{"id":404,"date":"2015-09-15T12:12:09","date_gmt":"2015-09-15T19:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/digitalfacilitation.net\/?p=404"},"modified":"2015-09-15T12:12:09","modified_gmt":"2015-09-15T19:12:09","slug":"the-despondent-pit-of-techno-despair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalfacilitation.net\/?p=404","title":{"rendered":"The Despondent Pit of Techno-Despair"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Don't<\/a>

Don’t fear the Pit.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Have you ever been in the Despondent Pit of Techno-Despair? You know what I\u2019m talking about, if you\u2019ve been there. You\u2019ve been trying to get some type of technology to work, usually in front of other people. It probably worked yesterday, or even earlier today, when you tested it by yourself, but the controls are now mysteriously incomprehensible and you\u2019d swear they look different than they did an hour ago. Possibly a lot of people are waiting to do some very important work supported by the technology you\u2019re fooling with. Time stretches and warps in a weird way, and it feels like everyone else is holding their breath and staring at you with saucer-sized eyes. You can almost see them thinking, \u201cWhat the heck is this person\u2019s problem, and how long is it going to be my problem too?\u201d You start to feel like you are at the bottom of a giant black hole in the earth and the sunlight is so far away you will never see it again. You kind of wish it would just collapse on you and everyone would go away and let you die of embarrassment in peace.<\/p>\n

Yeah. Welcome to the Pit.<\/p>\n

I spend a lot of time in the Pit, which sometimes surprises people because I generally seem to have a handle on technology. (Generally.) But think about it: I spend a lot more time walking along the edge of the Pit than most people. It stands to reason that I\u2019ll fall in fairly often.<\/p>\n

So why would I keep wandering around on the edge of this scary, deep, dark Pit if I know how awful it is when you fall in?<\/p>\n

Simple: I also know the way out.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve built a ladder that I use to get out of the Pit. Rung by rung, I can climb my way back to the sunshine. Knowing this makes me unafraid to fall in, and even lets me laugh about it and take it in stride. Well, sometimes.<\/p>\n

Here, I\u2019ll show you my ladder. This is the ladder I\u2019ve built for when I\u2019m working with a group, and I\u2019m the one having the issue.<\/p>\n