There’s a reason why I still write my poems in a marble copybook, with a simple rolling ball pen, and only commit them to computer after several long-hand revisions. That reason: technology is goofy.

For all it’s bonuses, technology continues to befuddle me at the most unlikely turns. I spent this afternoon making simple sidebar banners to highlight my regular poetry events. You may or may not actually see those banners, and, if you do, they may or may not look the way I intended. Herein lies today’s befuddlement. You see, for some reason, the only way I can view changes made to my code is by clearing my cache, closing the browser altogether, then reopening. (Just refreshing, or clearing the cache & then refreshing won’t work). Then, maybe, the page I see will reflect my most recent updates. Sometimes, I have to restart the computer altogether.

Considering my html skills are rudimentary, at best, viewing my changes is particularly important… so I can be sure I inserted the links properly or set the alignment and margins correctly. This cache confusion has caused much cursing and fist flailing, as I’m accustomed to assuming that any problems are the result of user error (*me*) rather than an equipment glitch (stupid damned computer!!!!!). This afternoon, it got so frustrating I got the Little Mister involved. Even he was perplexed. Why, for instance, were the image paths in IE completely different than those in the code??? Regardless of how many times we cleared the cache and refreshed, it seemed that the little web elves that live inside my computer decided they preferred the old fouled code.

I *think* its okay now. I think. And hope. I can only go by what I see, and from what I see they’re fine. But if the banners are all icked up for you, please let me know. Or you could let me know if they look just fine too. A non-geek like me can use all the positive reinforcement I can get!