Sometimes it amazes me that some of the smartest people I know really, really suck at lower level tasks. You know, the sorts of tasks that most of us average people engage in and find ourselves thinking “well, that certainly wasn’t rocket science” when they’re completed. Things like setting digital clocks, anything at all to do with the irrigation system, and making coffee.
I will admit that I am truly useless when it comes to just about anything to with a computer. Most of the time I can locate the on switch, about half the time I can successfully log in by myself, and some of the time I can figure out how to shut the thing off. Really, my one and only computer skill lies in the fact that I can type super fast. And trust me, I fully grasp that the ability to type isn’t really a computer related skill at all. Luckily, I am afforded the luxury of my technological ignorance because I have my geek. In an additional twist of good fate, the 12 year old is turning into an uber nerd, and this gets me through most technology issues when my geek isn’t available.
My geek won’t touch the irrigation control panel. It’s too confusing and intimidating, even though the directions are there on the door panel, in all their pictorial glory. One of the things he does attempt is making coffee, and it’s really rather shocking just how often the geek messes it up. This is a man who can make a little widget-thingie to make his computer laugh at inappropriate times, but he can’t reliably make a pot of coffee.
And it’s not as if I’m changing it up on him all the time. We’ve had the same coffee maker for 3 years. We’ve used the same filters for 3 years. And there’s always ground coffee. Again with the whole “certainly not rocket science” thing.
This morning, after the coffee maker bled a half of a pot of coffee onto the counter and into the towel drawer instead of pumping it into the stainless steel carafe (that he had to have), my geek and I had the following conversation:
Geek: Our coffee pot is too complicated.
Me: It’s a coffee pot.
Geek: I know, and I’m telling you our coffee pot is just too complex and difficult.
Me: Dude. It’s. A. Coffee. Pot.
Geek: I know that. I’m just not a hardware guy I guess.
It looks like you have a Software geek on your hands. We firmly believe that any problem that we cannot solve through Software is a Hardware Issue and must be delegated to a qualified hardware engineer. Even if it’s a “simple” coffee pot 😉
I have been reliably informed that any hardware issue can be solved with duct tape. Lots and lots of Duct tape. Remember that because some day you maybe wondering how to get all that duct tape off your incredibly complex coffee pot 🙂