The one where Carpathian lies on the couch.....

So, last night I met my match.

I should, all things as they are, have been talking to somebody after an enforced break of a couple of days. Only a couple of days but after regular conversation it was a long time and it really would have been nice to catch up on the events of those 48 hours. They know how I feel about not doing this straight away, and were wonderful about it, but still I should have been there sooner.

That isn't the point of this though. Although it is. A little.

Instead I spent some time helping a friend troubleshoot his home network setup to work out why he was having a few glitches. Turns out that he needed to alter his NAT to drive a certain IP through the DMZ.

Again, not the point of this, but just helpful associated info towards why I'm sitting at my desk at work typing this into a blank notepad ready to blog later.

The point is that I didn't manage to work a solution for him and, this morning, I still feel very low about it.

I realise that I'm not some sort of super-brain and can know everything to do with every electronic device out there, nor am I trying to say that I'm some sort of know-it-all that can solve everything the world puts in front of him with a snap of the fingers and a witty catch-phrase. Well, maybe the catch-phrase bit. Mostly.

Usually though, over a day or two, I can suss out the right things to try and make my way via a few dead ends to a solution. I liken it more to detective work that any sort of techie knowledge. I've done it for nearly 20 years now and have got an instinct for sorting things for friends, family and my job at the time.

This time though, I bailed out and suggested they call tech support.....and it's really got to me.

Unless you know me really well you're probably thinking "What's the problem ?" and wondering why I cut up enough about it to be posting a blog about it. After all, I don't normally post internal turmoil on here - I'm the one that does pictures of boots and comments about wacky Japanese snacks.

I guess that it's my turn to use the blog format to expel a demon rather than let it fester internally - most of you, at least in my little current circle of BlogFriends, do it at some point and it seems to be a therapy that works.

It's the realisation of defeat so easily that pains me. The fundamental inability to help that person in the end that I'd set out to do. They're the feelings that needle me still from last night. Helping people do stuff is a great thing and I thrive on it. Always have. Setting up timers on videos, working out why somebody can't install "Super Whizzy Thing #3"

For the most part it's being an ear there when a friend needs somebody that is where you'll find me. Even if that friend tells me they don't want to talk I'll force them in a subtle and underhand way to let the stress out somehow. It's as much a part of me as the little beard or the love of music. People make my world go round and helping them puts a nice little 1% tilt on it's axis.

So bailing out on something geeky is very poor show to me as it's failing to help them - not the silicon side but the human side.

Is this making any sense at all to anybody but me ??