Technology—technology— technology keeps raising its ugly head in my life. Every time I turn around it seems that there is a new technology I need to learn. I can run, but I can’t hide. Now, I realize MP3 players are not new to "techies", but I have been avoiding them and iPods for years. I came face to face with them this month and have won the battle, I think, but it almost got bloody.

Last October, the library began subscribing to the OverDrive downloadable audio book service. I was excited that we could offer this service through a consortium of Nebraska libraries at an affordable price; however, as to my use of the service, I preferred to bury my head in the sand. "Oh, I’ll get around to it sooner or later," I said, but sooner became later and later.

Finally, the time came to deal with it. OverDrive books can be loaded onto MP3 players so I read reviews about MP3 players to find the best one for my listening enjoyment. I shopped around and finally purchased one in May. It was the demo model so I got the last one in the store. Although it was highly recommended, it had no manual. Well, I needed a manual. My husband found one on line and downloaded it. It was sixty pages long. He did not want to print a sixty-page manual so he told me to read it on the computer.

Now really, we have been married almost 33 years. He should know better. As my son-in-law can tell you—I do not read instruction manuals! And to be told to read a sixty-page instruction manual on the computer—well—this is just not going to happen. So as of last May, I had a MP3 player but no idea how to use it. It did not even seem to have an on and off switch. How do I start it? What do I do with it once I start it? It has no buttons. I could not cajole Roger to read the manual for me; however, he did show me how to turn it on. But once it is on, it has lights, no buttons! What’s up with that?

From May to August the MP3 player laid on an end table by my computer next to a Bible. I was hoping for a divine inspiration that would suddenly show me how to make it work. God works in mysterious ways but apparently not this mysteriously. I was never inspired to understand the inner working (or outer) of my MP3 player. By August, I had even forgotten how to start it.

What should you do if you have book-related issues? Go to the library. So in August, as I was preparing to travel to my son’s wedding in Omaha, I decided I needed to figure out the "________ thing". I took it to my local public library. With a little (or a lot) help from my friends (translate that library staff) and one son (at least a generation younger than me) my MP3 player was loaded with three audio books that we (Roger and I) could listen to as we traveled to Omaha.

My crack staff and one son asked me if I needed them to show me how it worked? Nope, I could handle it. Wrong! The "thing" no longer to be referred to as the "_______ thing" is amazingly touchy. Furthermore, it is impossible to read one of those touchy, touch screens while driving along in daylight?

I am a true problem-solver; however, I finally covered my head and the "thing" with a coat so I could read the screen. Learning how to handle the touchy "thing" was another manner. Roger now was traveling along with a headless, cussing coat. It was not a pretty sight, and I was not a happy camper. The "thing" seemed to have a mind of its own. I wasted most of the battery life just, trying to find a list of books and then trying to start one of them (any one would do) at the beginning, and then beginning the whole process over again when I accidentally touched the wrong part of the screen.

Thank goodness, I had the wisdom to bring along CD audio books. My car does not have a jack for a MP3 player.

ONE MORE THING TO BUY! IT NEVER ENDS!

(My apologies to Jana Kehn for forgetting to give her credit for last week’s article. Thanks Jana, I appreciate your help. Also, thank you Lori, Levi, Jana and Judy and any other staff, friends or neighbors who had to deal with me and my "thing".)

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