I have very low tolerance for broken things.  Mainly because I am not good at fixing them. Most of it is a matter of patience, and when it comes to things that don't work, I have very ittle. Like when I turn on the TV and all I see is fuzz. I look around at the five remote controls in the closet, slam the door closet door shut, and ask Eve to call Time Warner, or whoever we use. (She then fixes it.)

Things are supposed to work. Take my telescope, which has GPS and is programmed to find planets and stars when I press a few buttons.  Instead of finding Saturn it spins around and points to my bushes. The telescope is now sitting in a corner in my den.

On the plus side, I have helped stranded cyclists change a punctured tire. It may not seem like much, but I take what I can get. And I can untangle a fish line.

When my bike trip computer broke over the summer the bike shop talked me into getting a fancy state of the art replacement that has GPS, tracks altitude and watts and heart rate, can store data in your computer, and does all sorts of what seemed like cool things. I hesitated and then bought it.  I can just go home and take my time and read the instructions, I said to myself.  Surely I can figure this out. Two hours later I was back at the store, frustrated, and returning it. This is not for me. Just give one that tells me how fast I am going and how far I went, I said, saving $150 in the process. That is all I need to know. If I get lost, I will just keep going until I figure it out. The old fashioned way.

And if I want to see stars or Saturn, all I have to do is look up.