I’m an old dog and new tricks do not come easily.  I was at the Family History Library the other day and Friend Irene and I started talking about all the hidden charges in about everything you sign up for.  My pet peeve at that moment was the $100 fee I get charged at the beginning of every year to keep my Microsoft Office functioning.  

I bought the software decades ago and used it for ages.  Then, a few years back, I started getting messages in January telling me to update my subscription or access would be denied.  I guess I thought I could use the software indefinitely.  My view at the time was, “This is blackmail.  I have no other choice.”  So, I’ve been blackmailed for the last few years.  I click the button to allow payment and fume under my breath for a few days, then forget about it until the next year.  Well, Irene told me I had options.

The best option, she assured me, is Google Docs!  It is free and more versatile than Microsoft and basically, I was not very smart to still be using Word and Excell.  So, we started the arduous process of getting me an account.  The problem here was I have had several gmail accounts over the years and don’t know the password to any of them.  Sound familiar?  Well, we created a new account, which got me thinking if everyone in the world has three or four or ten gmail accounts where is all of that pollution going?  And what dimension will I be in when it pops up to haunt me?  Maybe St. Peter will say, “Not coming in here until you get all that waste taken care of.”  Yikes!  

Back to my intro to Docs.  My first opportunity to use Docs instead of Word came when Friend Janice, who happens to be Irene’s sister-in-law, asked me to take minutes at the Museum Board meeting.  I scribbled notes and put them in Docs the next day.  Things were going well until I finished and went up to ‘File’ looking for ‘Save.’  There was no ‘Save.’  Perhaps this was a preview for people who pollute cyberspace with multiple gmail accounts…no saving for you.  After I took a few deep breaths and started exploring, I did find the file.  Seems that in Google Docs saving is automatic.  All I need to decide is who I share with, and that started this old dog on another adventure.

Just FYI I am writing this article in Word.  I know how to save and send in Word with no deep breaths or worries about being saved.  Life is Good as long as you keep one foot in the familiar while trying the unknown.  We will see how this learning curve goes.  I anticipate if Docs proves to be too much, there will be no fuming about a $100 subscription fee come January! 

Editor’s note: We almost missed this column, because Google quarantined it as spam from an unrecognized address.  IT giveth and it taketh away!