Thoughts From a Clicker
By Tiny Ruisch
For the past year, I’ve had a severe medical problem that the doctors are having a hard time curing. I’m not going to bore you with all the details. I’ll just mention that I’ve had to make five different trips to the Emergency Room. Two of them resulted in a hospital stay of a week. I’ve spent a lot of time at home recovering from various procedures. Luckily, I have good insurance and my out-of-pocket cost was zero.
Why do I mention this? I’ve observed that many of the things doctors do is the same thing I do when trying to fix a problem with my electronic devices. Like a medical illness, computer problems usually come on suddenly without any advance warning.
Diagnosing a computer problem is similar to diagnosing a medical problem in that it involves identifying the cause of the issue and determining a solution. In both cases, the process typically involves gathering information about the problem, examining relevant data, and using diagnostic tools to help identify the root cause.
The first thing I do when I have a computer difficulty is research the internet to see if I can find an answer. I’m pretty sure my doctor(s) didn’t do this, but I sure hope they checked their medical journals to search for a proper cure. I try to diagnose my computer problem by using tools such as error logs, performance monitors, debugging tools, etc. My doctor did the same thing using different tools like blood tests, imaging scans, and a myriad of other tests.
The next thing I attempt is to try different solutions to see if I can fix my ailing electronic device. My doctor did the same thing. I’ve been prescribed six different prescriptions to try to cure my problem. Unfortunately, like many computer tests, none of them worked.
Computer problems can often only be repaired by opening up the case and checking the various components to check they are in proper working order. This is almost exactly what my doctor finally ended up doing. He called it exploratory surgery. Thankfully, I was asleep and felt nothing. You might almost compare me to an unplugged computer.
I’ve decided that both diagnosing a computer problem and a medical problem require critical thinking, problem solving skills, and the ability to gather and interpret information to identify the root cause of a problem to determine the appropriate course of action. Unfortunately, sometimes those darn computers just can’t be fixed.
When that happens, I sometimes try again in a month or two. Kind of like a follow‑up visit to my doctor. Eventually, a computer gets to the point that it is irreparable. I’m hoping that doesn’t happen to me for a while.
Thanks for reading.