[2022-04-08] Technical challenges
It's been a day of technical challenges.
I spoke with six individuals in two organizations to try to solve one problem. Both organizations dropped my call once, requiring that I call back, go through lengthy automated phone menus multiple times, and re-explain my issue. In one case, I had to get past a chatbot, twice.
Agent #4 in the first organization was able to identify my problem and place it at the feet of the second organization. Agent #2 in the second organization proposed a radical, start-from-scratch solution. When I told him that what he had suggested was like buying a car with air conditioning only to be told not to use it and to instead roll down the windows; he didn't seem impressed. I nevertheless resigned myself to starting over. Fortunately, just a few minutes into following his advice, I discovered a solution to my problem that took minutes to implement as opposed to the hours it would have taken me to redo my work.
Then tonight, I learned that my blog is down, seemingly because the server for the Postachio program that publishes my posts from Evernote to the web is offline. It's impossible to know whether this is temporary or permanent. Sigh.
Albert Einstein said: "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity." It felt like that today. The only saving grace was my ability—with considerable effort—to pick up the phone and talk to another human being.
I do wonder how people without the time, technical skills and cognitive abilities can cope in this world of rapidly advancing technology. For many, the answer is to seek help from the knowledgeable or from those individuals who do have the time, skills and abilities to find the answers.
