Today I repaired an iPhone 4 that was in working condition but had broken front and rear glass. 
It took about 2 hours, longer than the estimated time. I suppose it would take less time for someone more tech savvy than myself, and/or someone who had done it a few times.
Given the nature of my work at iFixit, I thought I would have done this a few more times than this. Ne’ertheless, I shall continue on, and will hopefully do more of this kind of thing. I really had fun! 
Today was a good day. I had Indian food for lunch, talked some good talks, walked a little bit more than usual, and discovered some cool new things about myself and other people.
I had a nice chat with MJ at iFixit at my desk about social media and what I want my online presence to be. She really had some awesome insights into how we all use the Internet for communication and what it can mean for people. She helped me to realize that there are some strategies I want to implement in my online existence; ways of going about working toward a goal (professional or otherwise).
Today was also about clearing up some misunderstandings and clearing things up regarding my job at iFixit. I want to know what is expected of me, and sometimes I don’t. Pretty simple, really. I want to do an awesome job; sometimes the flesh is weak, though, and I fall short. It happens to everyone one time or another. I just want to know I am making a difference. Because if I’m not, I need to try a new strategy. Doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity (or so some urban dictionary says) and I’d like to at least attempt to avoid that.
As for my online existence, I’m leaning toward the idea of attempting video blogging. I need to overcome a few barriers:
Okay, so I made a list. These are all concerns I have about vlogging. Did I miss anything else I should be aware of? I want to make this happen the right way. I’m not in it to fail. Just to do it right, which sometimes looks like the wrong way because everyone else does it another way.
Well I’m not everyone else. I’m me.
Get used to me, because I’m not going anywhere.
*Ahem…*
Yes, I’m excited for what’s ahead. Technology is booming exponentially and soon the world will be a much better place. At least I hope it will be. Humans do kinda have the tendency to take something really awesome and turn it into something it’s not meant to be for greed, power, money, etc.
I’m attempting to stop letting those get to me. By taking control of my life, I realize that I have a better understanding of my life and how it’s affected by other people, and how I affect others. I want to have a positive influence on the world so I act accordingly. It’s really, pretty simple. If you want love, you have to give it. Don’t just continue assuming you can keep taking from the penny jar indefinitely. One of these days, the pennies will be no more because you took them all. And now there’s none for anyone else. Way to freaking go.
I don’t expect anyone’s still with me at this point, so I’ll just take a moment to stretch…
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AND we’re back.
Welcome back to this, the first in a series of typed documents involving what’s going on in Ryan’s head as he types.
Takes breath.
So it just hit me as I took that stretch that I can create an audience based entirely on the typed word. It is somewhat of a grassroots idea, but starting with this blog post, I will hence forth be typing as I think for periods of time. Probably an hour or less, but we’ll see what I feel like after I start this. Chances are pretty good that I might do this once, and forget or decide not to do it again. But that’s then and this is now.
So how all you folks doing? Is this thing on?
I have put together a fine speech for you, but unfortunately I don’t have time or resources to make something with a lot of production values (I’m just starting out, for crying out loud). If I get a good response I’ll put more resources into my endeavors. That’s just kinda how I work, I guess. It seems kinda selfish. If I’m thinking about that correctly. I can’t figure that one out.
Anyway, it’s great to be back. I haven’t talked to the entire world in quite a few… moons, suns, stars? OOOooohhh corny joke about me having talked to the world a previous time. Ha ha.
Am I shooting myself in the foot here? Kinda feel like this could come back at me.
Well anyway, I don’t have anything profound to say. I’m just another person. I’m an American, which means what it does these days. I think we’ve lost our way, though. It’s not about Obama, or Bush, or any one person. It’s just the evil that’s been allowed to spread. Not love, or kindness, or help. Just a lot of wrongdoing – major wrongdoing for the “evolved” creatures we are suppsed to be.
The phrase “what sets us apart from the animals” came to my mind a few times recently. It implies the learning of something that requires a higher intelligence to process. We can choose to take the enlightened path and better ourselves, or we can ignore truth and do it our way. Whatever “way” that is, if it’s some way that some person has worked out how to live their life, let ‘em.
There are certain things that come to mind when thinking about the basic infrastructure of what people need to survive (in decent, sanitary, middle-class-USA standard) in this day and age, and I wonder why villages in India have no clean water to drink. Perhaps I’m missing something, but… *having revelation*
OK so that doesn’t exactly makes logical sense. I tried going off on this the other day to my wife, and she asked me (after I had deducted that we have the technology to do so much, why do people still not have drinking water?) how does technology get you clean drinking water [for everyone in the world]?
