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Dave l Smith's avatar

As someone said: You can't do anything about what happens to you but you can choose how to respond.

And I discovered another excellent piece of advice after a retinal tear, covid and a pulmonary embolism: Don't let what you can't do get in the way of what you can do.

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Don Akchin's avatar

Wow, that's a lot to bounce back from. I think you deserve an honorary Doctorate of Resiliency.

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Dave l Smith's avatar

Thanks Don! I'm finally back in the wood shop and photography studio. Kerrin said how much she enjoyed meeting you.

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Kathy Glennon's avatar

Great ability to adapt but also to change course about the assembler when it was just too much!

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Don Akchin's avatar

Thanks, Kathy. Glad it resonated for you.

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WENDL Kornfeld's avatar

Very satisfying resolution after a well-thought out assessment of the situation. I read a terrific book on resilience and attended two of the writer's in-person seminars several years ago. Resilience and resourcefulness are two indispensable assets in our Life Tool-belt.

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Osnat's avatar

The workarounds wisdom offers. After reading this blog post by David Pollard, I am surprised the assembleing provider answered at all.

https://howtosavetheworld.ca/2022/07/24/automating-away-customer-service/

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Don Akchin's avatar

Thanks for this. His perspective is bleak, but I can't say he's wrong. In my case, I never spoke to a live human. Everything was via chat or email, and I strongly suspect that if any humans were involved, they were working from India.

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Michelle S's avatar

Great story! I was feeling frustrated just reading it. I’m wondering though, if that were another business for another service, would you have been so forgiving for up to three times? I do not think that I would have…

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Don Akchin's avatar

Probably not. I just wanted that desk SO MUCH.

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Kerrin Piche Serna's avatar

Love this, Don. I was about to call them myself and rage 😡. But you flowed with the whole thing beautifully. Great reminder to accept the boulders life throws in our path and find a way to gracefully sidestep around them while not losing our damn minds. I’d love to see a before and after of the office!

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Don Akchin's avatar

Thank you, Kerrin. Be careful what you wish for.

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Annette Laing's avatar

I was all set to recommend Taskrabbit to you, when I saw you hired someone on the app! A Tasker installed our over the stove microwave a few years ago, and we were delighted by his professionalism. I hate most apps of this kind (think Uber, ugh) but I gotta admit that Taskrabbit is impressive. I only wish it were in my medium-sized city!

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Don Akchin's avatar

I'm also dubious of most apps, but I have only great things to say about TaskRabbit. Batting 1.000 with me so far.

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WAYNE CHRISTENSEN's avatar

Brilliantly buoyant account of one trial in life!

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Don Akchin's avatar

Thans for those kind words! Glad you liked it.

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Don Akchin's avatar

I appreciate your comment, although the word Tool-belt gives me pause. I was raised to believe a Jew with a toolbelt was an oxymoron.

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