My mental operating system is obsolete

Posted on June 13, 2025 by Alan O’Hashi, Whole Brain Thinker

My mental operating system is now officially obsolete.

My trusty MacBook Pro from 2012 has been a digital cockroach that won’t die. I type my first drafts on an Olympia manual desktop typewriter. I should scrap the computers.

That ancient MacBook saw me through everything: websites launched, manuscripts written, and a dead-end journey into NFTs. Then, the cyberworld started sending me “helpful” alerts:

“Your OS is no longer supported.”

“Microsoft Office 2019 will no longer update.”

“Please update to continue Googling things you once knew.”

“Fine,” I thought. “Maybe it’s time.” I bit the bullet and “upgraded,” and I use that term loosely, to a 2020 MacBook Pro. Wireless is anything but. My new to me computer has been nothing but trouble, not including user error.

You’d think moving up just eight years wouldn’t be a shock to the system. Now I’ve got a machine that thinks it’s me, but doesn’t really know me. It’s like a solid-state clone with amnesia.

All the files were transferred over. All the settings look familiar. But every time I open something, it asks me:

“Who are you?”

“Click on the squares that are a traffic light.
“Your password must contain a number and a symbol, but not this symbol.”
“Would you like to link your device to a digital fridge in Kiev?”

I didn’t subscribe to Office 365 on principle. I told myself long ago I wouldn’t be blackmailed by a company that charges rent for word processing. So I switched to Google Workspace. It’s clunky, but kind of charming in a free-range chicken kind of way: Upload this. Download that. I’ll use Scrivener more for word processing. I’ve slowed down, which is a good thing.

Planned obsolescence is real.

As soon as I touch a new device, I can hear it whisper, “You’ll replace me in three years. Don’t get attached.” I, like my computer, am obsolete. The memory is the first to go.

That’s why I’ve learned to stay a model or two behind. I didn’t buy the iPhone 15 when it came out. I have the iPhone SE for half the price, which is emotionally ready for a commitment. I have two iPhone 6s that I use for guerrilla movie shoots. They are WiFi-enabled, so I can use them as little computers.

It’s not just phones and laptops. Remember when microwave ovens were luxury items? My family didn’t get one until the Reagan administration, and even then, it was as big as King Kong’s bread box and treated like a nuclear reactor. Today, you can get one for $49.99 at Walmart, and it’ll probably come with a free Fire TV Stick if you subscribe to the Norton Virus Exterminator.

Same with televisions. Back in the ‘60s and ’70s, the TV was a piece of mahogany furniture with a built-in record player and radio. Now, they’re so cheap and light, people mount them on the wall like electronic artwork.

No wonder my dad never bothered with computers. He didn’t have a cellphone, but took a step on the wild side and used a handheld electronic calculator.

I’m living proof that digital age fatigue is a real condition.

My old laptop is, basically, a typewriter with WiFi. My new one has an identity crisis. My brain has too many browser tabs open. But hey, at least I’m still writing on the new computer. We’re slowly becoming friends.

Maybe it’s not me that’s obsolete. Maybe it’s the world that keeps upgrading past what’s actually useful. After all, you don’t need a monthly subscription to wisdom. Nostalgia still boots up just fine.

I made an Alan Bot that’s premiering in this post. If you have questions about my books and movies, or about my creative motivations, ask away. I’m working on a platform to connect indie writers so we can collectively compete in the marketplace which is dominated by celebrity writers. If you’re interested in becoming a Best Chance Media author, let me know.

Support an indie artist and purchase a book. If you don’t want to read it yourself, they make great gifts. Click on the Libby Flats cover to enter the bookstore.

My first novel, A New Dawn at Libby Flats, is a reverse coming-of-age character-driven story with some subtle twists. The story is set in Devils Tower, Lander and Laramie, Wyoming, Boulder, Colorado, Cherry Ridge, New Jersey, and points in between.

Check with your book club and see if they want to read something other than a book that bought its way onto the Best Seller List.

My alter ego is learning new stuff every day – Click and chat!

Free ebooks by Alan O’Hashi on ‘Black Friday’ and ‘Cyber Monday’ November 28, 2022

Posted on November 21, 2022 by Alan O’Hashi, Whole Brain Thinker

Support local independent artists this holiday season. Author Alan O’Hashi is offering three Kindle books on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, November 28th!

True Stories of a Mediocre Writer is Alan’s memoir about his unique writing style and process that resulted in the publication of his first book, Beyond Heart Mountain released by Winter Goose Publishing in February 2022.