I didn’t have a good explanation for it. It just seems to me that it should be possible with the amount of resources, (money, land, etc.) we have in the world, to make it possible for everyone to have access to clean drinking water, the same as I do (from an indoor tap in my kitchen, through a Brita filtered pitcher) or with similar sanitation standards. Refrigerated would be nice, but you can’t have everything (most of the time, anyway).
So yeah. Clean water. And food. That’s a good start to getting human beings on some kind of humanitarian plateau. Think of it: every single person on Earth having access to clean water and food at any reasonable time. Doesn’t matter who you are, you deserve some dignity. Everyone does. What makes me angry is when people believe their basic needs are more important than those of the rest of the world’s population; like they don’t deserve to have clean water. … *another revelation*
Why the hell am I getting so worked up about clean water? I was never predisposed to preaching about this subject matter; it just seems like a good topic to criticize the world about. That’s all I’m doing. Fuck.
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I could stop now. I could be building, instead I’m just criticizing. It’s not something that affects me to the core, but still I want the same standards for everyone else in the world. Is this a worthy goal? I don’t mean to criticize how we haven’t done it yet… I really mean to call out the problem as it is (whatever the hell that really is) and TOGETHER we can all agree about what the problem is and then find a sensible course of action to correct it. No need to get violent or tribal; these ideas are for everyone, and everyone should be involved. Obviously, we’ll have to work out how that with functionally work, but what isn’t possible with the Interwebs these days?
If you’re still with me, congratulations. I would not have had the integrity, or the willingness to read a blog post this long from someone like me. Honestly, this is just me brainstorming. I do it all the time. I just usually don’t type for this long, and I’m typing as I think. Just a natural progression of thoughts as I sit here and type (but do virtually nothing else). It’s the best way to really get some good practice in on typing, too. I’m getting a workout but I have a fairly decent error rate, or so I’d like to think.
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What to talk about, what to say…
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Took a break, and now I’m back. Thought about this as a benchmark. Seeing what my mind is really capable of at this point in time. At least in the form of typing it and essentially vomiting all of my thoughts on several topics right here in this one blog post. The number of which I am unsure of, because I haven’t finished yet.
I would like to, and frankly, the sooner I call it quits for the night and publish this document as it is, I will think back and reflect on it longer still. So I’m really not getting out of this easy. I make multiple attempts to shut off my mind for the night. I watch Southpark, Futurama, and other satire cartoons Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad, etc. which make me think even more, and then I try and go to sleep after my bed time and expect to wake up fresh as a daisy. It doesn’t work that way.
On the other hand, perhaps I have some insomnia. But I could just be telling myself that, I have no science to back any of this up. I’m just a lowly serf, trying to attempt to understand this world and my place in it. Medicine is still a foreign concept for me, and I’d like to one day be able to monitor my body with technology. This could be as simple as monitoring my pulse and as complex as identifying the precise location of my three kidney stones as they travel through my body (I’ve never had them, but heard they hurt like hell.
~*Shout out to kidneystone sufferers: I never want to have to feel your pain, but most likely will at some point in my life. I’ve been stung by a stingray, so I know – Not the same thing but it was a really intense pain. Just sayin’. *~
But yeah, monitoring my health, myself, with the Internet to serve as the “diagnostic computer.” Services like WebMD could prove useful if they developed some kind of software for self-health-monitoring with your iPad or some new, more advanced product.
So going with that theme, health, let’s explore the topic a bit, shall we?
Basically, health, water, and food, all fall into a category of essentials that people need to live. Since it is so important, for the purposes of being all-inclusive to a healthy life, we’ll add in shelter and clothing. Water, food, shelter, and clothing on one side of the coin, and health and the other side of the coin that ties all those together (i.e. if you don’t have enough of any one of these things, you’re going to have major issues somewhere).
With that knowledge, one can begin to look at the world as a whole and identify those places where all of those needs are not being met and fix the problem. Identify what needs to be fixed, and fix it. Don’t do other things. Just fix the problem. Not fixing the problem results in people’s time, energy, and resources spent and/or wasted.
Which brings me to another big topic: that of garbage and refuse. What we do with things after we’ve deemed them unnecessary in our space (throwing stuff out is fine to do, don’t get me wrong) is becoming a problem. My place is fairly clean, and there’s always something that could go in the trash, I could take the trash out, etc., but generally speaking, I have an acceptable level of sanitation in my life. I want that same level for everyone. I don’t care what the excuses are. If humans can’t effectively support all the life on this planet, we need to find another way. Because it is possible, I swear to you.
