OK, so tonight I was putting dinner on the table. I put the cast-iron casserole on the cork heat pad on the dining table and turned away. My wife said, “What about the lid?”, so I turned, checked the lid (it was hot but not too hot for me to handle) lifted it off and started to take it into the kitchen. Now my wife said, “Look out, it’s dripping!” Yes, there was was some condensation dripping on the floor. But now I’m in “Kernel-mode stack override - stop the drips on the floor; put the lid down on the kitchen bench! Now!” So I turn to the bench and move the cast-iron baking dish, fresh from the oven (baking the potatoes) to make enough room to put the lid down on a heat-insulating surface. I now have second degree(?) burns on the finger-tips where I moved the baking dish.
The point of this (yes, I habitually digress, according to those nearest and dearest) is that, most of the time, left to my own devices, I will muddle through and get things done. I notice that I periodically “freeze”, even during my regular patterns (breakfast is one of these, with particular implements laid out and used in particular sequences) waiting for the next task to pop off the stack for execution. (Why am I standing in front of the fridge?) But multiple, concurrent tasks? Ha! (This is ironic, as I have spent decades developing concurrent algorithms, but I digress, again.)
I am aware that “multi-tasking” is a boojum (c.f. Lewis Carroll) made up to cover for people who do not have sufficient focus to stay on task. (Please excuse my hyperbole if you don’t agree.) But why does this keep happening? (Outside interruption = major sequence collapse.) Is this common? Is it just me?
The point of this (yes, I habitually digress, according to those nearest and dearest) is that, most of the time, left to my own devices, I will muddle through and get things done. I notice that I periodically “freeze”, even during my regular patterns (breakfast is one of these, with particular implements laid out and used in particular sequences) waiting for the next task to pop off the stack for execution. (Why am I standing in front of the fridge?) But multiple, concurrent tasks? Ha! (This is ironic, as I have spent decades developing concurrent algorithms, but I digress, again.)
I am aware that “multi-tasking” is a boojum (c.f. Lewis Carroll) made up to cover for people who do not have sufficient focus to stay on task. (Please excuse my hyperbole if you don’t agree.) But why does this keep happening? (Outside interruption = major sequence collapse.) Is this common? Is it just me?