New Theory

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my computer crashed recently. I bought the computer in 2015, and I honestly can’t remember a time when it wasn’t hinky. Application icons would bounce and bounce in my dock before they’d open, and when I wanted to save a file, it was like the computer had to first awaken from a great slumber, emitting a long, weary whirring sound as I waited for the dialogue box to appear. I didn’t like it, but I made do.

I had a theory, you see. Every time I got a new computer, I’d download the contents of the last computer, even recreating my desktop and folders exactly as they were in the old model. It was handy, and also assuaged my mildly OCD desire to keep everything the same. I began to suspect, however, that I was dragging too much of the past with me, that there was years of useless stuff stored on my Mac, and some of that stuff was corrupted and had infected my newest machine. I was certain that what I needed was to simply wipe the whole thing clean and start fresh. That was my theory.

Turns out, my hard drive was physically degenerating. The technician who diagnosed my trouble recommended he install a new two terabyte, SSD drive. I told him if he thought it would help, he should go for it. When I picked it up, I asked him it how long it would take to download my files and application. He just looked at me and said, “Your computer is going to be a lot faster.”

I didn’t really believe him on account of my theory. It took a whole afternoon and evening to download everything. This seemed excessive, but what was most worrying was that the bar that calculates and counts down how long this process should take provided less than reassuring information. For two hours, it said the download would take 108 hours and 32 minutes. No counting down, just that same unchanging time. Then, for the next three hours it said that were 5 hours and 18 minutes remaining. And so on. This wasn’t good. This was weird. It was the past!

When everything had finally been installed and updated, and I opened Firefox for the first time, something odd happened: it appeared immediately on my desktop, no bouncing, no wait – just there. I tried Word. Same thing. I tried saving a file: there was the dialogue box, the computer was already awake and ready to work! It was, in fact, a lot faster.

My theory was bunk. I thought of how every time I sat down to work, I did so knowing I’d have to wait for things to open or be saved, that I could expect to spend a while watching a spinning colored ball, and that maybe somewhere there were people with fast, responsive computers, but I just wasn’t one of them. Now I was one of those people. I’m done with that guy who would watch the spinning ball, I decided. That’s the past.

If you like the ideas and perspectives expressed here, feel free to contact me about individual coaching and group workshops.

Fearless Writing: How to Create Boldly and Write With Confidence.
You can find William at: williamkenower.com