Yesterday my mom’s tutoring session involved mostly fun stuff. She had just been on a short trip to Crystal River in Florida and was impressed once again with how beautiful the area is. I had her tell me about it, then said, “Wanna have some fun?” What was I thinking? Of course she was up for some fun.

I had her go to Google Maps and type in the location of the place she had been and she was thrilled. Remember seeing MapQuest or Google Maps for the first time? How about getting driving directions from your house to anywhere? Of course, everything she does makes her look in the right places for clues as to what she can do with that site. Describing how to use the scrollbar was exasperating on both ends. But that little hand that clenches and releases on the map was a perfect example of “drag and drop” and also taught her what I meant by “hold the left mouse button down and drag it around, then release”. When you’re dragging a map around to see what’s above and below, it’s downright fun.

We checked her email via GMail online, I showed her how to open, reply and close the program. The GMail interface is crowded and confusing, though. I’m going to have to get her set up with Thunderbird, it’s so easy to configure with a GMail account, perhaps she can do it. It has a simple, pleasing look, too, much better for a beginner.

OK, so we do have a real problem, her computer crashed after being on for 1 1/2 hours, the last time it was 2 1/2 hours. Time for her to call her computer guy. Don has a good idea what the problem is by its behavior; it’s probably the power supply. Mom says when it crashes, the back of the computer is very hot. She made the appointment, we called him and Don told him what kind of power supply to bring along, it would probably save him a trip.

The adventure continues…