Those 70ish Girls

By Val Halla

MG said she would teach LAV a lesson to help her with the blog app. I call it “Blogging for Dummies”. This happened a few years ago. MG knew LAV needed help if she was going to co-write with her on the blog using a computer writing program. They both had a lot of stories to tell from Murdo to California with embellishments galore over 70 years of living on the edge. Well, maybe not on the edge. Maybe writing from a safe spot off Interstate 90 or the 101 freeway or from an RV. It was all good.

Lav- also known as Val – jumped right into the blog world not knowing how to add pictures, edit, move text, etc using the app MG had found over 10 years ago. MG had a large number of followers and she wanted to educate her cousin on how to proceed with a skilled polished style of writing. Lav needed help.

So the two cousins sat down in their hotel room in Mesa, Arizona. MG sensed Lav’s anxiety about two minutes into the lesson as Lav broke out in a sweaty, clammy pale look on her face. She grabbed a towel from the bathroom and started blotting her dripping, perspiring face. She tried to look attentive. She tried to seem nonchalant. She tried to look ready. She looked more like a frightened boxer right before a knockout and the punch was coming from a computer generated shot. It felt real but it wasn’t.

“Okay, Lav, hand me your iPad. I’m going to show you how to use this app and you can help write some good stories for my blog,” MG calmly directed.

MG proceeded to demonstrate how to use tabs, the drop down something, the editing tools, the tiny icons and what they did. She showed Lav where to find pictures both original and ones from a free photo library or how to take pictures yourself then post them. Lav never could figure out how to add pictures to what she had written. Text came out all wonky in a narrow column. People couldn’t read it.

MG remained calm, cool, really cool, and relaxed as she showed Lav the tech stuff. She never broke a sweat once. She’s a pro.

Lav was astounded at how serene MG was.

Would someone please turn the AC on?

Lav was already feeling lost in this tech conversation. She took notes but who knew what this info meant? And where would she access all these tools? She wrote down bits of knowledge on her notepad as fast as they came her way. She abbreviated a lot. What’s JSO mean? Ohhh- Just Start Over.

MG was not only an accomplished writer, but she knew how to use the app and its features.

MG said confidently, “And then you can click on this here, see, plus there’s this little symbol. See? Then you go here- click – and you can add images if you have downloaded them and they will appear here…hmm…Why are we seeing those? Oh, yeah. Here they are! See?”

MG instructed Lav step by step as she showed Lav on the iPad screen. I think at that point Lav was still stuck on what symbols meant and where were they again? The lesson was moving along quickly.

“Now let me see your phone. Where’s the WP app?” MG patiently asked.

“Don’t you have the app?”

LAV wasn’t worried anymore about perspiring. Now she was dealing with trembling and twitching but only in a few places that weren’t too awfully noticeable like her eyes, her mouth, her shoulders and her hands. Oh, and she felt her knees kinda jiggling. It was all overwhelming. MG didn’t seem to notice.

“I don’t know,” Lav responded. “Uh, I think I gotta lie down.”

What could she say? MG was being so kind to help Lav. How could Lav recover and get better at writing and using computer tools? She needed MG’s assistance.

She curiously wished they could have ham and beans for dinner. Hey, that would make this all feel much better. Ham and beans? Nah, that wasn’t going to happen.

Thanks, MG. I’m going to figure

it out .