) earlier, but Leopard lacks the Classic-mode which many of my software applications are — plus I have to use Appleworks-5 (a classic application) instead of Appleworks-6 (OS-X) because 6 doesn’t have the macro-function; which I use a lot. (E.g. “the awful temerity and unmitigated gall and horrific audacity” is a macro.) So I had to reinstall Tiger, but it was a clean install instead of an upgrade, so I had to reconstruct my old 10.4 desktop on the new install. —The gut reaction of my all-superior siblings was to “Use Linda’s computer.” Same deal with Internet-Explorer; which I use little in preference to FireFox.

“FlagOut” is our family’s web-site, named that because I had a mentally-retarded kid-brother (Down Syndrome) who lived at home, and loudly insisted the flag be flown every day. “Flag-Out! Sun comes up, the flag goes up! Sun goes down, the flag comes down.” I fly the flag partly in his honor. (He died at 14 in 1968.)

“The almighty Bluster-King” (“bluster-boy”) is my macho, loudmouthed brother-from-Boston.

“Steno-Queen” is my brother-in-Delaware’s wife; she is always correcting my grammar-and/or-spelling, claiming she is all-superior because she once worked as a stenographer.

“App” is software application.

“My Excel Schedule-A spreadsheet” is my Excel spreadsheet for 1040 Schedule-A.

“The Greenie” is our old John-Deere riding mower. Two years ago it needed a battery-cable replaced.

“XP” is Microsoft Windows-XP.