How Three Dots Wrecked My Day
Yesterday I was having a very difficult time with my work laptop. We were not getting along, fighting, disagreeing with each other. It was a mess. I threw an insult toward it, it threw many back.
It was as if my computer had a virus. Covid, maybe. And when I use it at home I don’t wear a mask, so you never know.
I had to log in differently, the defaults were all changed, the fingerprint access wouldn’t work. Something was up.
It was like I was suddenly working on a different computer. One that sucked the life out of me.
And I never say that about this beautiful Macbook Pro. I feel so grateful to have it for my program. It was one of the last necessary parts to our new apple editing stations for Film class. The new computers have been a game changer for video editing
.But this laptop….. grrrr….
It was really bothering me last night. I was stressed about it. I didn’t even get a blog written and I know you’ve been worried sick.
How could he do this to me? 1 day off in 75+ regular weekdays! The nerve!
I wrote someone on TEAMS
about it. (about the computer issue, not me not writing a blog. They woudn’t care about my blog, it’s not work related you see.) I didn’t think I’d get a response until today as our help desk generally doesn’t work in the evening. However, the gentleman on the other side of the tin can was kind enough to remotely log into my computer during after hours, to check it out. Now there’s something cool to see. Someone controlling your computer. Eeeeeek.He was very clear with the instructions and worked diligently to figure it out.
Sure enough, he found the problem. Unbeknownst to me, all the computers in our district were recently renamed to standardize them.
I was being standardized. Who knew!
My computer was readdressed to a code name with a letter ‘S’ in it. The ‘S’ stands for ‘student’. It was a mistake, of course as it was supposed to be addressed as a ‘T’ for a Teacher laptop. Grrrr….. (can you hear me growl?)
A simple human error.
How absurd. That single mistake created stress, anxiety and frustration. No blog for you….. the list goes on and on….
He quickly changed it and reset my computer back. A few tweaks here and there and I was good to go.
This made me wonder…
What actual tragedies have been caused by simple mistakes?
Or how about caused by the letter ‘S’?
Have people died because of the letter ‘S’?
The Nazi’s SS, or Schutzstaffel, created unimaginable atrocities. I’m sure there are many more examples, but this wasn’t meant to get so dark. Sorry.
Have people been saved?
Absolutely. After all, SOS was a popular form of communication and distress call in the early 1900’s and throughout the World Wars, and is even used today in reference to ‘Save Our Souls’ or ‘Save Our Ship’.
It’s even embedded into every iPhone in case of emergency!
Interestingly, ‘S’ in Morse Code is simply three dots
.Three Dots! That’s it!!
And those nasty dots wrecked my day.
But in the grand scheme of things, I have nothing to complain about. Unless my computer goes haywire again.
Then I’ll send this message to help desk, and they’ll come for sure!
... .- ...- . / -- . / ... .- ...- . / -- . -.-.-- / -- -.-- / -.-. --- -- .--. ..- - . .-. / .. ... / .- -.-. - .. -. --. / ..- .--. -.-.--
With Gratitude,
PS. If you’d like to translate the Morse Code above(or below), simply copy and paste with this handy website.
.--. .-.. . .- ... . / ... .... .- .-. . .-.-.-
and
-. --- .-- / .. / .-- .- -. - / .- / ... .... .. .-. - / .-- .. - .... / - .... .. ... / - --- / -.-. --- -. ..-. ..- ... . / -- -.-- / ... - ..- -.. . -. - ...
You need strong computers for video editing or it’s a total nightmare. Add trying to teach without the proper technology and you have unhappy students who have literally cried over the past behaviour of other computers. And these were some of my very strongest students. Anyway, the new computers have been amazing, and I rarely need to write to the help desk because of them. Yeehaw!
This is the Microsoft system we use for communicating with other staff and students.
Found on Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOS
Computers ... can't live without 'em now, but man do they cause frustration. I looked up all your morse code - thanks for the fun "assignment". Have a wonderful day.