SSHHHH I.T. Happens

There are many challenges in a 21st Century lifestyle, arguably more than in the last century and almost certainly during my own lifetime covering a mere 50 years.

The standard of living and other key factors such as general health and life expectancy have surged forward but in tandem there has also been a great increase in the cost of living and with the inevitable downside of a tangible decline in family values, neighbourly relations and empathy for those less well off than ourselves.

We expect a lot nowadays even if we have not strictly earned or in fact deserve it.

Ours is a bit of a throw-away existence not just in the extravagant and wasteful squandering of daily consumables but in respect of what the previous generation of our parents would regard as high value and luxury goods such as TV's, the latest model of mobile phone, our cars, electronic equipment and those essential gadgets to supposedly help us to cope with an increasingly busy, hectic but above all uncontrollable life.

We may not be able to escape the culture of "must have" that is all pervading in the service industry dominated western world in spite of a deep desire and longing to rid ourselves of material things and motives. There are the early spring shoots of a purge of our extravagance in such practices as recycling, making do and mending or a fascination with what can be acquired for next to nothing on E Bay or Gumtree, at a Car Boot Sale, Charity Shop or fished out of someone's kerbside rubbish skip in the hours of darkness.

There is a cult movement, very much underground, whereby those subscribing to it limit their worldly possessions to 100 items at any one time. This can be quite a challenge as acquisition of any new thing inevitably pushes something else out of the system and so on and so forth.

The rest of us are just in far too deep to attempt such a radical move although from time to time we may show an affinity to a spartan but adequate lifestyle through a cleaning spree, a sought out and chuck out or in just giving away a few objects to family, friends or deserving strangers.

We certainly need some inspiration and assistance in coping with a 21st Century lifestyle if we are to make the most of our worldly status and possessions.

This has, in my own personal experience been the case with a new designation of acquaintance whom we shall henceforth call a "Technical Friend".

Our family have one such person.

We have known him for some years. I first came across him when he sent out a circular to businesses seeking contract work for his speciality field of Information Technology and all that the term encompasses in computers, mobile phones and general connectivity with the general public. He was starting up a new company as a self employed technician. The letter I opened up one morning in my office was not actually addressed to me but ironically to a main competitor in error.

Coincidentally I was in the market for a major upgrade of our systems and so it transpired that I assumed the position of being Client Number One in placing an order.

In the firmament of IT, I acknowledge that I was extremely small fry but nevertheless being the first on the ground floor, in effect on the doormat of someone's new enterprise I could as easily have been a customer on the scale of a multi-national global conglomerate.

In the following years our business relationship and friendship developed but the "Technical Friend" label persists.

You may be able to appreciate the great benefits of having such a friend if you have ever had to converse with the Helpdesk of the maufacturer of your home PC or related software. They speak a different language not just in terminology but in a strange dialect of fast and incomprehensible gibberish to which you find yourself nodding ( on the phone), whilst perspiring heavily onto the keyboard or keypad trying to follow the mysterious instructions for re-booting or restoring the factory settings.

Imagine the feeling of utter power and control in making contact with the bodyless voice at the end of the line and then handing everything over to your Technical Friend to be sorted out.

It is a wondrous thing to behold, two like minded and skilled individuals duelling verbally and trying to outdo and outwit each other but at the same time in an atmosphere of mutual respect and understanding. Just put "Technical Friend" on your wish list and you will find your 21st Century Life so much easier.