We do what we’re here for: it’s a day of nerdy work. We’re at the point now where, even when we let users set up and image half the computers, we’re still done in well under 2 hours. Fortunately for the users and a lot more difficult for us, this leaves user training’s productive mess to take up the rest of the day. Our learners catch on quickly, but there’s tons to teach those with little to no experience...
After dinner, we improve the package we’re deploying by adding software that will log how long the computers are being used and what software’s running. Not only will this help us make future donations where they’re needed most, but I think it’s got date for a thesis written all over it...
A trip to an internet café reveals that much of the U.S. was less connected than Ghana: we missed the largest blackout in American history. Weirdly enough, my hotel in the Third World was more technologically advanced than NYC for several hours. More than a little disconcerting is that it took all of 9 seconds for the whole shebang to come crumbling down. A delicate gap between First and Third, I guess…
Is Cujo the van driver inebriated all day? Probably not, but he sure seems like he’s on something sometimes. There are often occasions when he simply won’t respond to questions even if one is looking right at him and more than loud enough. Example: today when someone (not me) asks him if he’s on drugs. Answer? No acknowledgement. Affirmation? Quite possibly. Then, there are some great answers. Today was the best: someone asks him how he knew where somebody was and he replied “that black man told me,” a less than helpful statement in the middle of Ghana. Regardless, he hasn’t crashed yet and always has a smile on his face, drug-induced or otherwise. Some not exactly Ghanaian episodes of “Family Guy” and Ghanaian beers later and the day is, as waiters here say if you try to order something the restaurant’s out of, finished.