Technology | At Home with Tech

October 18, 2020

What Would my Younger Self Think of Me in 2020?

As a child, I thought about flying cars, especially when I got my haircuts. 2020 was a distant year I could barely count to. Here’s how my expectations met reality…

When I was a young boy growing up in New York City, I dreamt of living in my distant future, and 2020 was the year that represented that faraway reality. To me, it felt like a time beyond which I could not fathom myself inhabiting. Too much would be different. And I would be… old. Someone else, in fact.

Technology would be infused into every part of my life. I had “Star Trek” as my guide, and though I was fully aware of the limits of science fiction, I was hopeful that the future would still have many crazy-cool gadgets to play with. (As we all know, pieces of ‘Trek’ tech are now real, like hand-held communicators, universal translators, and yes, motion-sensor sliding doors.)

When Barrett meets Barrett in a Temporal Nexus
Fast forward to 2020, and the truth is I got about half of it right. Although there are no flying cars and we can’t travel at warp speed, technology is indeed infused into many parts of our lives. And while I have, in fact, aged, I’m kicking the can of ‘old’ down the time portal a couple more decades. (I reserve the right to revise my view again in 2040.)

I think what I got most wrong was my prediction that I would be someone else. To know for sure, I would need a time machine to bring the two Barrett’s together. (And we’d sit six feet apart to avoid both a temporal paradox and COVID time travel.)

If my younger self sat me down and interviewed me, I think he would be surprised.

I know I’ve changed in any number of ways. That’s supposed to happen due to the slings and arrows that life throws at you. But I think my fundamentals haven’t changed. He would still see himself in me. And I expect he’d be pleased to admit his mistake.

This is the Year to Tap into your Inner You
Still, he’d also be a little suspicious. That’s because it wouldn’t only be a one-way interview. And he’d pick up on that. I’d be asking him questions too. I’d want to tap back into some of the refreshing simplicity of his boundless optimism.

Life doesn’t often support that naive level of positive energy for any extended period. But just touching that memory is always enough to refuel the soul.

And 2020 is the perfect example of needing to tap into your inner you during this global stumble.

We probably won’t get the chance to spend nurturing time in a temporal nexus with our younger versions. So, we’ll just have to find the strength to move forward using what’s in our existing bag of tricks.

That’s life, baby.

Using Tech in our New Normal
How ironic it is that as a boy, I couldn’t imagine a future beyond 2020. It was always a sort of temporal mystery, being so far out. And of course, now that it’s here, our global reality has been reset in so many ways due to COVID. Disruption and change is clearly the norm of 2020. Much is still a mystery.

So, what comes next? What will the future look like now? Sorry to disappoint, but I don’t have that answer. (My time machine is in repair.)

All that any of us can do is ride this turbulent wave and looks for ways to maintain balance and hold onto whatever sense of normality we can. On the home front, I’ll keep playing with the technology that boy Barrett hoped I would. And I’ll continue to try to use this tech to improve (or at least maintain) my day to day.

Whether that’s truly happening or my gadget purchases are simply masquerading as a cozy blanket to help me feel good remains an open question.

Maintaining Order with a Robot Vacuum
Case in point: I just bought an iRobot Roomba on Amazon Prime Day.
(Yes, I succumbed to the marketing machine. But I’ve got to admit it felt great to buy something on Amazon that wasn’t related to supplies for our home during COVID.)

I’m not sure how our cat is going to react to our Roomba, but at least boy Barrett would be proud of me. A robot vacuum? How cool is that!
(Just please don’t tell him there are no flying cars yet.)

And my choice to talk about robot vacuums is a good sign that things could be worse. In fact, I’ve got a lot to be grateful for in 2020.

#LookingontheBrightSide

October 11, 2020

How to Find iCloud Email Folders that Disappear in Outlook for Mac

Do you sometimes feel like you need a magic wand to handle your computer glitches? Here’s my story about how I fixed my subfolder syncing problems in Outlook for Mac.

