Model No. RR-US750

I'm not a gadget girl. I'm not especially technologically inclined. Although I don't believe that I've been passed down the genes of my mother (who for some reason has the effect of the Black Plague mixed with Ebola on all computer life forms) I would say that computers and I (and the majority of other electrical and mechanical objects) have a civil relationship at best.

Enter the need to learn how to use my digital recorder in preparation for my first interview. This was a test to find out whether or not computers hold a grudge and have passed on the word that I’m less than technologically inclined. This experience prompts me to do a ‘first’ in my life. Yes, I do the unthinkable…I read the manual, or at least parts of the manual (which is probably half the reason why I have problems with machinery and appliances in the first place). It was a painstaking process. I first read about which button did what and where it was on the device, then about how to power-up, and then about how to charge the battery from its comatose state. Following these thrilling entries I took a break for 2 hours (not solely by coincidence as it also took two hours to recharge the batteries). After a quick meeting with my English lessons colleague at the Turkish restaurant Sofra on Zwart Janstraat, I returned to my flat to read about the hold function, the recording settings, and the process of recording itself. This reading brought me up to page 10 and I was still not out of the ‘basic operations’ section.

The problem is that I know this machine works. And it works well. I received it from another good friend of mine - Shelly-bean- who used it during her Masters research. This means that there are no excuses! If it doesn’t work…it’s me and not the machine!

Sitting at the kitchen table with my computer in front of me, manual in one hand, digital recorder in the other and a blank look on my face, my thoughts briefly scrolled through the list of potential help-mates to weight in on this venture. On Dutch programming, they have a commercial that shows a couple in the process of buying a new flat screen television and satellite cable package (or something of this sort) from a store. As the couple turns around to approach the cash register, another worker wheels out a dolly with a 6 foot tall man packaged in a box. This man is suppose to be the free gift that comes with the purchase of the system as he will install the cable (or whatever) when they get home. Seeing as this was a second-hand product and the warranty has probably expired, there were no gift-wrapped knight in shining armour for me (much to Luke’s appreciation I’m sure).

No matter, with all this ado, I happily report that the machine worked perfectly following its and my first test drive. Voices went into the machine just as they were supposed to and I breathed a sigh of relief. I learned how to save the folder to my computer (more reading!) and then I could listen to the excerpt from my computer. It feels as though I’ve jumped another hurdle, not gracefully, but with lots of coaching and enhancement products (manual). Mind you, I have yet to understand how to play it back on the machine itself…baby steps I tell myself baby steps.