Doug Jamal <dougjamal@atmyhome.net> hath wroth:

>Jeff, those of us in the computing business know very well the frustrations
>that comes with trying to correct someone else's mistake. We love and hate
>it at the same time and despite the fact that we tell our clients how to do
>certain simple troubleshooting tips, very few actually listen and try them.
>Trust me, sir, I feel your pain.

It's frustrating, but I've become tolerant of the situation. There
are those that simply are not going to learn anything new and happily
throw money at me to do it for them. I call them customers. Some of
these are justified. One rather wealthy individual mentioned that his
working time was worth perhaps $1,000/hr. Why should he waste it
doing a job that I can do better and faster for only $75/hr? I also
help out at a senior retirement home, where many of the residents are
borderline senile. Others have simply not had the experience of
having to learn anything since they escaped from skool. I've often
been tempted to yell "WAKE UP" at them, but have learned that it's
often too late.

One observation is that the ones that are really trying to learn,
usually take notes. Those that I'm wasting my time educating, usually
do not. One of the locals has an IQ of perhaps 80 with the added
bonus of dyslexia. He realizes that he must compensate, so he carries
a digital voice recorder around with him to help remember things. I
was really impressed when I saw his computer full of rather well
organized audio clips with some of my rants on different topics. He
drives me nuts, but I can't fault him for trying.

>Now, for the person that called you while
>you were in the hospital, now dang, that is just downright inconsiderate but
>typical of today's mentality. Did the...as you put it...*luser* even ask
>how you were doing?

Ummm... I don't remember if they asked. I don't even remember who it
was. All I know is that the nurse mentioned that the person I talked
to earlier in the morning after surgery called *AGAIN* to ask if I was
available. Excruciating pain has a way of reducing my curiosity, so I
graciously declined. I never bothered to find out who it was.

Incidentally, I apparently had a rather lengthy conversation in the
recovery area with the surgeon, none of which I can remember. One of
the nifty things about modern anesthesia is that there's no weird
dreams between pre-op and post-op. One minute I was lookup up at the
IV bottle wondering when it would start working. What seemed like
seconds later, but was actually 18 hours later, I was awake in a
hospital room. I also suspect that there were some psychotropic mood
enhancers mixed in with the cocktail, as I felt minimal pain and quite
uncharacteristically optimistic. Of course, that didn't last as the
drugs wore off, but it sure was great while it lasted.

Speaking of sneaky, one of my customers called me erratically asking
how I was doing and offering advice, assistance, and sympathy. I'm
sure it was genuine, but she always managed to sneak in a computer
problem or question afterwards, which made me rather suspicious.

Also, I was posting answers to this newsgroups almost immediately
after surgery. What wasn't obvious was that I was doing it rather
differently. I would write a suitable answer, save the answer, and
not post it immediately. A few hours later, I would re-read my answer
to see if it was reasonable coherent. Usually it wasn't and required
a re-write. I would repeat this ceremony until it seemed suitable for
public consumption. I had to abandon several messages as no amount of
re-writing would have helped. A few with problems managed to sneak
through anyway. Remind me not to write anything while drugged.


--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558