#1210 Auto-bossy

Not long ago I had one of those modern technology moments. My computer was suddenly the boss of me. It was Monday morning and my computer had been turned off the previous night. Yes, I actually turn off my computer every night.
I come from a time when, except for the refrigerator, you turned your appliances off. The only thing you never turned off was your phone. So what does that say about me? I see my computer not as a communication lifeline but as an appliance.
Which made the Monday morning episode so much more annoying. Sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning, Microsoft decided to send out Windows updates. Complicating matters was another program I had installed on Sunday, which also got an update. It too decided Monday morning was a great time to install. And, in the final perfect storm, I had my automatic update install feature turned on.
The competing updates made my computer lock up in a massive auto-compu-cramp. It was impossible for me to use it for its normal morning tasks, like writing one of these commentaries.
I was frustrated to say the least. Locked out of my own appliance by a torrent of downloading and updating.
What if my car did that? “Sorry I was late to work, sir, I couldn’t get my Toyota going because it was updating its software...”
Later that day I actually had a discussion with my real boss about my annoying episode. He agreed, and reminded me that our computers constant need to reboot is another annoyance. Does your refrigerator do that?
My crisper isn’t working, I need to reboot my Frigidaire. I couldn’t shave this morning, my electric shaver needed to be rebooted. Sorry, no coffee for a while, my automatic drip coffee maker is updating its software.
That poor guy just had a heart attack at the wrong time. Who would have thought tachycardia would kick in right when his pacemaker was updating its software.
So, one more thing to add back into my tasks. Manually turn off “auto update.” At least tell it to prompt you and ask before it does the actual installation.
Show that appliance who’s boss.
America, ya gotta love it.