And it's kinda kickin' my ass. After feeling pretty good this morning, things started going south this afternoon. Fatigue, then muscle aches, chills, now fever again.
Called my "care team" to inquire about Paxlovid. The telephone receptionist said she'd pass my message along to the doctor and someone would get back to me.
When?
Not today, I guess.
In other news, Swytch hasn't responded to my cable harness issue.
So I'm sweating here with the ceiling fan on because I'm sick of lying in bed sweating, and figured I'd bitch about some stuff.
I'm old. I've been using MacOS for 30+ years. I know less about how it works today than I did when I started out back in the 90s.
And it's infuriating.
So, "stupid user tricks." I wasn't feeling great yesterday, and I didn't take care to close Tinderbox 10 on my M3 MBP, so I wouldn't wind up with the chaos that is iCloud.
This morning, I started up the iMac, and it automatically launched Tinderbox 9, as it was instructed to do. (That's in "Login Items" under "General" for those of you, like me, who can't remember where this shit gets set.)
It launched Tinderbox 9, and loaded the post Cleanup from the 18th as the most recent post.
Ok, here we go again.
I quit Tinderbox 9, launched Tinderbox 10 and tried to open the marmot. Same thing, last post the 18th. So, maybe I'll try this "Versions" thing again. This is another feature I have no idea how it is intended to work, or indeed, how it does work.
I get the Spinning Pinwheel of Infinite Futility, as per usual, and wait what feels like an eternity ("infinite," right?) and then many windows appear with the current, non-viable version on the left, and the latest version I wrote on the MBP on the right.
So I click on "Restore" or something (Because I can't memorize what these UIs look like, and their appearance seemingly has little to do with their function. Yeah, I get the whole "Lifestream" thing, but that's not how it works. Watch...)
There's some animation where the version I want slides over to the left, and I'm thinking, "Cool."
And every single other version opens up as well!
What the actual fuck?
So now I have to figure out how to get rid of all these other windows, which are presumably files of some kind. I click the close button and I get that dialog that's been around for some time now that is incredibly unhelpful. There is no "Close without saving," it's some kind of "Revert changes." But I just "reverted"! Am I reverting my reversion?
Unsure if the throbbing vein in my temple is from the COVID or from Saint Timothy and the Apple he has made.
I clicked the "Revert changes" button and hoped for the best, because that's all you can do today. Fortunately, all those unwanted versions disappeared. I have no idea where, nor do I care or want to know.
Made my little check-in post and went on about my day.
(It was shortly after that when I received an email from one of my classmates, which said that he tested positive for COVID. So I took the test myself. Six drops, no more no less. 15 seconds in your nose. Both nostrils. Came up unambiguously positive in less than 10 minutes. So much for the Moderna vaccine. Fuckers.)
Anyway, here I am, back at my desk and what the fuck? Apparently the iMac restarted, because Tinderbox 9 was now running. My posts were gone. And I'm cursing Saint Timothy Cook and Apple and all those motherfuckers who make excuses for it. (Pardon my French. I'm feeling pretty salty.)
So I did the "Revert to" thing again. Same fucking drill, and here we are.
I've removed Tinderbox 9 from Login Items, added Tinderbox 10. I have no idea what to do about the MacBook Pro, sleeping on the floor with Tinderbox 10 open and a version of the marmot minus these two posts. I know I'll have to do something about it before this goes on too long.
I'm embedded in Apple's ecosystem like a tick on a hound, and there's no way out without losing a lot. But I hate it. I used to enjoy computers. I do enjoy the little Apple //c and the Apple IIe in the garage. But Macs today are overwrought with security bullshit, inexplicable "features" that solve problems that nobody has, "discoverability" is long forgotten as a tenet of good UI design. Why does Photos on every one of my devices believe I have a different number of images in iCloud? Inspires confidence.
They change the UI for the sake of changing things, so employees can justify their paychecks. Just fix the bugs. Make it more discoverable, "friendlier," and keep improving those things instead of adding half-assed bullshit features.
I guess my criticism will be dismissed as the ravings of a grumpy old man. It wasn't that long ago that I recommended "Just get a Mac," to people. Not anymore. I don't know what a better solution is, but Apple sucks as much as Windows. If anything, I should warn people not to get embedded in Apple's ecosystem. It's a roach motel. Full of bugs.
Originally posted at Nice Marmot 17:03 Monday, 23 September 2024