No, not the iguana in the photo below (how cute is that face)? It's me ... I am feeling a lot like a dinosaur these days. I don't know if I've mentioned before how much I hate change? I do ... I always have ... I always will.
I have no problem admitting that I crave stability and predictability, I'm happiest when the rhythm of my day to day life stays pretty much the same. For me, it allows the most possibility for creativity in my life when the day to day stuff is under control.
I know that this is polar opposite of how many people feel, most of the creative people I know are at their best in the midst of the madness. You know ... creative expression of chaos and all.
Not me, I tend to sort of shut down creativity when things around me seem a little out of my control and this past year has been a perfect example of that. There have been so many huge changes in my life, everything from my career to my kids all being grown and away from home, (far away from home). And for me ... I've had to stay very focused on getting settled in to my new routine.
It's no secret (as so many of you have taken time to point out), that I spend very little time here in J Land these days. Although, being busy and focused elsewhere is one of the biggest reasons I haven't been around much, it's not the only reason. Here comes the dinosaur part.
I have been a member of AOL for over 10 years now, being part of this community has always been very important to me. As upset as I was about the whole banner ad thing I still stayed when so many of my friends jumped ship, lifetime AOL'er right?
Truth is it's not so much a brand loyalty issue ... it's more the lack of interest and drive to figure out how to switch providers and still keep my journal. I remember how difficult it was for some of you to figure things out when you switched to AIM (before the whole free AOL thing).
It's way past time for me to make some changes and move out of the dark ages. In a couple of days, I'll be getting my new dell notebook and will be switching from dial up to cable/wireless. YAY!!! I told you I was among the last of the dinosaurs. (a slooooooow dial up system has made it much less fun to write, as you might imagine)
Anyone have any advice on what I'll have to do to access Dancing in the Rain once I terminate my long overdue contract with AOL?
AOL is free now, right? I am one of the very few still paying for dial up right? Anyway ... don't want to loose my journal, my friends or my e mail address. Any help would be appreciated
15 comments:
Coy!
Good to "see ya". Can't help much here, except to say that I'll follow you wherever you decide to go.
Nancy
http://journals.aol.com/nhd106/Nancyluvspix/entries/2007/02/17/ice-and-sky/1371
Hey Coy....So good to ear from you.
I don't have any answers. With broadband, I just switched to the free AOL to hang onto everything.
Once you are wireless with cable, just call AOL and tell them you have your own provider now and want to be free. Everything will be the same, as far as signing on with AOL and using your journal. You just don't have the tech support that never existed....so happy to have you write!!
xoxo
Once you have highspeed all you have to do is call (or I think you can even do it online!) and let AOL know that you want to go to a free account.
Now for the nitty gritty.... You can continue to use the AOL client software, it is free. BUT, I recommend just doing everything thru AOL.com. Anything you can get to with the AOL client software you can get to thru AOL.com. It's easy enough. Fire up Firefox (you are using firefox, right <g>) and point it towards AOL.com. Once there you just sign in with your screenname and password and you are off and running! If you need any help finding anything, just drop an e-mail.
Now, if you are using animated gifs, continue to upload them to your FTP space. IF, however, you are putting photos in your journal, may I reccommend the new and improved AOL Pictures?? You upload your pics (and you can choose to make them 'public' now if you want.. sort of like Flickr), click on the pick that you want to put in your journal. This should bring the picture up in a window all buy itself with a link that says 'permalink'. Click on the 'permalink' and copy the address. Now you are all set to put the picture in your Journal just like you always have.. using the little camera icon and pasting in the 'permalink' you just copied!
Looking forward to seeing you around again!! Oh, and the iguana is adorable...
http://journals.aol.com/astaryth/AdventuresofanEclecticMind/
http://adventuresofaneclecticmind.blogspot.com/
Hey stranger! I couldn't bring myself to give up AOL totally either. I've had this screen name for 12 years! I just moved my journal. The old one is still there, just private until I finish moving over all the old entries. It makes a nice backup. Pop over to Keyword: Billing and just change to the free option. Bye bye dial-up! That's what I did. No more AOL charges on my credit card and I still use the client software and antivirus too.
I hope life settles down for you soon. I miss your photography and your visits.
We actually pay for the bring your own provider internet access. It pays for itself since I am computer illiterate and I call technical support a couple of times a month.
We will be in Miami in late April. Any chance of meeting you in person?
love, Kas
Hi Coy. I am a long time reader, but I have never commented before. I have enjoyed your journal, and your creativity, your photography and artwork. But I have not been here since your last post. Last night I was looking through some photos that I have stored and I ran across your flowers, wondered where you have been and checked the journal only to find that the Thanksgiving entry was the last. I looked at the last comments to see if anyone knew anything about your whereabouts and lo and behold, here you are this am. It is good to see you are well, just overloaded. I love the iguanas. They are adorable. Welcome back. Chris
There you are!!! Miss you to pieces!
I only just cancelled my AOL service a couple of months ago. I've noticed no changes. I can still log-in to AOL from their browser. However, I do so rarely and will eventually delete it from my computer. I usually just access my AOL email through a web-browser. I also have full access to my AOL journal through the web-browser. I double checked before leaving this comment to make sure.
I don't know that I lost anything by cancelling AOL. If anything, I gained the $7.95 a month they were charging me. :-)
It'll be okay Coy. I promise. You can hold out collective hand if you'd like while you do it. :-D --- Robbie
I am so glad you are ok! I have been checking back as well every day or two to see if you have commented. I love reading your journal and seeing your beautiful pictures. They're always so colorful!
Keep up the good work and if you move your journal, please let me know!
Vicki Carmon
I don't pay for AOL anymore because I mostly use MSN. When they went free (AOL), I just called them and cancelled my subscription. As long as you do not delete your existing program, you will have the same set up as you always have, for free! Glad to see you update. Hugs.
Love the picture of the iguana. So adorable.
If you move your journal please be sure to let us know!!
Kathy
I stopped paying for AOL after like 7 years and just called them up one day and asked for the free service.I was informed the only thing that would change would be that I get no "tech" support (which by the way the few times I used this support, I could not understand the person from India that was suppose to help me,nothing against the India or its people) and I thought to myself, I'll take my chances. Since then I've downloaded "AOL OPENRIDE" and the four page screen is now great but it took a while to get used to it and the places where I found things that I had before but all in all nothing has changed and I like the AIM experience. The only thing I find is that friends that still pay for aol, have to re-enter my on their buddy lists in order to im with each other. I know you will pick up on this format easily and will learn to love it as I do. Change for me was the same too as I am not that savy with new sites and all but this was not hard at all. If I can do it, I know you will!!! good luck and enjoy the money won't be taking out of you acct. monthly Like I do now .lol
nancy
I am scared to make that move too.
Hey, glad to see you.
I'm back on the porch now, after losing my dear old Dell to a lightning strike.
Marti
Coy
I have cable/high speed and went to the free plan with AOL. No glitches, no fuss, nothing different other than the fact that if I want dial up service it is not available unless I go back on a paying plan. Just call the billing department and tell them you want to switch to the free plan. That's all there is to it. Good luck!
Sam
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