It seems that no matter where I go in my career, having to do repeatative tasks never is far behind. Maybe I kid myself to think that I have gotten beyond the laborer class.
At work, I was annoyed that what I was doing was mostly useless because I could be replaced by a very simple shell script. I was going down two lists of parts, making sure that they matched. I did feel slightly smug because I had pushed two computers together, and was running both mice, scrolling through the lists, comparing the excel sheet to the main system. Unlike excel, the system that we use to keep track of our parts has one weakness: the mouse scroll wheel has no effect.
I wanted to make sure that the problem wasn’t with me, so I sent an email to our support people:
The scroll wheel on my mouse has no effect in [this program]. Is this a problem with my system and settings or is simply a feature of [the program]?
Either way, how can I make the scroll wheel move the displayed data so I don’t have to click the arrows on the scroll bar?
Thank in advance,
—Tobias
Well, ok, maybe I knew the answer already; so the reply didn’t surprise me too much:
[the program] doesn’t work with a scroll wheel.
Maybe you don’t use a scroll wheel all the time, or at all, but I do. That way, rather than going over and finding the little buttons, you just move your finger–without taking your eyes off your work–and you can make the display change. This became a standard feature in the late 90’s. This program is a main pillar in many huge companies. They pay people large amounts of money to interact with it. And it is lacking basic modern functionality. Good thing I’m paid by the hour! I get paid to stop what I am doing, move my mouse over to a tiny button or slider, interact with it precisely, and then go back to work. Sure it only take a moment. But hundreds of time a day, hundreds of users…I’d expect better from the system. Not like the rest is polished, but a scroll wheel seems obvious these days.
So, I am annoyed by the tedious tasks. The little things that I do, over and over that I really don’t have to. And as I scanned down a list of parts…”this assembly, and it’s components…yep, matches this list…” it reminded me of some other lists. See, I’ve been reading Ezekiel lately, the end of it, and it goes into great detail about the temple, the dimensions, the chambers, each level, the walkways and gates…kind of like Exodus, with the tabernacle “…forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards, two sockets under one board for its two tenons and two sockets under another board for its two tenons;” It struck me: if God thought it worthwhile to put all these detail in, and have scribes copy it over and over for millennia, maybe I should be ok with a little repetition. Sure, I’m not building a temple, a house for the glory of God to dwell, but my life and my work should show His glory. Even while making extra clicks, if that is what I have to do to get the job done.
