Computers are great listeners

They do everything you tell them to do. Even if you don’t realize what you’re telling them to do.

During the pandemic I put a sticky note on my computer that read: “The computer is doing EXACTLY what you’re telling it to do.”

It served as a gentle reminder to find the root cause of whatever I did that was preventing the computer from functioning the way I intended. Fully 100% of the time it was user error – my intentions did not translate properly from brain to screen, and I did not realize it.

There’s a root cause for everything that ails us.

Focus. Find it. Fix it.

What was I thinking? – Baking

I put a cake in the oven last week and immediately decided to put the oven mitts away. No big deal, except that instead of opening the drawer next to the stove where they belong, I opened the oven instead and tried to put them there.

Fortunately, the cake finished baking without issue and it came time to turn the stove timer off.

For this task I decided to open the microwave.

What was I thinking?