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Skipped a Step!

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Today’s post comes from perennial sophomore Bubby Spamden, who, as the poster child for the campaign against social promotion, has spent 20 years in the 10th grade at Wendell Willke High School.

Hey Mr. C,

Did you see what Microsoft did yesterday?

It’s awesome, and it fills my heart with hope. They decided to introduce a new version of Windows – “Windows 10″! But here’s the cool part, and believe it or not I first heard about it on your blog when “Happy Valley Steve” made this comment –

Screenshot 2014-10-01 at 6.54.55 PM

How about that – ME learning tech stuff from YOU! Pretty amazing. I guess old people aren’t a total waste after all. Who knew?

That’s almost as amazing as the other part of the story – Microsoft totally disrespecting the number 9 by jumping over it! A lot of people are upset about this, but I think it’s cool because skipping steps is why I keep getting held back.

Like in Mr. Boozenporn’s history class two years ago. I was just barely making it. Everything was riding on the grade for this class, and Mr. B had everybody do a final project, which was supposed to be a six page, single spaced, typed report about a historical event or thing or person, and I chose William Henry Harrison who was the first U.S. President to die in office (after only 32 days!) and whose brief term helped people work out all the rules about what to do when the president dies in office.

It was actually a pretty good report. I worked kinda hard on it, which is strange for me! But then I didn’t hand it in. I don’t know what happened. As soon as the report was finished I kinda lost interest and I never even brought it to school. I’ve still got it in my room – it’s under the goldfish bowl where it soaks up condensation that drips off the tank sometimes.

Anyway, not handing that in got me an “F” and another year as a sophomore at Willke. My folks complained but Mr. B was firm. “Bubby skipped a step,” he said. “Giving him a passing grade wouldn’t be fair to the other students who completed their work.”

I tried to argue that not handing the paper in was really a clever way to mirror the Harrison presidency – all potential with no actual follow-through, and a sense of disappointment all around. But Mr. B. saw through that one. He told me to quit trying to sabotage myself.

So here I am trying to pass my sophomore year again. I’m not saying I’ll do the work and not turn it in, but I wonder if he’ll let me write a report on Windows 9?

Your pal,
Bubby

Ever skip a step?

35 thoughts on “Skipped a Step!”

  1. Good morning. I can’t think of a really good example of a time when I skipped a step. I know I’ve done that. I just can’t remember a good example. However, there is one short cut I am always taking which is sort of a skipped step, not taking time to get organized.

    I always have lots of things that should be filed or put in order in some way. I keep telling myself I need to take care of the big pile of messy papers of all kinds that I have accumulated. However, all that I have been able to do is sort them out from time to time and I never get them completely put away. I know it would be a good thing to get that stuff in order. However, I just keep putting off doing that organizing similar to the way Bubby keeps putting off doing the work needed to graduate from the sophomore class.

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  2. i often skip all the middle stuff and go from idea straight to the completion of the idea. all that stuff in the middel bogs me down and is not what im really interested in. i like having an idea and then figuring out what great things will be happening once its doen but al that getting to the point where its reardy is where other people come in and suck the jo out of idea cultivating. i try to figure out what needs figuring out but it is a never ending cycle. as soon as you figure out what needs figuring out
    you find out you figured wrong and now you have to refigure.
    windows 8 and my projects have too much in common. get it out there and then you have to fix it. you are committed. you can always find people who know what to but getting them to do it and to listen to what you wnat them do. they are good at what they do but lord knows what they do so by the time you find out they did something else when you asked them to get from point a to point b its done and you need to come up with plan b.1.
    the geeks that get that stuff done seem to be very aware that they are destined to be given stuff to do and told they did it wrong. they know their place and just add it to the end of their job description.
    every now and again i come up with an idea i can do solo and it gets done quick but more often than not i get bogged down and can blame them for not getting me past those couple steps int he middle.

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  3. Rise and Shine Baboons!

    I think my process is often to tim’s described above–I backed into a business with great skills in what I do, but without a bookkeeper or an assistant to handle the details I don’t like. Oh man, what a step to skip.
    It’s all good now. But what a pain.

