So I have written in my column how I thought I was so hip to new technology. I wrote, for example, that downloading movies off iTunes was going to revolutionize my life.

After what I would call a week from technology devil-land, I’m changing my mind.

It started off with my idea of downloading a movie off iTunes to watch on New Year’s Day. No problem, I thought. I’ll just download it minutes before my guests arrive, and we’ll pop it on the television after dinner.

Well, after my Internet connection failed to work on my computer on New Year’s Day, I was forced to drive in the bitter cold to my office as the guests arrived. Only after I clicked to download the movie of choice (by the way, I would recommend “The Hangover” to any adult who wants a laugh) on iTunes did I discover that it would take more than an hour.

Since my guests were waiting at my house for me, I left the office in a huff, went to the local video store, paid my backlogged late fee and the rental fee.

And that was just the beginning.

Last Sunday, it was discovered that our home computer was giving us the dreaded blue screen of death. I had heard about these blue screens, but never really experienced one firsthand. Because she desperately needed access to a computer and wanted the information on her computer — mainly photos of our daughter — she was in a slight justifiable panic, as was I. We had purchased a backup hard drive, but of course, hadn’t actually backed anything up for a year.

After several calls and a trip to a local computer repair guy (which, by the way, still fills a valuable niche in this area, to anyone who thought that the Internet had taken away the majority of computer business), we determined that I had good news and bad news:

The good: The computer’s hard drive, and all the information on it, was just fine, and we were able to save all of it.

The bad: The part of the computer’s motherboard that controls the hard drive went kaput, and the general assessment of the computer repair guys was that we were better off buying a new computer.

Did I mention that I hadn’t solved our Internet connection problems yet? After about an hour with a tech guy (unrelated to the other tech guy I mentioned) it was determined that our router, and not the Internet company, was at fault. The next day I shelled out some dough for a new router, hooked it up, determined it didn’t work, and was back on the phone with the tech guy. (Same guy? Not sure.) He determined that now my new router was at fault, so I had to call a number on the new router box.

After 90 minutes of fiddling around, it was determined that my “firmware” was not updated. After downloading and uploading the new firmware, we finally got connected.

And did I mention that, of the things I have the least amount of patience for, trying to fix computers ranks up there with missing 2-foot putts? I recently purchased a heart rate monitor. I really should have hooked myself up to see where my heart rate was when the one tech guy on the phone told me he couldn’t help me, that it was someone else’s problem.

All this leads me to believe that, when I want to relieve stress, the best thing for me is to rid myself of all technology, run to a woods somewhere and enjoy the silence.

Then again, I’m downloading another movie off iTunes as I write this.

Joel Myhre is the general manager at the Fergus Falls Daily Journal.