Dignity for all, and all for dignity. It’s not impossible and we need to realize that. We need to wake up in the 21st century and put the pieces together: we made it! All the millenia of living like the animals can finally be behind us. We have reached a common intelligence that allows us to differentiate from the lower forms of life that are not as smart as us.
Greed, …
greed.
Greed seems to be a big factor in a lot of this. Ownership comes to mind. The idea that I worked for what I have, and so what if some dude half way around the world isn’t able to pull a Fiji Water out of his mini-fridge on a hot summer day, I don’t have to care about providing clean water to him. Boo-hoo. Or something like that. And there are those kind of people out there. I know. It’s hard to say, but that’s okay. I guess we can’t all be the best.
Perhaps it’s my upbringing – Protestant as it was – that leads to my compassion without real care. I do care, but I’m not one to roll up my sleeves and get to work. I’m more about taking a year to develop a really good plan and then executing it perfectly. I like to think of it as looking at the big picture. I know other people’s pictures are much bigger and important, but it’s all relative. My big picture gives me a chance to identify larger goals so I know that the stuff I do along the way works toward the goal (whatever that may be).
Well I’m up to 2410 words and I feel like I’ve only scratched the tip of the iceberg. Or is that broke off the surface? In any case, my Linux laptop (old VAIO) is almost out of battery, so I’m going to pubish this as it is.
Well, everybody, It’s been real. Really. I mean that. I somehow feel like someone was listening. Which is odd, because in blogging, people read it AFTER you publish, so I’m not quite sure how that works. I just felt a connection with whatever audience I will have after publishing this document.
I hope what I’ve typed has made some sense. I don’t waste my time, and if it’s for no other purpose than to serve as a diary entry for me, I will have at least that. I’ve thought some things through, I’ve made some discoveries, and I will do it again. Until next time, this is Ryan Lutz reporting from Planet Earth.
So this past week I haven’t blogged or written anything. I feel very unaccomplished. I feel the shame of telling myself I would do something and then not following through. I suppose it is my instinct to become distracted/interested in something else that makes it so easy for me to forget about what I wanted to do. I have lived with it all my life. I might have Adult ADD (or so my wife says). In any case, on one hand, it has led to my love of diversity and never being bored; on the other hand, it means I have so many unfinished projects that weigh on me to finish.
But I think I’m near a turning point.
During this week of lack of blogging, I have been living life. Nothing too crazy or out of the ordinary, but just doing things that I was describing when I alluded to unfinished projects. I have been either revisiting those projects and made plans to accomplish them or actually working on projects. I’m not going to go into detail because I want to post pictures of my work when I am done and use the projects as their own posts.
So now I have nothing to talk about because the work is going to be in the next (or soon thereafter) blog post. Hmmm… what to say.
In designing and writing this blog, I have definitely contemplated being careful of what I say. This message (or at least a link to it) will be posted on every social media outlet I have that people that know me follow. It almost makes me not want to say anything because much of the important part of what I have to say is faux pas. It seems like the people I know aren’t even the right audience I want to reach. I almost don’t even want to waste my time.
But then again, there are a few of the people I know that will probably care about it and engage me in conversation about it. Others would decide I’m not worth knowing and probably unfriend or unfollow me. Others might be ambivalent, and some even might take a very antagonist stance against me. These are the people I am afraid of.
I’m afraid because they’re ignorant. I wish I could see it some other way, but to me that’s what it is. It’s not whatever it is they’re trying to convince me it is. I can really see it from so many points of view that I get it. I really do. I understand the situation. I’ve been studying it and evaluating for most days of my adult life, and I feel like I deserve a little credit for my studies. However, “studying” the situation is viewed as part of the problem. For my topic of choice at its very worst can be bad, but still pales in comparison to the problems it’s in the running with.
I’ve written about it so much that I can’t help but sometimes sit with my hands on my cheeks and sigh. It’s a perfectly legitimate topic, but is out of the ordinary for so many people who want to ignore it and hope that by doing so it will disappear.
But the problem isn’t going to disappear. It’s going to continue on so long as the ignorant people are allowed to be in control of the situation. Democracy is a funny game. In this particular instance, it seems like a large percentage of the population have an opinion, but believing one way or another seems to influence the likelihood of whether or not someone will vote for change.
If you’re still with me, the topic is Cannabis. Really, literally, yes. It seems juvenile of me to spend so much time thinking and talking about it, not to mention the countless hours I’ve spent under its influence, but it seems adult of me to actually want to discuss it as a legitimate topic. Everyone that I know just seems to want to keep it faux pas and hidden from everyone’s daily lives. I want to put it in the spotlight and really get down to the nitty gritty of what it is, why it holds such a strong position in the world, and what the best strategy is for handling it.