    Windows 8 is a pain. I have heard entire discussions go on for hours about this without a break. Thank goodness I am an Apple user.

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    1. PS. My process would be SIMILAR to tim’s. GRRR.

      There are times when I NEVER skip a step. Canning vegetables and jam, for instance. Skip a step there, and you end up poisoning your family. In that process I am deliberate and very step-oriented.

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  4. There is a big temptation, at least in my case, to skip reading directions such as those for assembling items that require assembly. Some of those products look as if they can be put together without reading the instructions. However, when you are finished you find out that they are not as they should be and you are forced to start over after looking at the instructions to see what you did wrong. This has happened several times when I tried to put together Ikea products.

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    1. I hear you, Jim. This summer I had to assemble a fan that came via UPS. Of course, I didn’t read the instructions. And then I installed a piece that was meant to go in a different place, and I cannot get it out of the wrong place. I had to buy another fan. This one sits in my closet in two pieces, a big piece of junk that I can’t bring myself to throw out.

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  5. All the time, but I am hopefully getting better at figuring out when I can get away with it.

    And then there are the times where I sort of get away with it, but the process takes twice as long thereby.

    2 steps I have recently embraced: get enough sleep (doesn’t have to be lots, but enough) AND for Pete’s, take the time to stop and fix the tool-just do it.

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    1. fix the tool is a good one.
      i heard about the guy who was chopping wood in the northwest and he worked his butt off to do more than everybody else on the crew. the first day he showed em all up and on the second day his productivity pile wasn’t as high as the other guys and on the third day even though he really worked to make sure he wasnt slacking his was falling behind the other guys and he went to the field boss an told him that he wanted to know how the other guys were doing.
      he was one hard working son of a gun and there is no way the others were out working him and the boss said
      “nope but they are doing one thing you’re not doing”
      “whats that” asked our friend.
      “They are taking time to sharpen their ax” was the reply

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  6. I often skip the step of committing to a far-off event – unless the thing is imminent, I just can’t tell whether I’ll feel like fitting it into my life. A recent example was deciding whether to go to a college reunion that landed in Utah. As it got closer, I realized the window of opportunity for a cheap flight had closed, and said to Husband, “Hey, wanta do a road trip to Utah?”

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    1. I love Utah except for all eh religious odd folks. I suppose that Minnesota has it’s share of religiously odd folks too hey?…..
      Cripes ya i was raised to believe that crimes was swearing too because it was meant it sound like Christ

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  7. Morning all!. I am the queen of skipping steps if I think it will get me to the end sooner with more or less the same result. I probably do this more at work than at home. My motto at work is “Done is better than perfect.” I’ve found, after 25 years here, that I have a pretty good notion when new paperwork and process comes down the pike, whether they will actually be useful and how long before they fade away….

    And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Joanne today!

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  8. Back when I could walk, I spent many happy days on the spread run by my rancher/farmer friend, Larry. One day Larry was fixing a flat tire. As he worked he kept explaining what he was doing. I had to notice that Larry took many extra steps that most people don’t bother with, like scuffing up the surface of the rubber with a scratchy disk so the glue would adhere to it better. As Larry described it, he took six or seven steps in fixing a tire that many people don’t bother with.

    “Larry,” I said, “it sounds like you are really conscientious about how you do things like this. You make a real effort to get it right.”

    Larry flashed a lopsided grin. “Nawww,” he said, “I’m just lazy. Other guys do it quicker, but I’m too lazy to do it a second time after the first time fails. I’m just lazy.”

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  9. My theory about Windows 9 is that Microsoft wanted to create the perception that they are keeping up with Apple. Macs have been running on OS 10 for more than a decade. Having your operating system still in single digits sounds painfully archaic for a software giant.

    And lest I forget and skip this step, let me add my happy birthday wishes to Joanne!

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        2. When I go to book club, I go there and be round, not square. The food that is shared there is so good.

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      1. Linda and PJ – I usually show up about 9:30 to make sure I’m close enough to the door to see the show up close and personal.

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