Houston, we have a problem

[Ken Gray] This past week has been a horror show of personal technological challenges. I am normally pretty good at solving glitches, at creating digital workarounds, at reaching out to support systems when necessary. This past week, however, was different.

In preparing for a funeral I needed to edit a Youtube video. Easy-peasy I thought. Well, not so much this time. The video would not play in an editing mode in Adobe Premiere Pro. So, reinstall programme, reboot computer, pray to an unknown deity, and consider other program options. Nothing worked. So, hunt around for Adobe support. They keep sending you to online support communities — no one seems to have my particular problem. Then they ask how helpful this advice is. I tell them, and keep hunting for help. Finally I find a chat — speaking with a human is a no-go option these days. Besides I often have trouble hearing them. (See below.)

My chat correspondent was very polite; they took over my computer (with my permission and encouragement) and did most of the same things I had tried. They next tried to uninstall the program, as I had, and hit the same walls. They took me on a tour of my configuration and compiler settings — it was rather fun as my cursor chased theirs, like biplanes in a WW1 movie. Nothing worked. My life continued in real time — the funeral was getting closer; I needed to cut down this video. In the end, the Adobe solution did not succeed but good try, I thought. In the end I left the video uncut and will use the whole thing this morning.

A day later, and at the behest of my family who want me to work out at the gym at least a few times each week, I purchased a nice set of Bluetooth ear buds to connect with my phone. This means I can listen to a backlog of Atlantic audio articles. Time flies and laps pile up when I am distracted by ideas and articles. Well, the buds arrived on time and in pristine condition. Of course, no instruction booklet. No problem; they were “plug and play” and loaded with features including touch controls. But wow, quite a bit of time was required to sort out options for optimal performance. A few days on now, all seems good. Just don’t lose them.

Next, and in relation to the funeral mentioned above, when in previous parishes I had a wonderful workflow for Order of Service production. I am proud of the quality of my productions, an art noticed and appreciated by more than a few funeral directors. I now lack that technology. I used to send things over to Staples for processing; now they send all such projects away only to return five (5) days later — promise. A most unhelpful timeline. Only yesterday I spent some time with our church office manager trying to make things work locally. The Anglican copier is near dead (don’t get me going on this) but the United Church copier is robust and well serviced. I will see later this morning how she got on. She’s smart and a good problem solver. See what happens.

Then, drum roll please, the hearing aids! These will be the death of me. So no problem, once dead I will no longer need them. Just cremate them with my dehydrated remains and someone will scatter the ashes in our memorial garden. (That’s a technological challenge of a different kind, a story for another time, however.) I had send the hearing aids away for servicing. I did locate a loaner pair while the others were away for service. They actually seemed to work better than my own units. Anyway, got my own back two days ago, purportedly repaired, but gosh, they’re not. So call Costco, again — their commitment to my well being has been exemplary, but we’re not on solid ground yet, sadly. Do you hear what I hear? Well I certainly don’t hear what you hear.

Technology: Can’t live with it. Can’t live without it. It’s brilliant when it works. I have newfound respect for that line from Apollo 13. “Houston, we have a problem.” Yes Houston, we sure do.

NOTE: None of the above text has been generated, checked, compared, or edited with AI. Couldn’t get it to work either 😊

Visit the takenote.ca HOME page for a colourful display of hundreds of other blogs which may interest or inspire you