Sunday 29 August 2021

Instructions

Where do you stand on reading instructions?   I am so bad at doing so.   I suppose what it is is that I am so impatient.   I want to get started on whatever it is that I am dealing with, so I look at it and think - oh  yes - that goes there - I see how this works.   And of course in nine cases out of ten I am struggling and fumbling about  and usually having to ask somebody else to help.   And boy is it annoying when they read the instructions, tick off each one as they do it and end up with the thing working perfectly.   I have always been the same and I don't think I shall change now.

And, of course, all my chickens have come home to roost at once with the disastrous fire which has destroyed our transmitter so that we have limited stations we can watch on television and only then through a series of moves using the remote control.  And the situation doesn't look like changing any time soon.   Friend S has shown me how to get the available channels - but sometimes I succeed and  sometimes I have to have several tries before I actually manage to get to where I want to go.   It is so frustrating and likely to be like that for some time from what I understand.

Added to that this morning my hearing aid has come apart.   It is not difficult to put back together but it is fiddly and one needs to be gentle with it, otherwise it would easily break.   It is a matter of fitting two little 'blobs' (for want of a better word) into two little holes.   I am always shaky - very much so this morning - and I can't do it so in addition to any other woes I can't hear.   My carer, who has a high, female voice, is on a register I can hear clearly so I have been able to chat to her.   But unless I can find someone who knows what they are doing to put my aid back together I seem destined to a day of silence.

C'est la vie! 

Back in the Land of the Living - hearing loud and clear even if there is the odd whistle. 

27 comments:

Derek Faulkner said...

In respect of instructions Pat, you describe my reaction to them exactly, I always tend to think that I don't need to read them properly and end up regretting it.
Nice blue skies down here but not particularly warm and very chilly overnight.

the veg artist said...

I'm pretty good at getting things to work without reading the manual, but it often means I never realise the full range of functions, so I'll own something for years before someone tells me that it has a much wider range of functions than I've realised. TVs and recording boxes, microwaves, even radios/disc players in cars. Beautiful day here, but our local council felt the need yesterday to announce that the resort car parks were filling up fast - who'd have guessed, on a Bank Holiday!

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

It usually occurs to me after about half an hour of struggling that reading the instructions might be a good idea. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. I am however very well-practised at fixing hearing aids; I worked with three young men who relied on them.

Rachel Phillips said...

I am good at reading instructions and also good at writing out step by step instructions for others as, for instance, I have done for you in the past with blogging matters I recall and you may recall. Could your wonderful carer not have put the hearing aid back together for you?

Tasker Dunham said...

I do try to read instructions first to try to understand what I'm about to do, but don't always. It's nice to have an excuse to sit down undisturbed.
In the computer and software industries most people tended to ask someone else first. The standard response was RTFM!

Emmbee said...

If all else fails.
Read the bl**dy instructions!

Anonymous said...

Pat we watch BBC iplayer itv chanel 4 on our computer.we use the mouse to negotiate it's easier than a remote control might not be as comfy as watching the tv screen fon yout chair in the living room but it will put you on until the transmitter. Is back
Type BBC into Firefox carry on from there hope this helps Freddie in spain

Jennyff said...

I generally don't read the instructions until after I've done whatever it is and I can't be doing with manuals at all. It may be an age thing but I certainly have much less patience that I used to or maybe life has just got too complicated for me.

Tom Stephenson said...

Like most men, I take the thing out of the box and immediately begin to assemble it. Only at the very end do I consult the instruction manual (in 20 different languages) to see where I went wrong.

Maudie said...

I'm not one for reading instructions, either. They make more sense to me after I've fiddled with the thing.

Debby said...

It depends on what I'm doing. Let me tell you though, if I'm assembling IKEA, I start with the instructions and lay out all the pieces and do everything in careful accordance with the directions. Even with all of that, generally speaking, I usually do something backwards and discover it several steps later and decide against tearing everything apart to fix that step. And then, for ever after, every time I look at the piece, I wince at the part that's been put together wrong.

It keeps me humble, I suppose.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Rachel - my carer was apprehensive about doing it because they are quite fragile and the performance to get to the hearing clinic since Covid is such that I might well have been without an aid for weeks. My son was head of a home for handicapped adults previously and several of his clients were deaf, so he did it in seconds for me.Freddie at the moment I can get all BBC programmes including the news channel - and really that is almost all I watch anyway.
I feel better after reading these - I am not alone.
My new printer came with a thick booklet of instructions in every language but English!

Susan said...

Some instructions are better than others. My preference is instructions in pictures with a few words. Also, Youtube has great instructions on just about anything, all in video. I am willing to bet Youtube has instructions on setting up your new printer.

Yellow Shoes said...

I find there’s nearly always someone on YouTube who will tell me clearly how to do something.
Then I can repeat the video and watch it again and again till I know it.

CharlotteP said...

The worst ones are food labels...do they print them so small because they don't want you to read them? And usually in white on grey, or red on yellow, or something equally hard to see!

Heather said...

So pleased your hearing aid is in working order again. As for instructions, I usually have to read them three times before trying to use them. I read far too quickly and can 'assume' some words! If it's anything electrical I am extra careful and before switching on I cringe, half expecting a loud bang! So far there has never been one.
I am hopeless with TVs and dread having to replace this old laptop. So many new tricks to learn.

Rachel Phillips said...

Why as an ex teacher can you not read instructions? What did you tell your pupils to do when they turned over the exam paper?

The Weaver of Grass said...

Rachel - good point. I think it was a case of 'do as I say' not 'do as I do'.
Heather - I find with things like the changing of format for e mails or the changing of a laptop I think I am never going to get the hang of it and then within a couple of weeks I have forgotten the old way.
Some good points here - I am pleased I am not alone. Thanks for giving the matter some thought.

Regina M. said...

Have to admit I have the exact problem. I don't think I'll ever learn to read all the
instructions first. I do try. And I do get upset with myself. That's the way it is.

I'm very glad your hearing aid is okay now. That being on the fritz would truly be bothersome. Seems as if today was your 32nd day of the month. I'm hoping these 32nd day experiences come less and less. Hugs. From the base of the mini-mountain in Maine.

Red said...

Reading directions is necessary but some of the directions written today are almost impossible to follow.

Bonnie said...

I always try to read the instructions but some are not written very well in my opinion!

Cro Magnon said...

Just yesterday I was on Amazon looking at a battery operated water tester for the pool (they test the levels of Chlore and PH). When I read the reviews, everyone without exception said that the instructions were totally incomprehensible. It's amazing that the Chinese (and others) don't have a 'Department of Comprehensible Instructions' from which all exporters would need to gain a certificate.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks everyone. It is now early on Monday morning. There has been a shower overnight (there are droplets all along my washing line) How lucky the Show Committee were to have such a lovely day on Saturday because it is obvviously going to be another grey day today.

ENJOY THE LAST BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS.

Derek Faulkner said...

Very cold and windy with heavy bursts of drizzle here this morning Pat - definitely not nice.

Crafty Green Poet said...

Hearing aids can be very fiddly, I know from an aunt who always struggles to fit hers together.

As to instructions, some instructions can actually seem to be unhelpful

The Weaver of Grass said...

Derek - similar here as the day goes on.

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