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Thoughts from the Editor

The first time I ever used “machinery” to write anything, I was 10 years old, sitting at my
grandparents' kitchen table in Butte, Montana pecking out a letter to my Mother back in NJ.
It was my grandfather's Underwood typewriter that he was quite adept at using.
I was frustrated because one of the letters kept sticking. The letters weren’t in alphabetical order and my thoughts were so fast that the letter I sent was only two sentences before I gave up.
Over the years my hunt and peck skills haven’t improved much. I still use only two or three fingers and I still look at the keys, but am much more familiar with the letter placement.
One would think that all those years of writing articles and reports would have made me a wiz at this, but sadly no.
I now have the added burden of computers. When we first started using them at the paper, they were small Macintosh computers with separate keyboards and very small screens. The great thing was we could send (or file) our stories from upstairs down to the production room.
But we have progressed so much since then that technology leaves me in the dust. iPads, tablets, readers, iPhones, androids, and more have given us all many choices in how we communicate, but also new terminology and skills to learn. I still am not sure what all the icons mean. I have zero tolerance for remembering all the passwords for every online site that I use and little patience when I get locked out because my first dog’s name
started with a lowercase letter as opposed to the uppercase I typed in 5 years before. Having to ask the 9-yearold grandson how to retrieve something I’ve lost makes him feel good, me-not so much.
What made me think of this is that an arthritis flair with the cold weather had left my right two typing fingers useless. But not to worry my son told me in a text message, “ you can activate your voice recorder.”
Sure, I think, I’m still trying to figure out the voice feature on the TV remote.
I’m so glad wine comes in screw-top bottles.
Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!!

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