I'm not sure just who thought this would take an hour a week, but I think you were wrong. Next time, perhaps you should have some less advanced guinea pigs so you get a more accurate assessment of how long this really takes. I suppose we could put us all on a bell curve and maybe I'm just way out on one end, but listening to other people I don't think so. There is way more information here than I can absorb and act on in an hour; just looking at other blogs easily takes up the hour. This week the adventure has moved to a challenge with different time constraints in play. And for this adventure, I found that when things didn't click, I forgot some basics, like hit enter (which is not part of the directions) so of course I wasn't successful, which lead to frustration.

IM was fun, when I found someone to talk with and got myself up and running and remembered to hit enter. That took probably three or four hours. I still prefer talking on the telephone to IM programs, although I could see the advantage if all my kids were on-line at the same time. But they are much faster typers that I am and probably would much rather talk to each other without me adding my two cents worth. And I'm usually trying to be asleep in the middle of the night though so no advantage there. I really prefer face to face; I like to get the feel for what someone is saying with the body language as an added bonus. I think it interesting that we (some parts of society)want to "Kill Your TV" but are choosing to spend more and more time on the computers and we are okay with that.

IM is just one more way to communicate. I can see where someone might say something without thinking things through all the way and get themselves in trouble. Sometimes when things are written down, they have a different texture than if you said the same thing to someone face to face. And sometimes we think we are being very clever and we aren't. I think it is an easier process for people who have always had computers around, and allows for quick contact with someone who you might not otherwise call on the phone or chat with at any given time. I see my kids (the 30 to 40 somethings) use it and stay in touch with freinds who they would otherwise probably lose contact with because there just isn't enough time in a day to keep in touch with everyone. And, it's easier if you have a computer that you aren't sharing, you are logged on and you are using the computer all at the same time. I certainly see the advantages for some but I'm not sure it will be me long term.

So, I'm not sure what the problem was today but I had a terrible time getting in to post this new comment. I need to keep better notes, I guess. Perhaps it is fatigue and I just didn't realize what mistake I was making. Enough for now though.