Because as of now, I really look down upon those in power because of their handling of this topic. Obama laughed it off when it was the most popular topic on YouTube’s viewer response to the State of the Union in 2010. I couldn’t believe that. To be president of the United States and laugh at a topic that is so important to so many people. I lost a lot of respect for him that day. Just as a man. Forget the presidency, I don’t respect Barack Obama because of the poor choices he has made as a man in the president’s shoes.
The point is, this topic is important, and the USA is being very juvenile about the way we are handling it. Knowledge does not control the country, money does. It is not enough that hemp is an important, game-changing crop; in the eyes of the US federal government, it’s all about the drug and that it is consumed. I got news for you – alcohol is worse, and it’s legal.
It really is a shame. We could really be benefiting from intellect, but instead we choose to drown ourselves in ignorance.
I digress, as usual. I wish I had a better method for going off on tangents, but it seems like too much work to organize my thoughts. If I did that consistently, I wouldn’t have the free flow of thoughts that make my thinking so much fun and productive. So I’m not really going to change. I’m going to write in the order that my mind works. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to read it.
At this point, I doubt anyone is reading this anyway. It’s probably just here for my own use. Which is fine. I can’t say I want the excessive attention and scrutiny that comes with being famous. If anything, I just want to have a way to reach out and affect the world. Whether that comes through this blog post or the site, or anywhere really, I don’t care. I just want that opportunity. I think I’m getting closer to it with this past week being so mentally productive for me.
What then?
I feel obligated sometimes to perform for the world. It’s just me, I’m sure. Then again, I have my doubts. The more I learn, the less I understand. Or something like that. The amount of information I am supposed to be processing is growing daily and I feel like I still have concepts from kindergarten that I haven’t firmly grasped yet. Can it be only me? I can’t believe so.
It felt great getting my AA. Once I knew my degree was as good as in my hands, the feeling was indescribable to anyone without a college education. Now, with my Bachelor’s program continuing on, I feel like I’m back to square one again. Feeling like I don’t know what the hell I’m doing but trying my best like I know how to do. That’s really all I know. And yet, again, I feel inadequate.
Some of it is the people around me. I am surrounded (and/or have been in the past) by who I consider intelligent, well-to-do, socially-acceptable people, and I continually feel like a failure. I never measure up, and what’s worse is that I really don’t have an acceptable outlet for my frustrations. I don’t feel like I can ever unload my feelings; they stay with me and will till I die. That’s not healthy. But that’s how I live. Cuz I don’t have a health care plan and I don’t have enough money to see a psychologist.
Which brings up a good point… what is the order of things that one is supposed to spend money on once one gets money after having not had money for a while? Right now, it’s gone rent, food, bus pass, fun, where saving for a car is supposed to be in there somewhere, as is finding a better place to pay rent. But I’m picky about where I live… it’s either nice or I’ll take what I can get… unfortunately that’s not conducive to getting what I really WANT, which is land and a place to build my own homestead. Maybe I’ll start a kickstarter project for building the house of the future. Hmmmm… good idea.
Thanks for the inspiration. I think that’s about what I needed.
photo courtesy of @mdjuric under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.0 license
I work at iFixit, the online repair manual creator and parts/tool retailer in San Luis Obispo, California. It’s a pretty sweet gig; the people are cool, the atmosphere is relaxed, and we get a lot of flexibility in our lives. One of the projects we’re working on is building a race car for the 24 Hours of LeMons competition in March at Infineon Raceway.
It’s pretty exciting for someone who doesn’t really have much hands-on experience with the mechanics of cars. I’ve installed a few car stereos, speakers, and subwoofers myself, but never had the confidence to touch any of the engine components.
A couple of Saturdays ago, I replaced the clutch on the 1992 Volvo 240 wagon. Well, the team did it as a group, but I still took all the bolts off of the engine connecting the transmission, separated them, and hooked it all back up when we were finished servicing the clutch.
Typically, I wouldn’t have known how to do it, but the racing team captain, Scott Dingle, has done repairs on quite a few Volvos before, so I had a good mentor.
We’ve been filming around the repairs, and are going to be featuring episodes of each of the repairs on iFixit.org as we make a push to introduce automotive repair into the iFixit realm of possibility. I wrote the first blog post which will come out around the same time as our first episode. Basically, I touch on the concept of how similar cars and computers are. Look for it coming out in a week or two.
