It's Independence Day.
It's been crazy busy -- at work, at home, in my sleep (many nights with multiple trips to the bathroom). Me time on the couch is often interrupted by a mousie being dropped in my lap. She's such a (more or less) sweet kitty; how can I ignore her requests for playtime.
Altho I really feel it when I throw the mousie. Which is pretty sad and really shows how effed up my shoulder is.
I've been meaning to write. Really. I swear. But I seem to have double-booked life.
I've had several small ideas. I don't think any of them could have grown into much, but I thought I could just have a post or two of collected short thoughts. And then I don't have the time or energy to even log on.
And of course now I don't remember many of them. Just a few. One, now that I'm typing.
So . . .
Short Thought(s)
(I'm leaving it open in case I think of another one while typing.)
You know something. Something you do all of the time. It's second nature so you don't even think how do I, you just do it. Remember that not everyone has that skill. Doesn't do it every day. Has never done it. Be respectful.
An example. A lot -- and I mean a lot -- of people in the small rural country where I work make it clear they don't know technology. It really is the first thing they say. And the photocopier is one of those technologies that confounds and scares them. They set their paper on the glass (no top feeder!) one way and push a button and it comes out wrong so they flip the paper and push another button and it's wrong again. I understand why they feel like they just can't win.
One woman I was helping was really fretting. She never knows how to put the paper. Is it face up down? Longways or tall? (If you don't understand what these directions mean then you've never spent a morning helping people at a copier.)
So I explained some basics as I showed her how to rearrange her paper for copying. There's a little picture next to each tray selection that shows orientation. There's a funny little symbol on the top feeder which indicates face up or down. Not advanced engineering. But I stopped because I was obviously unsettling her even more.
Because she really just wanted whoever was working to do it for her.
Not everyone is like that, of course. But I try to be aware of the vibe from people. If they're confused and learning a few simple things makes them feel less frustrated versus they don't know how to do something and at this point in their life don't care to know how to do it.
So when the furnace guys were putting in the new furnace I caught them toward the end and asked them to show me how to change the filter. I hated randomly unscrewing things trying to figure it out with the ancient furnace and it's replacement. I had the guys. They could walk me through it.
One assured me it was like the previous furnace. Same size filter in the same place. He wouldn't tightedn the screws too much so I should be able to undo them with my fingers.
Oh-kaaaay. I have a selection of screwdrivers, so that wasn't really my concern. But knowing the filter goes in the same way answered my question. I thought. The first time I changed the filter I was angry with myself that I hadn't insisted he show me how to do it.
Because of course the panels fitted together totally different from the previous furnace. And everything the two panels just fell on the floor when I got the last screw out so I didn't have a perfect memory to put them back. It too me way too long and at max frustration.
This second time changing the filter wasn't much better. I had things back together but it just didn't seem right so I tried switching the top and bottom panels which was absolutely wrong so I had to put it back as I had it. And I really don't like the way they're fitted. I don't have the strength or coordination or balance to balance both in place while trying to get a screw in well enough that I don't have to hold everything. My poor vision doesn't help.
I'm sure the guy thought he gave me all of the information I needed. But I don't spend much time sitting in dim basements with furnaces.
Like the people at the copier, I've tried to approach it logically and that doesn't work. The way it does seem to work doesn't make sense to me. And it's not something I do often enough for it to get better.
Comentários