Technology - 427 Me - 0

Now, before you go getting the wrong idea, I'm not a complete technodope.  Nor am I any kind of technowhiz.  I fall comfortably somewhere in the middle and, imho, I think I trend toward the upper portion of the curve.  I typically do ok with new technologies although I'll readily admit I'm not savvy enough to take full advantage of the wizardry that is available to us today.  Of course, the way things advance, sometimes in the blink of an eye, it is tough to stay on top of things.  So I do ok.

For the most part.

At least until recently.

Let me explain...

In the fire service today, there are apps available that send you (and when I say "you" I mean "us" because I don't think they're readily available to the general public) dispatch information for the 9-1-1 calls we when we get dispatched.

I'd better back up a little bit.

Until last week the village that employs me had our own dispatch center.  Meaning, when someone called 9-1-1 in our town it was ultimately answered by a dispatcher sitting in our very own police station and they would dispatch the appropriate units for whatever the situation dictated.  There was an app that a lot of our guys used and it would alert them to a call every bit of 30-45 seconds before we got "toned out" for the very same call.  Which invariably drew this response from me-

I can't help it.  It aggravated me that this was possible.  Even after it was explained to me (Magic according to one of the younger guys.  Who am I to doubt him) I still found it somehow wrong.  I mean, to me, it always seems as though WE should hear the tones before some app gets the notification pushed out, right?  I know, I know, I'm missing the point.  I should have gotten the app and joined the crowd rather than digging in my heels but I'm nothing if not stubborn at the most inopportune times.

Now, I told you that to tell you this.  We switched to a new dispatch center last week.  Situation out of our control, I believe it was a mandate from the state but don't hold me to that.  And, side note, all of our dispatchers are still gainfully employed.  This was a long, slow process so they all had ample time to find new gigs.  A couple switched to a new industry, but it sounds like happy endings (so to speak) all around.  Along with the new dispatch set up, a new app was issued.  I decided to give it a try.  I mean, if someone gave Sisyphus a jackhammer, I've got to believe the whole boulder thing would come to a rapid end.  Besides, it was offered to us for free, so...

I signed up for the app and downloaded it onto my phone.

That was the end of my technological success.

It took me half of the first day to get the app to work the way it's intended.

And I don't know how I did it.

The next morning the same thing happened only in reverse.  It took me half the day to get it shut off.  And, again, I don't know how.  This was, obvs, a little aggravating but I figured it was due to my lack of experience with the app and I was confident, weeellllll maybe "confident" is the wrong word. I'll call it hopeful, that I'd get the hang of the new app my next day in.

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I was wrong.

Last day, same result.  Until about 2:00 or so in the afternoon when another one of the younger guys showed me how to turn the app back on.  And it worked fine the rest of the day.  This app doesn't seem to be quite as efficient as the old one, in that the notification doesn't come until 30-45 seconds AFTER the tones.  Now, you would think that would please me. No chance.  See, one of the changes that have taken place as I've attained more experience on the job which, btw, is me saying I'm old, is that it takes me longer to get out the door, especially in the middle of the night, than it used to.  I almost always used to be the first one out to the rig back in the day.  Now, not so much.  I've even tried changing around my sleeping routine to try and shave a little time off.  I think I figured that part out, btw but I digress.  Because I was hoping to get the notification a little early to help me get out on the floor quicker.  No such luck.

So now, here I sit, in my local coffeehouse, feverishly pounding the keyboard in celebration.  Because this morning, a full 48 hours after I left the firehouse and after not less than a half dozen attempts, I FINALLY figured out how to shut off that mother****er.

I think.

If I can successfully turn it on tomorrow morning at work, I will consider it a success.

If not, I'm deleting that bitch.

Who needs the aggravation, amirite?

Keep me in your thoughts.

And if anyone out there has figured out "I Am Responding" hook a brotha up, will ya?

Peace

PS- because, well, you know... I'm STILL getting the damn text messages from the stupid app... I guess I need to update the scoreboard.  Plus I feel like it's now just doing it to mock me.