@BPSabelhaus
Fixing things, I think, is important. I also love to do so very much
Sometimes I'm just limited as I have a physical handicap, means things low on the floor, or when you have to bend over, or carry / lift more than 5 kg, I can't do that and never could. I'd resolder circuit boards (SMD anyone?), do CAD, switch out that laptop keyboard, check out why that travel lamp isn't working anymore and make it working again, no problem (I'd say: all the fixing things that can be done while sitting on a table), but down under the sink, or that power outlet close to the floor, that bathtub drain, or exchanging a spare tire, oh boy, my back and hips... please, can somebody else do it... Really, in my office, I made sure that all the extension cords go up to the desk, as I can't plug in my laptop charger, soldering station... down there under the desk, or if somebody plugs it in for me, I've no way to get it out again on my own.
But at least, even if I can't do it physically, I like to know how it works to maybe instruct somebody who doesn't know how to do, but has the physical ability to get under that sink, down to that drain, has the power for that tire.
But ownership changes and I went from great environments where I was helping people to a predatory environment.
Really sad
Fixing humans is a challenge
Yes.
Today, there was a situation very typical for me:
I was invited for an event on how to prepare coding workshops. Three-day event, target audience professors or experienced post-doc researchers.
As part of the event, in addition to learning about such as how to acquire funding, all the participants also should have done all the programming exercises, especially to find that a) everything works, and b) the instructions are not so hard that only we participants could solve the problems but students later could not.
So, what happened?
a) The room where it took place was so loud (people discussing, but also people laughing, playing random videos on their phone while waiting for their code to run through) that I got about 20 % work done. I quickly finished the work, however, during evening in one hour in my (quiet) hotel room.
b) Presentation, last day. The person organizing the event said that my presentation was the most structured and thorough one, and by far so (not bragging, but my solution to the problem was also the one which was most accurate and most efficient regarding computer memory usage and computing time.. whereas I had still seen flaws which I would have fixed if I would have had more time). An hour later, had to wait in the break room for the bus going back. It was loud like crazy - people from the workshop, but also other people. Somebody, a student just wanting to ask me* something about a possible research internship, said I'd look tired, thinking that maybe the coding problem was overly hard. I said it's the noise in that room - they were really puzzled that I'd see a "normal" break room filled with approx. 20 people (IMHO: help!!! rattling coffee machine, eating noise, people playing videos on their phone without using earphones, and on top of that.. this amount of chatter!) as crowded and stressful.
Yes, this neurodiversity thing... Break room stresses out, computer program very efficient and accurate too but I still see room for improvement. (That was again like: I know it, that's just so typical.)
Looking into, when carrying out the local coding workshop (for which this prepared), whether I can split up the participant group into a) "group collaboration room" (to phrase it nice and not "looud room", b) "quiet room".
*Could only understand it after leaving the room to talk in the hallway. Too much background noise otherwise.
