Online chatter

My first foray into online chat did not go well. Following the link, I was told I needed to install Java on my PC. I did so, after much humming and hahing, because if I haven't missed it up to now, chances are I don't really need it.


Whittle Dene

So, sat up late, waiting. Actually, I got a lot of PC tidying-up done in the hours between 10.30 and 2am. All those e-mails in the sent file I'd forgotten to delete, the ones I didn't need in the In Box, they all went. I cleaned up my PR file in preparation for uploading vital information re my newest book Shadows, and finally it was time.
There was no one there but me, but then, I was early. Over the next fifteen minutes, other names popped up in a little file to the side of the screen. They had avatars beside their name, but I had only a grey silhouette. I explored the options file, and provided myself with a red-headed avatar - not that I'm a redhead, but it looked attractive. Then came the big moment - I tried to speak.
Typed in a greeting, and a small box appeared on the screen with my sentence in it, but with every other letter missing. And the box itself shuddered and jittered as if it was in an icy wind. One person must have seen my  message, for that person replied. But that was the best I could do. The box shuddered itself into a frenzy, the screen froze, there were no instructions and no matter what I did, I could not communicate. I could read the comments made by other folk, and saw that Cutting and Pasting was not functioning, which meant people couldn't use what they'd prepared earlier.
Thirteen minutes later, I logged out. Enough is enough. Not sure about keeping Java.