And I suppose I am very patient with many of my pupils, although a very few do try me sorely! You're just getting into the topic that the client says he wants to do...when he clicks - he doesn't know where because he's looking somewhere else - and things disappear...or appear...it doesn't matter which, you can bet your boots that whatever happens has no bearing on the topic in hand. Client learnt in the first lesson that 'clicking' is involved, so now if in doubt he just has a good click!
And then you spend the next half hour trying to find what exactly he's done.
Computers themselves don't help. Unexpected windows pop up, announcing that "Your McNorsky antivirus is out of date...update NOW before you crash 'n' burn" or "There are important updates for your computer" and my client says "Ooh that keeps on coming and I didn't know what to do..." Or Microsoft Office suddenly announces that you've only got 13 more goes before it all packs up. This happens a lot with new computers and I have to explain about 60-day trials and "Product Keys" and generally how greedy Microsoft have become.
And there we were in the middle of some word-processing and it's all interrupted while I explain that unless he pays £100+ to Microsoft it might be better if we downloaded OpenOffice - and before we do that perhaps we better update the McNorsky.
Which eventually leads to the question "Why do I have to restart?".
Well...............a good question!
In a contemplative moment yesterday I wondered why I'd never heard of a St. Colin. Put thy trust in Google, I said to myself and so I had a look.
Behold St Colin the Dude!
This really is the only reference to a St. Colin on Google...and therefore, the whole world!
This reminded me of a lovely incident 18 months ago when the Cathedral Choir went on a tour of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. On these tours we have local families host us for a couple of nights before we move on to the next gig. My hosts in Philadelphia had two sons of 10 and 8. Mother and the 10-year-old came to meet me and take me to their home. Elder brother announced my arrival to the rest of the family with "Hey guys, the singin' dude is here".
And ever after I have thought of myself as not so much a "Lay Clerk", more a singin' dude.
All I need now is a beard and a surfboard...........
