I often go back over an e-mail to correct spelling or grammar. Sometimes I change a phrase. Not always -- but enough times to drive me crazy -- AOL will step in when I tap the "send" and say, "This has been revised. Do you want to save it as a text file?" I can answer yes or no. I tried no the first dozen times, and AOL cut me off and the e-mail disappeared into space. So I tried yes, and the same thing happened.

I guess that this is what you get for taking time to get your e-mail just right in our supercharged world of information overload. The AOL software is set to sign a user off if 10 minutes go by without a keystroke, and your ruminations appear to cross that limit.

When you get that message about saving it as a text file, you should say yes and the software should pop up a menu box showing the folders on your computer and letting you type in a file name to hold your note for later retrieval.

I have learned to avoid this by using the command Send Later rather than Send Now. You can write offline, and Send Later will automatically save the note. Then the next time you log on, you'll receive a prompt that asks if you now want to send your carefully composed message.

We are experiencing a monitor problem. Our background is white. Some days, in an instant, the background turns to either a light creamy color or a dark creamy color or may switch back and forth before going back to the white.

Bad news, I'm afraid. Your monitor probably is burning out. But, just in case, try bypassing the surge protector to make sure that isn't your problem. For this test, make sure that you plug the monitor into an outlet without any other stuff plugged in to it.

Those changes of color are typical of the early stages of failure of the electrical transformer that reduces your high-octane house current into a lower power form.

Send e-mail to jcoates@tribune.com.

Pub Date: 03/29/99