Productivity

Yesterday I had to fight with a device that stated it was compatible
with what I put on it, but which had no drivers to support this
claim. I contacted the manufacturer and they told me the same thing,
saying they do release the item with that particular image on it, but
the drivers haven't passed testing so they won't give them to me or
anyone else. (Granted, I could pull them from a working unit, but I
don't have a working unit.) I reimaged it this morning with something
else and couldn't get that to work on it, either, at least, not well.
Further, the drivers they DO have on their site that HAVE passed
testing DO NOT F***ING WORK. I think the thing is possessed. So now
I'm going to try a different approach starting tomorrow.

I am proud of myself, however, for following up with the customer and
explaining the situation even though I was scared to death of talking
to him. Once in the past he chewed me out a bit for something I
wrongly did, which incidentally, I was wrong in doing but only due to
lack of experience. My perfectionistic mind at the time said "That
wasn't very nice of him but yeah, I should have been more careful and
been perfect." It took some doing but I got over that, telling myself
that being new to the situation and all, things like that were bound
to happen and he could be irritated all he wanted, the fact is, I
corrected the situation as soon as I knew and learned from it. That
counts for a lot with most people, including me. This time around he
was already starting in with advice on how I need to do my job, so my
red flags were up and I was trying desperately not to disappoint
again. Unfortunately, no matter what I did, it just was not to be.

So I bit the bullet and called him. After all, I know I've done
everything I can to this point, and it's the professional thing to do
to keep him abreast of the problem. At first he seemed vexed but he
didn't argue or anything, just strongly stated what he needed, which I
agreed with anyway. I think I was being harder on myself than he was,
in fact, although in all truth I'm more irritated with the vendor for
their part in my misery.

This has taught me to be more patient (very very patient), persistent,
and less fearful of disappointing, all good things in my line of work,
especially when I'm not 100% certain that I'm right. Speaking of
which, I need to be more forceful about things! I was chatting with
Dell yesterday about a laptop that wasn't working right. After I
described the problem and did some quick troubleshooting with them,
they announced that it was the LCD and they'd get it replaced. My gut
was telling me it was the motherboard, but I shut up and figured
they'd seen this on this model before despite it making no sense to
me. After all, I don't exactly specialize in hardware. I only tinker
now and again when I have to (or when I'm building). I'm certainly no
expert and can't even effectively argue for or against most circuitry
since I'm limited in my experience. I only know I like Dell's tech
support and that I like their stuff for the most part.

I should have mentioned my concern, though. What I should have said
was, "You know better than I, but... I wonder if it could be the
motherboard myself. Would it be too expensive for you to ship a
motherboard to the tech, as well, just in case it's not the LCD?" But
I said nothing. Maybe they wouldn't have heeded my advice, but it
would have been worth mentioning, at least. I feel like I didn't do
enough to help them help me. The tech comes today and replaces the
LCD. It still didn't work. He says, "I'm not surprised. I'd have
thought it was the motherboard." Him, too? And my colleague? So now
we have to wait longer for another part and take more of his time.
It's under warranty and he gets paid by Dell, but I'm about
efficiency. I hate that I was silent on that. But, this is an
example of me not trusting my own judgement and being afraid to ask.

I am NOT afraid to ask about some things, however. We plan to tear
down our garage in May and replace it with a new shed that's about the
same width, only a bit more shallow. We've also wanted to get a trash
permit to take trash to the dump here in town. So today I got out on
time and stopped into the town office before they closed. I love
small towns: You walk in and very informally say, "I have two
questions, and here they are." Then the clerk (whom I've seen on
multiple occasions since it's a small town) says, "Here are the
answers," and is very friendly and smily and overall just plain helpful.

I love small towns. Did I mention that?

Anywho, so now we've got a trash permit, and information on what to do
to get a permit for tearing down the garage and replacing it with a
shed. Ten years ago I would not have been caught dead asking someone
for information. I'd have hidden behind someone I knew while THEY
asked. Amazing what age, experience, and a bit of self-confidence can
do for some people, huh?

Currently, I'm starving, and I want to study Cherokee before my
class. Dale might be getting me for a creemee, too, so I think I'll
find some water for now and study until he gets home or calls.

Oh yeah, and I read another page of Braille last night. One day I
will read it easily and fluidly, and without looking at all. I think
that day will be this year. Probably soon, in fact. Now that I've
started studying Cherokee and Braille in earnest, I've begun to really
miss learning new things and sticking with things. I'm less
scattered, more focused, and ... well, my brain feels wanted. I think
I'll tackle Gaelic next. It won't be for a while, however. I intend
to have a good working knowledge of Cherokee before I switch
languages, especially since I'm going to take a college class this
fall and also start studying Sharepoint with far more fervor than I
once did.

~nv