Did you ever play Clue? The game where you had to choose Miss Scarlett or Colonel Mustard in the Library or the Conservatory (as a kid I never knew what a conservatory was… but it’s a greenhouse attached to a building along one wall… just in case you never knew either! But I did like pronouncing it with a British accent!). Oh, and you had to figure out what the weapon was as well.
Well, I’d like to take a lead pipe to my GoPro camera.
Everything went great… I placed the GoPro high in the coop, there was not a dark corner that some secretive thief could hide in!! I plugged in my DeWalt USB battery (yes, that’s a Real Thing) (caution: affiliate link) so the GoPro could run all day. I pitched out some food for the chickens, opened their tiny access door and left them alone for the day… innocent (?) victims to the conniving critter that was eating/stealing their eggs.
As darkness descended, I trudged through the squeaking snow to retrieve my camera. No eggs waited for me. I had averaged 4 eggs a day with the door shut… but with it open… nothing. Not a broken shell… no slimy spots where a cracked egg leaked… my girls had left me nothing in their nest boxes.
Returning to the house, I quickly deduced that my camera battery was now dead. I plugged it in and blogged about horses and frozen bubbles. The next morning, I pulled out my ipad, linked it to my GoPro and played the video.
There was Spot… who spent the majority of the day in one place… his head bobbled back and forth, but my rooster was highly dedicated to the bar in front of the nest boxes. What was he doing???
There were my hens… scratching and fluttering, and moving quickly here and there, going in and out the little door.
The two chicks stayed close to momma… They never ventured outside, but often nestled under momma’s breast. She, in turn, followed the sunshine through the window as it crossed the coop throughout the day, basking in the warmth.
There was my cat. She, too, perched in the sunshine… flicking her tail…
Aha.
There it was.
I replayed the video. And again. And again. Sure enough.
There was no doubt.
I hit the save button… and my iPad insisted it couldn’t save the video. Wha?????? Well, pooey on that… this week I had just splurged and bought a brand spanking new iPad Pro. By golly, I’d hook it up to the GoPro and I bet it’d load that condemning video! Password? I needed a password? Crud. I didn’t have it written down ANYWHERE. I used every one I could think of. Nope. I downloaded apps, tried to pair them, it wouldn’t work. I found serial numbers and youtube videos and help forums. I tried them all. Push this button, crap, that didn’t work. Start over. Push that button. Really??? I found a default password after an hour or so, but by then, I’d tried to reset the GoPro’s settings, but it still wouldn’t talk to the iPad Pro. Hmmm, it says if another iPad that has linked to it before is close, it’d automatically link through it. Cool. Guess what? The old iPad 2 now demanded a password, which I didn’t have. OMG.
I cried. I cussed. I did every infantile, juvenile, immature action possible in my repertoire. I pouted. I looked pitiful. I cussed some more Great Colorful Metaphors. I did NOT throw either the GoPro or the iPad Pro, because, at these times, I certainly FEEL mad enough to toss them as far as possible, but I work hard for my money!!! and they’re expensive!!! and while I FEEL frustrated beyond measure, I have just the tiniest amount of maturity left to actually not ACT on such things!
I quit at midnight.
I started over today. No luck.
I called Megan. She was unavailable. I asked for Brandon. He came after supper… He pushed buttons and hit the exact same walls I did. With each of his failures, I smirked. I wasn’t enjoying his failures, believe me, I wanted him to have instant success! I did feel somewhat mollified that IT WASN’T JUST ME.
Somehow, I got tunnel vision. BY GOLLY, I WAS GONNA CONNECT THAT IPAD AND GOPRO IF IT WAS THE LAST THING I DID.
Brandon ran out of time, and just suggested I follow the steps to update my GoPro… maybe that would help… so I went and PLUGGED IT INTO MY DESKTOP COMPUTER. DUH.
I could have done that long ago. I was too focused to see what I *should* have done… just used my desktop… downloaded the video… everything would have been hunky dory. I hit the download button and boom. Seven videos showed up. Seven videos of me staring into the hated GoPro screen (which is freakishly SMALL AND UNREADABLE EXCEPT IN BRIGHT LIGHT ESPECIALLY IF YOU’RE OVER… 40 YEARS OF AGE. Yes. Forty. Sounds good. It’s a lie, but it sounds good.)
SEVEN VIDEOS. THERE HAD BEEN EIGHT.
The video of the Mystery of the Chicken Coop was gone.
Find me here!
Drat this technology. I feel for you after all your hard work. It might be there, somewhere in the cloud. These digital things often automatically save stuff in the stars but finding it is a challenge.
I feel your pain. I HATE passwords. I have an iPhone and that’s probably enough Apple product for me. I also have a GoPro and do have some videos of me that were accidental.
So am I supposed to deduce the culprit from the info provided? Was there really a video or was this all just a bad dream?
How does technology always KNOW what is important so it (and only it) can be lost???
Are you going to tell us, or are you going to try to get it on the GoPro again so we can see for ourselves?
Loved your perseverance. Swearing, anger and the like are allowed and understandable.
(aside. I once lost an important file. My supportive hubby said, “You of all people should know to back things up.” )
Oh! Please!!!! Just TELL us…
Oh! please!!! Just TELL us…….
I’m guessing it was NOT the cat (said the Cat Lover); I’m guessing it was SPOT, the rooster.
Agree!
The first thing I thought of while reading your frustration was Charlie Brown saying “Aaugh” when he misses kicking the football! This is not to make light of your story at all. You sure DO have determination to figure out the mystery. Maybe you should reinvent the Clue game, “ranch edition” and have the chicken coop as a possible “place of crime!”
Keep trying! 🙂
Please tell! Was it the cat? I just returned from a trip away and am catching up on your blog, and I am so CURIOUS!
Technology. Pooey.
Oh how I know that threshold where the only reason for the survival of an inanimate-yet-utterly-nasty object was the dough I had had to pony up for it. It makes for a lot of suspense and a good cliff-hanger, though, this whole schlamassel!!
As an ESL alien I must ask you about Great Colorful Metaphors; could you explain by way of examples, please? (Always eager to learn!) 😉
Was it the cat?