Failing and Learning

We are all familiar with "learning from your failures"; we hear it all the time. It is true as frustrating as it is at times.



A few years ago I was taking some classes and things were going well. So, when my lawnmower started clanking I decided to tear it apart and see what was causing it. Another duh moment. What on earth made me think I could fix a mower? I was working a lot of overtime at the time and I think I figured that I could pay someone to mow the yard or put the mower back together if I couldn't.



So I sat down in the middle of the garage and disassembled the mower. I never did figure out what was clanking. I did manage to get to get it all back together with no extra parts left over and a minimum of gas spillage. And, it worked! And it didn't clank any more. But that was just sheer luck because I didn't know what I was doing and didn't really learn anything from the experience.



On the other hand, when I replaced all the innards of the toilet tank not long ago because it wouldn't stop running, I learned what "finger tight" is. Obviously the manufacturers finger tight and mine are a long way apart. I also learned real fast that you don't just assume that everything is good and turn the water on full blast. Having huge bath towels comes in handy.

So, after wrench tightening, and gingerly turning the water back on, I learned how tight the nuts and things have to be to avoid flooding the bathroom.

Another Learning Experience - Home Repairs

Years ago when I moved into my first house, I was just renting, my father gave me some basic tools for Christmas. Hammer, pliers and a couple of screwdrivers. I was able to hang pictures but had never tried anything more. Every once in a while I would decide to "fix" something minor rather than call for help. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn't. Dad had to come over and bail me out. Finally he told me, nicely, to please call him before I tried to fix it.

This was OK till he moved and I was on my own. By that time, I owned my own home and had to do the repairs having no landlord or Father to call on. So I bought a couple of fix-it books and started on my journey. I was actually pretty successful with what I tried.

By now I had added a few more tools to my hand-me-down toolbox and Dad had given me his old drill when he bought a new one. I kept trying to talk him into buying a new circular saw but he never would. I can't imagine why!

One of my repair jobs came as the result of an argument my daughter and I had. I don't even remember what it was about now. I was a single parent and she was a teenager. Nuff said. Anyway, I was so mad at her that I sent her to her room and after fuming a few more minutes I went to my room and slammed the door! Well, that stupid door hit the jamb trim and popped it off and went right on through the opening about 6 inches. So now I am stuck in my bedroom and I can't get out.

Believe me, I tried to figure out anything rather than call my daughter for help. The nails holding the trim were all still in the jamb bent out so I couldn't pull the door back through. The door wouldn't go out any further. I couldn't even climb out the window because everything was still locked and I couldn't get back in and my keys were in the kitchen. (I've since learned to keep my purse and keys and cell phone in the bedroom with me). All my tools were down the basement. (No, I don't keep them in the bedrom now. There is a limit to what I can get in there).

So, I had to call my daughter. I told her she could come out of her room long enough to get the hammer for me but that if she so much as cracked a smile she would be grounded for a month. She came out and managed not to smile when she handed me the hammer. I sent her back to her room while I got out of my room and fixed the damage. Fortunately, the trim popped off in one piece and was not damaged. I just pulled the bent finishing nails out of the jamb and nailed it back on.

By that time I was over being mad and told my daughter she could come out of her room. She came out and sat down and looked at me and said, "Now can we laugh?"

Wade Before You Surf

One thing I have learned is that I have to go step by step to learn all these things. So all of you who feel the world is whizzing by while you are trying to catch on, join me in a learning journey.

When I first braved the internet, it was just to email and someone else set it up for me. I have Windows XP and I used Outlook for email. I also had an email address provided by my cable provider. This was fine as long as I was home. But I found out that if I wanted to access my email from any other computer I could only see the new messages and could not refer to anything I had saved. So, I had to get another email address. Gmail or Hotmail works. There are also others out there. I also had to learn how to set this up myself.

I didn't have time or opportunity to take a class (which I recommend if possible) so I did the next best thing and bought a book. I underline, highlight and put sticky tabs on pages of vital information. Yup, the book is an inch and a half thick and looks like a porcupine along the top and right sides with all the tabs. But it is an easy book to understand -- it's all pictures!

The book is Master Visually Windows XP. The website address is

http://www.hungryminds.com/ which will take you to Wiley website. Enter the words master visually into their search box and it will bring up alot of books.

This book gives you a picture of the actual page and red arrows with explanation for everything.

So little by little I started to go through this book as I ran into things I wanted to do. I would work on it and if I didn't get it I would leave it alone for a few days and let it jell. Most of the time when I came back to it and started over again, it would fall into place.

For those of you that learn like I do, you will understand this. Take it at your own pace a little at a time. You are never too old to learn if you want to.

The Light Dawns

,This is my first blog. I know, I can hear the groans from all you experienced bloggers out there but there it is. I am doing this out of curiosity. I don't really read blogs as this is all new to me. I have resisted all this computer stuff for a long time but have come to the realization (aha) that to get anywhere you have to know something whether you like it or not (that's a duh moment).

I have been working on my PC for about a month now and what I have learned is amazing to me. I have to say, what I know would not fill a thimble as opposed to those of you with a world of knowledge. But to me the discoveries have been exciting.

For one thing, I got a new PC. My old one was so slow that I would play Majong while pages were loading. I was amazed at how fast they load on the new one. I am learning to do more than email and shop and just surf. I find that I learn the most by figuring out how to undo what I just did and I go in a lot of circles doing it. I don't have a straight anaylitical mind. I take a lot of loops to get where I am going. I have found that if I print pages, open another window for another operation and taking notes on everything eventually it starts falling into place and I accomplish something. Not necessarily what I started out to do but usually as helpful.

This is new so I have to figure out all that I can do with it. This is just a little record of my learning curve.