First class efforts: Stolen summer, online life

Goodness, I'm not sure what disappeared faster -- the days people call summer or my life online.

One moment I was encouraging my husband to get the pool open by Memorial Day. Today, just days from the traditional last big splash, I realize only my feet have touched the pool water.

Equally surprising is how quickly the online landscape changes. It seems like it was just last week that I was twittering, filling my Friendfeed, blogging and keeping up with sites like Publish2, Pinterest, Plurk and so much more.

But goodness, a Social tab in Gmail  hides Twitter messages that try to lure me with what's being said and StumbleUpon sweet summaries of the best. The Feedly set up to replace Google Reader is locked in a laptop that decides randomly if it will turn on. The spreadsheet that lists my social homes and magic words is garbled and unreadable on a thumb drive that landed too close to a big magnet.

Tell me again how much I'll love Windows 8.

Tell me again HP how you can't find anything wrong with the laptop that you could not save anything from because the hard drive was destroyed.

Tell me again why my backup device won't work and my iPhone battery has less energy then a person with multiple sclerosis on a hot, muggy Michigan day.

Just don't tell me I've become a curmudgeon who resists change ... unless you are sending those words to me in an envelope with a first class stamp.