COMPUTER MADNESS

Many years ago the power of the computer was not as powerful as of today. It is not used as much as it is today too due to the mechanical and technical application to be done before it could be used. I tried to take lessons with no success at all , but now even without the basic knowledge at all I think I was able to apply by being able to learn it in a practical way. I joined writing groups to express myself and the first impression in their comment was that my English writing was weird. Why? I write my story in complete sentences, simple sentences, compound sentences to complex sentences using strictly grammar rules. I didn't stopped writing until I was able to polish how I write my stories and expressed my comments in a more meaningful way until I learned that there are no rules in writing a story. This is an advanced information I'm telling you now. Let me start my formal writing journey because I didn't even go to a school but I joined a writing workshop in the City of Barrie, Ontario Canada offering free workshops for those who want to apply for writing grants to the Ontario Arts Council. In these workshops visual artists, performing artists also attend the workshop where they could also apply for the grant. I didn't apply for the grant but tried to find publishers to publish my children's book This is now the power of the computer coming into play for publishing , without it there is no other way to submit a manuscript to publishers. I was able to published my first book for free but spent a lot after my publisher offered many services to advertised and get my book into the market, at schools, at bookstores at book fairs etc. It made a big hole in the pocket. Realizing I was milked by the publisher I stopped my contract with them. I submitted my second children's book to Creative Space that eventually merged with Amazon so my book is on sale with them and also Barnes and Noble. Until now I haven't heard about my royalties. My computer madness didn't circulate alone in writing but my subscription with National Geographic Magazine where I also joined their panel or something that fosters the writing process when I'm invited to attend. What if I don't have a computer? I have no access to all of these opportunities until lately they asked me to apply for a writing grant to submit a project proposal. The only thing about grants is that I would look for sponsors to match the amount that they would give. What could I say but wonder how I've got this far about my writing. On the technical side of using my computer I broke my all in one desktop computer after I got rid of the first one left to me by my son. I was thankful that I was able to continue to pay the monthly due transferring my account to a service provider that is not well known who offers to join and become a business partner under the multilevel marketing program. The process of recruiting new members was difficult to undertake when more time is needed to do it. I continued my subscription with them until now I'm very thankful that there are no sidelined charges unlike the major internet providers and that they allowed me to connect to the internet on my own when it gets disconnected by instructing how to do it. One time a lady technician was at the end of the phone instructing me to find a hole at the back of the modem to reboot my computer and I said "I follow whatever you say because I need my computer to be connected." We were laughing together when the computer started to work again. That has happened many times that I have no more fear when my computer gets disconnected. To reconnect I would do the instruction given to me. But the hardest thing happened when the technician said my router is already old and I needed a new one. That's really became a big problem for they no longer sell the router that we have paid monthly. I decided to buy a new one and when they are packing it the customer representative suggested that I would buy the router from a [provider because I might fail to connect it but I said I prefer to buy so I will not pay an additional amount to my monthly bill. The sad part when I tried to connect is to contact the manufacturer to assist me. How could I do it when I'm not connected to the computer to send an email? My cellphone cannot contact them too. My last resort is to read the manual instruction and slowly followed the steps one by one that was written in the manual. I tried to unplug and plug it in again then the last instruction that I've read is " When you see an orange color of the second blinking light it doesn't work but wait because this will turn into green. I waited for a little bit then BRAVO on my computer screen says "you are now connected to the internet." Thanks to my provider being so brave to handle it on my own. The next time I contacted my internet provider is the long distance connection of my landline. I thanked them first and related how I was able to connect my new router and the answer is I could now apply as a computer technician I think that's only about the router. Is that not a nice complement? I was happy about it. They cannot solve the problem of my landline right away so they asked me if I have an alternate phone and I gave my cellphone number as the landline doesn't work if they are working on my devices. They called back that their computer engineers would work on it. It took weeks for them to fix it. As I have mentioned above in connection to my writing that there are no rules to follow, this I learned from our group of writing professionals becoming a member after being invited I was offered to attend our training sessions. In our training sessions on You Tube we were given Writing Exercises like describing a character or writing a scenery of our choice. This is done by e-mail giving us five minutes to finish our story. After a few months of attending these writing sessions I was assigned to become an editor. I thank our group for my chance to be here and develop my expertise as a true professional writer. It takes time to become familiar about the mechanics and technicality of computer usage, for those who are trying to learn, it can be a new world to explore wherein the excitement is there for you what benefit can you get from it, i found it myself in the field of writing.