Panicked, I started searching for clues in Google. I typed in the phrase “swapping z for y.” (Except, of course, I had tapped the letter y first then z, well, you get the idea.) A few hits told me that people sometimes wanted to do this on purpose because European keyboards, especially those made for German speakers, did this very thing. So great, I had somehow managed to succeed in doing what others had labored diligently to do, ON PURPOSE. Except of course, hello, that wasn't my goal.
Because I had an extended warranty on my Hell Computer, I could always call customer service and see if this type of issue was covered. Early on, I had purchased a special 30-day, “you can call us anytime” package when I had first received my Laptop in November. An issue of it not being able to read scripts when I was on AOL had prompted me to call them. Since that call had gone so “swell” (i.e., not only the problem wasn't fixed but also my AOL software had developed even larger problems than the original one.), I was loath to try that route.
Of course, some of that may have been my fault. Now, I am all for a global economy — I believe large middle class citizens in any given country spells stability, so I try to be patient when I get “Hank” on the line with a strong Indian accent. Maybe it's just me but when someone starts off lying to me and telling me their name is Hank or Bert or whatever when their name is really Rashid, etc, then I have trust issues popping up all over the place. Additionally, I find when you have to explain the meaning of S-O-L, as in my response to him — “So Hank, then I'm just S-O-L?” well, you've already lost the battle.
Being cranky from a variety of other sources already (a really crummy work project and my head pounding from a high pollen count) I was clearly not up for one of these extended encounters. So I went into my Control Panel, opened the keyboard icon and pressed buttons. I don't know if the pressing of buttons helped, but just as suddenly as the problem appeared, it disappeared.
See, zzzzzzz and yyyyyy — they work.
I'm sure there is a moral to this story, but all that worrying about how I was going to retrain my fingers to reach for z when I really meant y, has knocked any objectivity I may have had, right out of my head.
So, anyway, that's why you're not getting a Genealogy/Internet Blog today. I know, it sounds a lot like “my dog ate my homework,” but that's how my day is going.
Until Next Time — Happy Ancestral Digging
Note this post first published online, September 20, 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02
©20 Sept 2007, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder
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