neurological dryer lint

this, specifically, is my problem w/the macOS. i'm sitting in the onestop building at UC, there's a little hive of six imacs and five win2k systems. all the win2k systems have been powered off. i don't feel too obliged to screw with them so i guess i'm stuck using these macs, right?

so the first one i sit down at, i type in my login/password. the little box shakes.

now i'm not five years old. little boxes shaking don't make me squeal with delight and giggle and say 'yaaay! again!' when i'm trying to log onto the blasted network. they make me want to overturn the computer. tell me what's WRONG. network problems? did i mistype it? because i type the same login / pw four more times and it keeps shaking its thang. the fifth time... it works. same login, same pass.

so i'm on. but the mouse doesn't work. i unplug it, plug it back in. its optical light on the bottom is lit. but i got nothing onscreen. it's also noticeably difficult to get anything in this OS to work unless you have a mouse. imagine fixing your car, and the only thing you have to fix it with is a hammer. probably won't get too far too fast, chief. no logical keyboard shortcuts work, and i end up with a handful of Search windows open. no way to close them. and i sit there for fifteen minutes and try every keyboard combination. but hey, maybe the keyboard is screwed up.

so now this thing is logged in as me, sitting there useless. my mac troubleshooting experience recalls a single solution that never fails. since there's no obvious power button on this toy, i unplug it, plug it back in. i'm back at the main login screen in a few minutes, and this time the mouse is live. go figure.

i will absolutely never understand how people can enjoy - even TOLERATE - using these systems. ever. the bouncing tray icons and cute sounds... and the feeling that my OS is draped in a down comforter... how can someone stand to have their system dangle a yo-yo in front of their face, cooing 'you like the pretty colors? isn't this neat? watch the yo-yo, sweetie! daddy's little girl wanna bottle? is it nap time? are you sleepy, little girl?' i'm close to offended. i'm not a child, don't treat me like one. take yourself seriously - you're a grown up, now, macOS, act like one.