Jon just virus scanned his computer and found a load of spyware,
viruses, and trojans. He’s going to have to spend a lot of time cleaning
them off or lose a lot of data. I thought to myself that I was quite
glad I didn’t have to deal with that, but then thought that ironic
because I do end up spending more time getting my systems to work right.

After thinking about it, it made a little more sense though. There are
two reasons this is appropriate. For one, I want to get used to fixing
machines like mine, and don’t mind spending time tinkering with it to
get it perfect. It’s the field I intend to go into professionally.

The other reason is more interesting. When I spend time tinkering with
my system, it’s because I have to be very precise with what I do. The
machine does exactly what I tell it to with a maniacal accuracy, so I
have to make sure I tell it to do the right things. In his case though,
he’s being forced to make up for the shortcomings of his own machine. It
failed to function properly by letting undesirable programs control his
system. His time is spend fixing the problems, not instructing the
system.

You could make the analogy of learning how to drive a car. It takes a
lot of time to get yourself familiar with the demanding, precise
controls of a Ferrari, and it takes a lot of time to upkeep a pickup
that’s falling apart. I care about that sort of thing, so I’d rather
drive a Ferrari. I think most people are ok driving pickups because
most of them don’t break down every week. It’s not worth getting used to
finely tuned, precise controls if you just need to drive to the grocery
store and the post office every week.