Tech team is family

I have a highly trained technical support team available 24/7. The core team includes three technicians, however in emergency situations temporary technicians can, and often are, recruited as needed.

My staff has prodded me into astounding realms of new technology. It started years ago when I dropped off the CEO of my technical support team, my husband, and he tossed a cell phone through the car window as I pulled away from the curb. It was his expert way of avoiding my argument that I didn’t need a cell phone because I knew where all the pay phones on Meridian were.

A few years later, I convinced a friend to ghost text a message to my son for me. His response was immediate and cautious, “Mom? Is that you? Are you OK?” He thought someone had stolen my phone because the text message was long and readable.

For my birthday, two members of my technical support team, my son and daughter, gave me an I-pod Nano. Getting it to work wasn’t hard, but buying the music from I-tunes, and loading it onto the I-pod required a team effort. They gave me in-depth lessons. I still get stuck sometimes and call them to ask things like, “What does sync mean?”

Most of the time they’re patient and use terms I understand, such as, “it’s the button with the thing that looks like a lightning bolt.” But if they get short with me, I remind them that I was patient when I taught them how to tie their shoes.

For years I teased my daughter asking her about her “My Face.” The first time I called it that was a mistake, but the other hundred times, it was to watch her roll her eyes. Her eyes got really big when I told her that now I have my own Facebook. My son got his around the same time. He encouraged me to play Farmville, supposedly so I’d check my Facebook regularly, but I think he just wanted another neighbor.

This year I ordered our Christmas photo greeting cards online from Costco. My son’s girlfriend was enlisted to help since she took one of the pictures I wanted on the card. The challenge was loading that picture from an email onto my computer and then sending it to Costco along with another photo. The card turned out beautifully.

The latest project my expert team has helped me with involves this column. Since I’ve enjoyed writing it so much, and my year as a guest columnist is ending, a few friends suggested I start a blog. My son volunteered to show me how to set one up. I’m a little worried because it was so easy. It’s still “under construction,” but if you’ve liked reading my columns, there will be more on starklooseends@blogspot.com. I’m a writer not a techie, but I know where to find a techie when I need one.

Laura Keolanui Stark is a freelance writer. She can be reached at lkstark@yahoo.com or her blog.