On changing dipsticks, operating systems

About that much on the spiral dipstick.

Ordinarily Wes Anderson would be settling in to a relaxed Saturday afternoon watching collegiate football, anticipating that 3 p.m. Merlot allowed on special days. Not today. The missus sez they're going on a road trip to see the mother-in-law, so plans have changed. Prudently, he checked the oil in the family Chevrolet before heading out, but "You know, Stan, I just can't read that doggone dipstick. Now that they've got it all twisted in a spiral and then there are three dots on it. You can't tell what you're looking at."
A quick trip to Hennen's Shell solved that, the boys told him all about the new and improved dipsticks and told him it said he was three quarters of a quart low. Not sure how he resolved that.
We don't much like change here at Abbey Point. Leave well enough alone. Good enough is good.
The pushy folks at Apple computer have been prompting Stan for at least a year now that it was time to change his operating system to something called "El Capitan." They call it an upgrade and promise it will be free and easy and it will make things better. Stan takes a different view.
But yesterday he finally succumbed to the pressure, and with trepidation and dread, at 9 a.m. agreed to make a change to "El Capitan."
After skipping over the legal agreement that gives Apple privileges heretofore reserved exclusively for next of kin, the download began. It looked promising, mentioning things like 28 minutes left and offering a pause button, but then the screen turned cold, locked up the keyboard and displayed nothing but the Apple logo and a bar that was 90 percent filled.
That was it. . . for 18 hours.
By 6 a.m. today, El Capitan had finally wedged itself into the computer, and the keyboard and screen were active again, but the list of horribles has yet to be completed. Nothing is the same, it's all different, and some things aren't even there any more. Email is broke; notes are lost.
We don't like the new operating  system. We don't like El Capitan at all.
A kind and patient gentleman with advanced degrees and years of experience in the digital world has volunteered to consult and advise tomorrow and help make things right. We're grateful.
In the meantime, the folks at Apple are already prompting again. Updates are available. Time to make some changes. Free and easy and better.