He explains how he overcame perfection that made him more confident.

In his case, luck plays a big part. In June 2019, he attended a writing conference and talked to Winter Goose Publishing. He was asked to submit a full manuscript. He wrote 80,000 words and signed a contract in November.

True Stories of an Aging Do Gooder is another memoir about his journey through life living in accidental and intentional community settings. Those began with a large extended family in Cheyenne, Wyoming, living four years in the same dorm room at Hastings College, a “Golden Guys” house in Gillette, Wyoming, an apartment above the Ace Hardware store in downtown Lander, Wyoming and a Buddhist-centered coop house in Boulder, Colorado.

Those housing configurations set him up to finally move into the Silver Sage Village cohousing community. The book relates his experiences and war stories for anyone who wants to overcome loneliness.

On the Trail: Electric Vehicle Anxiety and Advice is Alan’s real-time travelogue about a “Beyond Heart Mountain” book tour he took driving his Nissan Leaf 2,600 miles on the open roads of Wyoming.

The first leg was a 178 mile drive to Casper that took 15 hours.

He recounts his “range anxiety” navigating through wind , cold, and snow with no charging stations in many Wyoming communities.

Beyond Heart Mountain is Alan’s memoir published by Winter Goose Publishing. He doesn’t have control over those book sales, but if you’re in Denver, Alan will be signing copies at the Tattered Cover Book Store on Colfax on Black Friday, November 25th from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

His book is about growing up Japanese in Wyoming after World War II and the demise of the once vibrant Japanese community on the 400 and 500 blocks of West 17th Street in Cheyenne.

Wyoming was the site for the Heart Mountain War Relocation Center, one of 10 camps set up in the U.S. interior.

Even though his family didn’t spend time in a camp, they had to endure the subtle and overt racism toward Japanese. The upshot of the story is to close economic and social divides, Americans should become more civil.

KDP layouts got you stressed out?

Posted on August 12, 2021 by Alan O’Hashi, Whole Brain Thinker

I read on many of the Facebook groups about the frustrations self-publishing authors experience when they try to upload their manuscripts to Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).

Brain damage and frustration are the prices you pay to self-publish all by yourself without signing up for a “pay to play” publishing house or hiring consultants to help you. I’m an analog writer, and dealing with the technology of authorship can be frustrating.

Self-publishing means we do it ourselves. I also have a publisher that takes all the brain damage out of all this.

Making my own books gave me an appreciation for what established publishers do on behalf of writers. I can attest that they earn every penny they squeeze out of each book sale.

The issue I’ll address here is how to lay out your manuscript for a hard copy book. I’ve published three books on KDP.

The first one had me pulling my hair out, but once I settled on a format, the others were simple, since I followed a template I made for myself with the first book.

Pick out the size of the book you want to publish. The instructions I’m providing instructions for 6″x9″

Here are some simple steps I followed using Microsoft Word (Word). The first step is to decide what size book you want to publish. I chose 6″x9″ from the list that KDP supports. After you’ve opened up Word, pull down “File” and open up “Page Setup.”

This will bring you to the “Page Attributes” tab where you can set up the page size. After you’ve opened “Paper Size” choose “Other” and type the size. In this case, for 6″x9″ I chose 6.11X9.25.

Pick Other, then type in the desired dimensions from the KDP page size list. For a 6×9 book, I use 6.11×9.25. Also, orient your page to be vertical at 100 percent scale, then hit OK.

After you’ve chosen your page size, open up the drop down the “Page Attribute” box and choose “Microsoft Word.” That reveals a tab. Select “Margins” and then OK.

A new window will open that allows you to select your margins. This is where you can get frustrated, because the margin sizes can be adjusted to meet your visual preferences. This may take you three or four uploads to KDP to see what they will look like. KDP allows you to change your formatting and layouts. If you walk away, remember to save your project as a draft so you can come back to it without having to edit your “sent” project. I did that after I had second thoughts about the layout. For projects that you “submit” and you want to edit, it takes a few days for KDP to process the data and make it “live.” My advice is to be patient and not rush. KDP allows you to sell your “coming soon” book. I settled on these settings, and you can try them. What you pick can vary depending on font and type size. After you hit OK, your manuscript will change. Take a look at it. If you like the balance, upload it to KDP as a draft. What is frustrating is that once your manuscript is uploaded, KDP will make its own version, which will be slightly different than what your Word document looks like. Be patient and take your time.

