July 2021, Somewhere in the Metaverse - UplandDood (@Just1Dood)

There is a danger in doing things that you have been doing enough times that it has become an auto-pilot activity. If you have two activities that are quite similar, your brain can't differentiate between these two similar events if you let it run on auto-pilot.

Let me elaborate. This morning, I have woken up earlier. I guess my mind is still a bit 'blurry' as I went about doing my normal routine.

I had breakfast, fed my puppies, sat on my personal throne to dispense off some ... ahem ... much-needed daily detoxification.

After doing all that, I thought I'm ready to face the day through the ever so powerful 10 windows in my study room. It's a race against time as these 10 windows and the architecture they sit on are no longer compatible. It is heating up too fast. 10 windows are not enough to aerate it's now considered pre-historic architecture.

I have been told to add another window making it 11 windows. It's the latest thing, they say. But I wasn't so sure. I've learned to be highly skeptical whenever someone mentions windows, especially those that have not passed the building inspector's specifications. My experience has taught me that 'incomplete' windows mean trouble.

10 Windows

Let me elaborate with this story.

I had my house renovated. The whole project was entrusted to a contractor. It was understood that the renovation would entail fitting the whole place with 10 windows. The renovation was completed two days ago but I have not have the time to check and move back in. During the renovation period, we had to make do with a lesser capacity 'architecture' (motel).

It was raining heavily tonight. The kind of rain that splashes instead of pitter-patters.

On this particular rainy night, my mobile phone rang. It's not uncommon to receive calls at night but this call was from an "Unknown" caller. Though it's not my habit to answer such calls, I made an exception tonight having a hunch that in such a heavy rainstorm, it could be an emergency call. I was right. The gentleman introduced himself, "I am from the windows company. I need to come over to your house immediately. It's highly urgent or you'll live to regret it!" Not a normal nor a conventional conversation. I was caught by surprise but without thinking, I said, "Ok", ended the call, and rushed home.

When I reached home, the Mr. window guy was already waiting at the front door. He was almost drenched due to the heavy rain. I sensed his urgency and opened the door for him to get in. I felt like he was delaying in telling me the whole truth when he told me that he needed to do 'something' to the windows...no extra charge. I thought to myself, "okay, as long as there's no additional charge". He rushed to the nearest window with me following close behind. Once there, we both noticed there was a pile of water inside the house. He then sheepishly told me, "err..the window is not complete. I need to add panes on them now." I nearly did a flip (not because of the water on the floor) but because I wasn't expecting he would say that. What? All the windows are not ready? What kind of windows are these? Seems he read my mind, and said, "these are the latest design but it's not fully complete. We upgrade them occasionally." I almost did another flip! It's too late, I'd already paid for and installed these windows in my house. In case you're curious, it took the fella a whole night to 'upgrade' the windows. And like an idiot, I sat there watching him work all night.

So, now you know why I'm skeptical of adding any more windows to my house.

Back on track

This article is not about windows. It's kinda related but not exactly. If my windows do not work, then I will not be able to tell you the "Wrong Auto-Pilot" story.

Let's get back on track on where we left off earlier on two similar auto-pilot activities.

Have you ever encountered this kind of scenario?

Say it's a routine for you to go to the market daily to get groceries. Once you step out of the door of your house, you're almost on auto-pilot. You don't need GPS, you don't need any driving app. You just go into auto-pilot and by some miracle, you'll end up at the intended market. In this scenario, I use the market as an example. It could have been your workplace, your school, or even getting home from anywhere. You put your mind on auto-pilot and your body (regardless if you're walking or driving) will go into action to get you to the destination. Sounds familiar?

This could also happen in using our devices. If we're not careful, we may press the wrong button or send a message to the wrong person (it's worst if you've sent the wrong message to the wrong person!) because your brain is on auto-pilot and your fingers just obeyed blindly? Yeah, it happens to all of us.

Article Prompt

What prompted this article was something I did this morning (Wednesday, 28 July 2021).

Before I explain what happened, do allow me to lay the foundation for the story.

For this platform, there are 3 images that I use regularly. The third one is nothing fancy, just a Line image to indicate the end of the article and to separate the main article from items such as links to sources used in the article, and links to other platforms I use.

It is also after this line separator that you'll find another of my regularly used image. I'll post that image below:

As you can see, it's my Call to Action image with my Avastar avatar. This image goes into each of my articles. Since we're here, do remember to subscribe. ;-)

And also, since we're talking about subscribing, do have a look at these wonderful sponsors of mine. You'll enjoy the different talent showcased here in one spot:

Alright, we're done with the commercial break. Let's continue...

The last image I use is my Avastar avatar that I use as my Profile image. This is also the image I use for sponsorships. This is what it looks like:

So, it's simple. I have been doing this every day that I write.

Line image and Call to Action image go into every article I write.

Profile image goes into the sponsorship widget of those I have the privilege to sponsor.

It goes without saying that the former is used more often than the latter. After each article, I'm almost on auto-pilot - click the 'add image' icon, followed by going to the relevant folder in my computer to add the image to the article. I instinctively do this for the Line image, and then for the Call to Action image. Simple. Can do it without much thinking. And...that is the problem.

This morning, I had wanted to sponsor @Pichi28. I went through the normal process of clicking "Become a sponsor" and followed the instructions displayed, one of which was to include an image for the sponsorship widget. Due to the familiarity of it, I went into auto-pilot. However, the problem was I'd engaged the wrong auto-pilot. It was the auto-pilot to attach my Call to Action image.

You see, if I had done everything right, the recipient's sponsor widget should look like this:

But because I went into the wrong auto-pilot mode, what came out was not what I have desired. Instead, this was what came out. See the problem there?

I was so embarrassed, I let Pichi know I had made a boo-boo. Here's that confession.

The good thing is that there's a silver lining in this cloud! As a result of that, I had an idea for a topic and this article is proof of that. This auto-pilot gone rogue experience wasn't detrimental to anyone involved. I could still sit back and have a good laugh at it. But not all such incidents are as forgiving. That is why you need to do a ...

Pre-flight check

Always do a pre-flight check before clicking "send". This is especially important for tasks that your brain may automatically take over without much thought. A rogue auto-pilot can be embarrassing at best and downright dangerous at worst.

Yeah, all those words and sentences above are to make this point - Do be extra careful completing tasks that you are too familiar with.

Thank you for reading.

Sources:

Header: Unsplash.com - Honglin Shaw

All other images are either my own or screenshot from the Read.Cash site.

Thank you again for dropping by. Have fun with English. Remember to share your experience in the comment section.

Do drop by to say hi at my following addresses. I promise I'll be at home :)

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