"Hindsight is always twenty-twenty. " Billy Wilder
"Hindsight is an exact science. " Guy Bellamy

26 May 2010

The Samurai


I was in full flight in Photoshop working on the Urban Legend masterpiece when my otherwise trusty mouse decided to split ranks and hid the cursor in the top left corner of the screen. All attempts at getting the wayward rodent to work again proved fruitless. To date we have had a good working relationship, but maybe wireless mice are more prone to such sudden delinquent behaviour than those on a lead.

To just stop working without any warning is not the attitude expected from a mouse that has been carefully looked after from day one. No shirking on my part; fresh high quality NiMH batteries have been supplied at the slightest hint of needs. No cheapskate ‘no brand batteries’ for this mouse.

Being a devotee of Sun Tzu’s Art of War, I knew that prompt action was required before other parts of the computer followed the dissident’s unacceptable conduct. The Stanley knife was quickly retrieved and like a lightning bolt, the blade was expertly placed bang in the middle of the scroll wheel.

Death was instant – a final bright red flash from the laser diode and then nothing.  The rest of the computer obviously took note and continued to behave, giving me a sense of elation and accomplishment.

Pity Sun Tzu does not discuss how to deal with the collateral damage, as since then, I have had a hell of a job explaining to all and sundry the sudden appearance of a deep gash in the dining table.

Image photographed in Japan 2009 by PeteM2010

No comments:

Post a Comment