Second Thoughts ~ My Dead Pixel

Greetings Dear Reader,

On my one-year-old laptop, I have a dead pixel.  It is at the bottom center of the screen and really bothers me.  It sits right above the Windows Toolbar so every time I click something on that space, I see it.  There is nothing wrong with the laptop.  It runs great and has all the power I need. As I write this, I am running a movie on one screen, have the computer hooked to my external storage array and the video card is supporting three external monitors effortlessly.  Oh, and there is a dead pixel on the laptop screen. 

I contacted the manufacturer about the dead pixel.  The computer is still under warranty.  They let me know that the dead pixel is outside of the single dead pixel replacement zone.  I never knew there was a zone.  I do not want there to be a zone but someone decided there is a zone.  The dead pixel taunts me from outside the zone.

I asked the person on the phone if I could purchase just a replacement LCD for the laptop.  She giggled and asked if the dead pixel really bothered me that much.  I asked her if she had ever been taunted by a pixel.  She giggled again and said no.  After explaining that this particular pixel is both rude and intrusive, she full-on laughed at me.  She said I could get a replacement LCD for $100.   I reassured her that I could replace the LCD with ease as I have done so often.  She expressed that I would void the remaining two years of my warranty if I did.  There is a dead pixel on my laptop that laughed at me.

She was very polite and thanked me for being kind and for being funny.  I was trying to be kind and did not mean to be funny.  She verified my contact information and asked if I wanted to buy the LCD screen.  My wiser brain politely said no.  In case you forgot, Dear Reader, there is a dead pixel on my laptop who snickered as he realized that he would live.

I thank the service agent for her time and concluded the call.  I researched ways to hide the pixel and found a few that seemed foolish.  Resigning myself to the daily mockery of a slack, freeloading pixel, I went on to other things.  A few days later a friendly Fed-Ex driver delivered a large box to me.  In it was a laptop identical to mine with the following note:

"Dear Mr. Thorn, if everyone treated me with lighthearted kindness as you did, my job would be very easy.  I was near the end of my shift when you called and had had a very rough day.  People assume that their computer problems are your fault.  I could not solve your problem and you were still nice to me.  You even made me laugh.  Here is a replacement “LCD” for you.  Thank you for being a (NAME REDACTED) customer."

I set up my new laptop and wrote a thank you note on it.  I retired my older backup laptop, thanked the Father for His provision, and now there is not a dead pixel on my primary laptop.  The other one serves as the entertainment center and backup processor for my data.  Oh, and it has a dead pixel.  I have named it Mort.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
 

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good.

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Haunted by dead pixels is the kind of horror that follows your every effort to be content trying to thwart it.

64” Screen

Greetings Dear Reader,

I want to say first that this is not a TV review or an attempt to make the case for giant televisions.  The idea of a TV that costs as much as a cheap used car is not something, I find appealing.  I did, however, find a bit of adventure and learning with one.

I visited a friend this week who had a brand new 64”, state the art television.  This is one of those with 360-degree vision, a billion shades of color, and the ability to turn into a chameleon on your wall when it is off.  I admit I was impressed with the blending of the screen into their sea-foam colored wall.  It somehow mimicked the color.  The addition of an image of the moon made it look like a framed painting or photograph.

It also uses a thin, almost invisible cable to attach all fourteen-million of his game consoles, video players, computers, and his cable to the screen.  He has theatre style seats that recline and are heated.  The chairs are perfectly situated so that the screen just touches the edge of one’s peripheral vision.

We were set to watch a movie and he and his spouse had laid out some very amazing appetizers from their equally technological kitchen.  Paul switch on the system from his chair mounted console that reminded me more of a starship than an easy chair.  Lights came on in the technology nook that sat just behind our line of sight.  He used his console to also extinguish the lights in the room.

Instantly the screen darkened for a moment and the logo of the video playback software filled the center.  The backlight to the screen adjusted to fit the presets of the function.  The comic book logo of the production company flickered across the screen and then it when dark for a few seconds before the movie began.

We both saw it at the same time.  I said nothing.  Paul paused the movie in its darkness and swore blue thunder.  About two inches from the center of the screen was a single, bright-white dead pixel.  This tiny failed node in the vast sea of working ones called to Paul as if taunting him.

I suggested that we would not notice it once the movie got rolling.  He grudgingly agreed and started the movie again.   I was correct that it was unnoticeable amidst the bright colors of costumed heroes and extensive explosions.  It was, however, the first thing that came up after the movie ended. 

Paul set the screen to black and went up to the wall to examine the petulant pixel.  He ranted a bit about the cost of the screen (closer to $3000 than $2000).  This Dear Reader is my point.   That single tiny dead pixel became the focus of my friend’s world.  The vast opulence of his life, the many blessings in his world, and the joy he has in all his success were forgotten over a single dead node.

I am not judging Paul.  I know that I can forget all that is good in my life over things that ultimately do not matter.   It is my obligation to hold all things in perspective.   When I fail to do so, I hurt others and miss opportunities to be gracious and kind.  Paul will be inconvenienced having to replace his amazing TV.  He still has more than most of us will ever have. 

Still, I must be vigilant that my pixel problems do not overtake the landscape of my life that is filled with grace and blessings.  I must ensure that I am not so narrowly focused that I neglect gratitude and humility in every moment.  I have so many things that will transcend the life of my technology and gadgets.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:

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