“Shall we play a game?”

Remember that line from the 1983 movie, “WarGames,” starring Matthew Broderick? That playful computer certainly caused a lot of trouble!

Recently I had what felt like a similar experience with my own computer. No, there weren’t any global implications. That said, I did feel like my world was at risk of imploding.

Why?

I thought I had lost all of my iCloud email subfolders I had created under my ‘Inbox’ to help keep my email organized…

Well, these subfolders weren’t exactly gone. They just weren’t showing up in my Microsoft Outlook for Mac. I could see them on my iPhone’s native Mail app, but not in Outlook on my iMac. (I’ve been using Outlook for Mac on my iMacs for years.)

Game Over?
So, I knew I had some kind of sync issue that my computer or the software had thrown at me.

Ha Ha.

Ha.

(Not funny)

I immediately thought of the nightmare of having to delete Outlook for Mac and then rebuild my email all over again on my iMac.

Instead I took a deep breath and put on my Tech Zen hat. I decided to do some Googling for a less dramatic solution. And happily, I didn’t have to go too far down the rabbit hole.

IMAP Syncing
The answer has to do with syncing your IMAP Folders. You need to make sure each of your iCloud email subfolders are properly synced in Outlook for Mac for them to show up. Here’s how you do that:

On the top bar of Outlook for Mac, click on the “Tools” dropdown.
Click on “IMAP Folders.”
There, you’ll see all of your iCloud email folders, including the ones that are missing in your email display.
Click on each folder that you want to (re)sync and then click on the green ‘Subscribe’ button on the top left. As soon as your subscribe a particular folder, the name turns bold.
And then, voilà! Your missing email folders will magically reappear in your Outlook for Mac.

Human Error?
Why my disappearing email subfolder crisis suddenly showed up in the first place, I have no idea. Sure, it’s easy to blame the human. We’ll never really know.

What’s important is I’ve got all of my email back in place on my iMac. (It wasn’t difficult. You just need to remember the IMAP Folders ‘Subscribe’ trick.)

Now, I’m simply back to my general state of détente with my computers and software.

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October 4, 2020

At Home with Apples

**If you enjoy apple picking and apple cider donuts, you may be interested in what happened during our weekend adventure to Rogers Orchards.**

A lot of advice out there talks about spending time outdoors to help manage the everyday stresses caused by the pandemic. If apple picking has previously been part of your annual routine, I think you should move that trip to the front of the line for your next weekend activity. It’s a great way to reconnect yourself to the ‘normal.’ Just be sure to wear your mask and maintain social distancing.

Visiting Rogers Orchards
This past weekend, my family and I visited Rogers Orchards in Southington, CT. We picked apples to our hearts’ content under the bright, warm sun of a cool October day. The apple orchard was about a two-minute drive down the road from its 336 Long Bottom Road farm store and bakery.

I’ve found that taking pictures of apple trees is similar to picking apples. It’s mostly about the experience. What you bring home isn’t always as amazing as you hope for, but you always feel like the effort was worth it.

While you’re out there, don’t forget to focus on the colors of fall foliage. That’s always a good bet.

Look for the Views
Plus, there’s a good chance that your immersion into nature will reveal an unexpected surprise…

I shot this timelapse of the Shuttle Meadow Reservoir at the edge of the apple orchard with my DJI Osmo Pocket camera.

Before heading back, we stopped by Sunset Rock State Park to do a short nature walk around part of Crescent Lake. The views were gorgeous.

It was the perfect fall day. Normality restored.

At Home with Pumpkins?
If you’re lucky, you don’t always have to drive an hour away to recenter yourself and rediscover the gifts of nature. Sometimes it’s growing right outside your window.

This surprisingly huge Lester pumpkin materialized after its host vine burst outside of the confines of our garden. I think it’s on track to be ready in time for Halloween!

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Now, it’s time to eat the rest of our apple cider donuts from Rogers Orchards.

Did I forget to mention the donuts?

#Comfort

Category: Technology

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