Sunday, January 24, 2010

Chapter The Next: In Which Our Hero Ponders The Loss of Technology

So while I was sleeping, the work computer died... or, more precisely, the screen of the work computer died.

My first reaction was, of course, a mild "Oh Nooooo..."






"Hey! Y'all remembered my name!"


In all reality, this is a minor bump in the road. I have my personal laptop, or as my wife likes to call it "Chour Tree Tousand Dolla Pono Matchine," which is neither here nor there, but keeps me connected to the world.
In the meanwhile, however, I'm forced to do loading calculations by hand, by which I mean using a calculator which is in my hand... all fine. Some extra steps, and some extra reading and writing, but OK, in the course of two cargo discharges and maybe one more load (the computer died after we started loading the cargo which I'm currently sitting on), I can handle it.
Still, this makes me mindful of how reliant I am upon technology to make my job more convenient and safe. I am performing calculations in series- nothing dramatic, but calculations built off one another. And I will be more prone to error than my computer, which means making a list and checking it twice... more work.
So here we sit, awaiting inspiration. In the meanwhile, that which I can't handle with a pen and paper, I can handle with phone calls. And such hubris, where I can be annoyed that I have to dial 11 numbers to have all my questions answered, but there it is. The pleasant insulation between myself and the office folk is worn thin, at least in a temporary fashion.
At least I like the office folk. There's that.

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