Whenever I juggle creative projects, inevitably, tech issues arise. The more ambitious I am, the more challenges rush in even faster. Over the years, I’ve learned that unless I have a firm deadline, I will embrace new technology in the mornings and set it aside in the evenings, so as not to interfere with a good night’s sleep. Unless it’s an emergency, which is not a button I push too often.
Whether the challenge isn’t having enough laptop storage because of too many videos or I can no longer update my blog because my version of WordPress is “outdated.” Surprising since the platform regularly updates automatically.
I am a continuing education student of YouTube videos and AI-generated solutions. As a last resort, I reach out to “customer service.” Speaking to a live human is almost a thing of the past. Not only are companies downsizing to shrink their overhead, but they are attempting a technological ol’ Jedi trick: you can empower yourself 24/7 with all the answers at your fingertips.
Once I’ve already tried virtual solutions, I don’t want yet another disembodied entity. At that point, I want to be connected with a person, so we can brainstorm together versus typing out my experience with an interweb bot.
I have spent many frustrating hours, spread over a few days, looping around the “advice” AI gave me. Finally, the planets aligned correctly and the voodoo worked, where I established an account that allowed me access to several commonly used professional office platforms.
When I couldn’t access my blog, which I’d been faithfully posting once a week since January 2011, I tried all of the options I understood before calling BlueHost. Shout out to BlueHost for still having live customer service people!
That rockstar agent resolved the issue within five glorious minutes. I didn’t have to wait on hold for a long time to be connected with her either. Usually I skip the “quick survey at the end,” but I gave her all fives as fast as my opposable thumbs could, then continued with the rest of my life.
Until the next tech issue that’s just waiting in the wings to jump out at me like a B-movie horror villian.