Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Calendars, Part II

Hello again calendar-loving people of all types. Remember a few posts back (okay, longer ago than that) how I gushed about my love for paper calendars? Consider this a reinforcement of that post, with a minor addendum.

What I didn't say in the last post was that there are three major drawbacks to paper calendars: (1) you lose it and you're totally out of luck - no back-up for paper; (2) you don't lose it, but you don't happen to have it with you when you need it; (3) it's just one more thing to lug around all the time, when I'm very busy trying to cut down on the amount of junk I lug around all the time.

Having aired those items in the "con" column of my pro/con comparison, I will return to another major pro. If you can manage to not lose/always carry your calendar, it's there when you need it. Items don't get randomly deleted.

By way of background, here's some info I left out of last post. I was gushing about calendars because I had made the decision to switch to use of my Google calendar rather than a paper calendar. I was seeing them at my bookstore and wishing I could buy seven of them, but was resisting because of my recent decision. Why did I decide to do this when I love paper calendars so much? Please see the above list of cons about paper calendars for the answer to that question.

But. BUT. What I have discovered is that Google is randomly deleting various events from my calendar! Not okay. Not okay at all! How can I rely on it if things periodically just disappear? It had happened a few times and I wrote it off as user error: "Huh. I thought I put that in there, but maybe I didn't." But then I went looking for something I know I had put in. And it was gone!

To compound the problem, it's also Christmas-card-writing season. I was writing out a few cards this afternoon and went to my Google contacts (another change I recently made from paper to electronic formats). And my cousin A's address was gone. And - again - I know it was in there, because I've sent him stuff before!

Google, I need to talk to you for a minute. I love you almost as much as I love paper calendars. But, my beloved Google, why are you acting like an unreliable boyfriend? How can you expect me to stand by you when you when I can't count on you in return? I'm disappointed.

Therefore, I have made the epic decision, despite many hours spent inputting date and contact information into my Google account, to revert to the paper calendar and address book. Like I said, I'm disappointed, but at least there's a silver lining. (There usually is.) See the previous post about the wonders of paper calendars.

Unfortunately, though, in an effort to minimize the negative effects of number (3), above, I bought the smallest calendar I think I can handle (which is still bigger than what a lot of people have). Earlier tonight when I was at my bookstore, I got this. Not Van Gogh, not NYC, but shoes aren't a bad option either, especially since 52 weeks' worth of shoes is far less to lug around than the whole of the island of Manhattan.

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