Yeah, I know I'm way obsolete. XP is no longer supported, although I dutifully install all the updates i'm still getting. (My wife has Windows 8.1 with Chrome). But I'm not looking for technical advice, I am dealing with intellectual constipation.

I realize these issues could be managed if I kept current with the latest releases and operating systems, or if I were more interested in software. But that's just the point I was trying to make in my post above. Every new IT improvement requires immersion in technical details that I find very tedious, and which have a very short shelf life, forcing me to learn new ones before I've mastered the old. I'm getting tired of having to learn a new set of tools every time Microsoft wants to sell me something new.

I know its churlish and petty of me; I like using the technology, but I find learning and working on it very tiresome. To use another metaphor, I love my telescope and have learned how to use it, but I'm really not interested in grinding my own lenses.

I understand this kind of commitment is necessary to really exploit the technology effectively, I just don't enjoy doing it. I've spent my whole professional life playing catch-up with this technology, and always one step behind. Now that I'm not getting paid to do it, I have little incentive to continue it as a hobby. I'm perfectly ready to give it all up and go offline altogether.

I'm well aware of how much modern life forces you to interface with these computing devices and and telecommunications technologies. It is getting almost impossible to conduct even the most routine business any more without the internet, modern telephony, etc. This is a dilemma I find increasingly distressing every day. My problem is not a need for technical advice, it is an increasing reluctance to listen to it.