Bluetooth blues

 

I’ve been trying to get this speaker to connect to my phone through Bluetooth. It’s not working and I’m finally at the quitting stage. The speaker is a little Sony portable that boosts the sound of my regular phone speaker as much setting it in a coffee mug. The sound isn’t great but it's a little portable.

I don’t mean to sound unhappy with it, but I used to have a much nicer Harmon/Kardon that filled the room with sound. I kept it on my kitchen table for the best reach. My house is small (1000 square feet) so calling a table top speaker “room filling” isn’t probably the best description.

It’s an easy room to fill, unless you’re a Sony apparently. The Harmon/Kardon started dropping connections though. I thought it was a charging issue at first so I borrowed my brother’s cord to see if I could change my fortune. No such luck. There might be a way to fix it but I’ve already lost interest. I’ll just move on to something else as I don’t want to spend more time tinkering with the damn thing.

The Sony is a much bigger issue. Without sending a signal that my phone can pick up it’s table art. At least with the HK it started to lose connectivity. Fine. That happens. But with the Sony it’s never worked. Not with my new Iphone 11 at least. The first thing I did when the phone didn’t find the speaker through Bluetooth was reset both phone and speaker--nothing.

Then I deleted every other connection running off Bluetooth on the phone—nothing. I reset the internet connection to both devices and even did a hard restart of the modem—nothing. I’ve tried putting both of them right next to each other and using the “forget device” selection in settings. The only thing I haven’t done is delete the old connection from my old phone.

This is likely to work, but I can’t charge the old phone. It’s the whole reason I got a new one anyway. And by now I know what you’re thinking about my life. “How does he get up every day, put on a brave face and weather life’s unrelenting storms?” I often survive on only 7.5 hours of sleep but you won’t hear me complaining. That’s just not who I am.

This phone fiasco reminded me that I don’t have patience for tech stuff. Yes I know, I’m throwing a ridiculously wide net calling Bluetooth connectivity “tech stuff” but it needs a category so tech stuff it is. But it isn’t just that. This type of behavior is too much me. It fits the pattern of a lot of home problems that come up, uneven doors, clogged sinks, broken ice machines, dryers that don’t heat, washers that don’t wash.

 I see the issue but hope for the quick fix. When the quick fix doesn’t work I look for a way around it. If no way exists I try to live without it.

I’m not even a big music guy. I might not listen to any music for weeks at a time, an unheard of stretch for some of my friends. My workaround is the phone itself. I just sit it on the table and open the Amazon Music app. The sound isn’t great but it’s better than trying to fix the problem. Why?

Failure maybe? Laziness? I’d rather be doing almost anything else?

It’s not just laziness but avoidance. There’s a discomfort in trying to solve problems and it isn’t just because it means a delay in whatever I was about to do. It’s not a walking around in wet swim trunks discomfort. It’s closer to eating dinner at a 5 star restaurant in those same wet trunks and no shirt, while everyone else is wearing a tie. It’s a constant reminder that you really don’t belong here, doing this--it’s embarrassing.

 Problem solving is the way we prove to ourselves that we’re capable. This can’t be overstated. I do wonder if this is primarily an issue for men. Only in this way, I think men place greater importance on fixing and solving and putting order where none exists. Fair or not, it’s a trait tied to masculinity and leadership. Some guys are great at it. They can build a safe-room out back after fixing their boat motor and still have time to set up a home theatre system. 

They’re a success and I’m a failure. That’s what it feels like.  

It makes me feel better to assume this guy who can do it all likes to torture animals, or maybe steals money from the church offering plate. It's not much but it helps me process.

I’ve gotten better at this. My reactions to problems used to be visceral. I’m slightly more circumspect now. I don’t throw my hammer randomly at the garage wall or kick the work bench and crack the leg in turn. I start with deep breaths.

 I wrote an article a couple weeks ago that summed up my feelings on a successful website upload. You’ll understand my excitement better after reading this. And yes, there is joy in problem solving through perseverance.