Deciding on your margins is hit or miss. If there’s any part of this that can be frustrating, it will be your margins. I suggest you jot down the margin combinations you’ve tried, rather than trying to remember them. As for multiple pages, mirror the margins. This allows the gutters to match up with the facing pages.

After you’ve set your margins, open up the “Layout” tab at the top of the box. I use half-inch headers and footers. Again, you can mess around with the settings, but if you have page numbers, you’ll want adequate space so that they fit relatively centered in the header or footer – not too high, and particularly not too low to the page edge.

Select your header and footer. I wouldn’t mess around with the line numbers – that’s for legal documents and legislative drafts. Borders are just aesthetics, but likely unnecessary for book publishing.

That’s it for KDP self-published books. I can’t overemphasize the need for you to be patient with the trial and error you’ll likely experience.

When it comes to the KDP e-book version. You’ll keep your manuscript “one-up” with a single sheet. The frustrating part is with the table of contents. I would leave that out of the e-book because the pages float around and change. Also, the Word table of contents tool doesn’t change as the pages change, and it becomes disorganized.

The e-book title pages and other stuff at the beginning, like the Dedications, may get scrunched together, so be prepared not to have separate pages for the introductory information.

I use a website called Online-Convert to make e-books other than for KDP. It does a pretty good job of converting my Word files, including adding a front cover. Again, nothing is 100 percent. You’ll have to mess around with pages and formatting.

If you have questions, ask Alan Bot!

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Buy ‘True Stories of an Aging Do-Gooder: How cohousing can bridge cultural divides’

Posted on November 28, 2020 by Alan O’Hashi, Whole Brain Thinker

I’ve lived a life of divergent experiences that converged when I joined the Silver Sage Village (SSV) senior cohousing community in Boulder, Colorado. My story about how to play well with others is a somewhat organized stream of consciousness.

Paperback available direct from the publisher Boulder Community Media

True Stories provides “nuts-and-bolts” methods about how your community can use cultural competence techniques that better encourage members to understand one another.

Buy a signed copy direct from the publisher Boulder Community Media.

The Kindle ebook and paperback are available for purchase on Amazon.

After arguing about whether pets are allowed in the Common House, what if cohousers organized themselves and decided to collectively undertake a mission to save the world?

True Stories explores why I believe cohousing can evolve from a “social movement” into being a “social norm.”

I’ll offer a paradigm shift about how cohousing can bridge socio-economic divides.

The stories are about relations between and among individual people and the personal changes necessary to find commonality with strangers, all with different experiences and lifestyles.

In case you’ve just returned after a year in outer space, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that began in late 2019 circled the globe.

Like everyone else, I’ve had quite a bit of extra time on my hands. I have no idea how my day was occupied before self-isolation.

COVID-19 brought to light glaring cultural inequities. The pandemic closed down the economy, and people lost their jobs.

That exposed the lack of lower-priced housing options when people lost their homes or kicked out of their rental apartments.

If homeowners default on their loans at the same time, as happened in 2009, the market will be flooded with pricey houses that nobody can afford to purchase, except the bottom-feeders.

Racial justice issues quickly floated to the top of the social change pond.

African American and Latino people are at the highest risk of contracting COVID-19, hospitalization, and death than the general population.

One nexus of lower-priced housing and racial justice is rental and owner-occupied cohousing that pool resources.

Residents share the financial risks and collaboratively operate and maintain their communities.

The story is written from my viewpoint as a cohousing community member, as opposed to a cohousing professional or a cohousing professional who lives in a community.

SSV is one of 170 existing cohousing communities in the United States.

If cohousing is such a great idea, why aren’t there thousands of communities popping up in all corners of the country?

After all, if there are 30,000 people residing in existing an existing cohousing community or in the community formation phase.

The book is part memoir and part “how-to” manual about my experiences that seemed unrelated at the time but added to my life gestalt, which eventually led me to believe cohousing can make social change happen by bridging cultural divides.

The only person I have any control over is myself. For me, personal change happens when keeping the amount of time between the past and the present as small as possible.

My experiences aren’t that remarkable, but the intent is to encourage you to remember what happened in your personal history as you figure out the opportunities and challenges you’ll face when choosing to care and share in a cohousing community.

Boulder Community Media – BCM

Creating the New Creative Economy One Story at a Time

Tag Archives: writing

Free ebooks by Alan O’Hashi on ‘Black Friday’ and ‘Cyber Monday’ November 28, 2022

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