The Lazy Lout’s Lament

This piece was drafted TWO years ago and set aside. I’ve updated only the time references as everything else has been consistent. With the haunted computer theme, I should have posted it yesterday for Halloween.
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Those of you who are parents or supervise people on the job know the difference between reasons and excuses for NOT doing things. There wasn’t enough time. There were higher priority tasks to do first. Something else came up. Be honest. Maybe the task seemed too hard. There were other things you’d rather do. There were distractions that were more appealing.

Here I am, thirty-two months into this blog experience and I haven’t succeeded with my original objective. I have not stretched or learned much of anything new. On March 11, 2011, I said I was going to expand my knowledge so I could become a better photographer and thus have more to share and write about. Instead, personal quests and current events have presented story opportunities and I have plenty of archived images and adventures to riff on. Eventually, I will run out of interesting pictures and stories and will have to get to work.

Drabble by Kevin Fagan

(From sometime in the 70’s; saved because 

it reminded me of my study habits)

I have to admit that much of this inertia relates to computer-phobia. Cameras are no longer simple machines that let in light and expose film. They are computers. Pictures are no longer pieces of film or paper. They are computer files. These files are organized, edited and archived using software programs.

You can do wonderful things with a digital image. You can turn a throw-away shot into a keeper and you can turn a keeper into something you want to frame and hang on the wall. Plus, the ‘film’ is free so it’s easy to fire away and take loads more pictures than you did in the film days. In 2008, I did a quick inventory. Since my slides are in boxes that hold 750, it’s easy to calculate that I saved about 8000 pictures in 35 years of shooting film. After three years of digital picture-taking, I had over 15,000 pictures…and that was five years ago.

Anyway, it’s clear I have not stopped taking pictures. I just haven’t learned (or assimilated) much about how to manage and improve them. It seems that my capacity for computing is stunted. Learning doesn’t stick. Plus, it’s so easy to get into trouble with a computer. With PC’s, there are menus and drop-down options and multiple ways to perform any given task. That also means there are many ways to go off in the wrong direction. And once I have taken a wrong turn, I go deeper in the hole and nothing gets done. I cannot help but conclude the following:

Ringger’s Rule of Computing - 

Computers are like dogs –

when they sense your fear, they turn on you.

Ray’s Gate, New Orleans (11 August 2006)

You laugh. I’ll give you two inexplicable, senseless examples that occurred in the past couple of weeks. One week after the new laptop’s warranty expired (Isn’t that so often the case?), I lost sound. I have desktop speakers and listen to iTunes and watch video clips frequently. Out of the blue, the sound was gone. A check of the computer’s sound settings showed nothing wrong. I returned to the store and the clerk connected the machine to other speakers and there was sound. Great. I’ll go home and all will be well. Fat chance. Is it my speakers or the docking station or any of the wires connecting them? I fiddled with every connection…no sound. Finally, I disconnected the entire system…not an easy job since much of the wiring is behind a large, stationary desk and bookcase. In the kitchen, I tested the speakers on another computer and they worked. I switched and tested all the parts on both machines and everything worked fine. So, I return to the office and reconnect the desk system…and it works fine. So, what was the problem? I don’t know. What did I do to fix it? Don’t have a clue. Gave it some air? My best, considered, rational, scientific explanation is that the laptop is possessed by gremlins.

Shortly after that incident, I had trouble with a power strip and my external hard drive. The drive is where I keep the digital images…best to back them up in a place separate from the haunted computer. After working fine for years, the drive would not power up when plugged into the power strip…but it worked fine when plugged into the wall outlet [?].

It was time to improve the power feeds for all the plug-in things in my little man cave so I bought another power strip, dove under the desk into the Gordian knot of wires and extension cords to devise a cleaner arrangement for all the machines in the room [two computers, printer, monitor, scanner, two desk lamps, speakers, phone]. I turned off everything before disconnecting and reconnecting them and when I turned the computer back on, there was nothing on the screen [!?!]. All I did was turn it off…like I do all the time…why no screen life? Plus, with a dark screen, how do I find a setting or instruction that can fix this problem? Step Number One in any Information Services solution – re-boot. I turn it off and on TWO more times…no screen – Aaargh! But wait. The monitor was not powered up. Try again with monitor on…now both laptop AND monitor are dark – Double Aaargh! Re-booted TWO more times and voila…the monitor worked. So, what was the problem? I don’t know. What did I do to fix it? Don’t have a clue. Yelled a lot? Hard to see how that helped.

Haunted computers ARE valid reasons for lack of progress. The rest are all excuses. I am a lazy lout who’s having a good time doing other things. Now I need to make the time to grow in this craft….do something new and different. There are magazines that have not been read. There are software programs that need to be opened and learned. There are thousands of picture files that can be worked and improved.

Maybe next week.

Merry Belated Halloween to All and to All a Good Night.