a tale of two installs

I'm spending my Saturday installing/assembling things. Two things, specifically: an elliptical and Sailfish OS on a Sony Xperia 10iii.

The first one will ensure I have access to a zero-impact cardio option even when the gym is closed, something I sorely need. The second one frees me from Google products on my phone.

These two processes could not be more different.

The instructions for installing Sailfish OS on a Sony Xperia 10iii say the process takes about 25 minutes. Reader, it took almost exactly 25 minutes:

https://jolla.com/how-to-install-sailfish-x-on-xperia-10-iii-on-windows/

Every instruction step was clear. Every step did what the instructions said it would do. I encountered exactly zero problems. (The resulting OS is gorgeous and will be the topic of many upcoming fangirl posts, I'm sure.)

Assembling the elliptical is...the opposite of this.

I trust the elliptical itself is good. I've used this brand before and never had isssues. But I didn't have to assemble those, either.

The elliptical assembly instructions are fractally bad. I mean this literally. They are bad at every conceivable level of magnification.

The instruction booklet says this elliptical can be assembled in just four steps. It doesn't mention that each "step" has between four and nine bullet points. It especially does not mention that every bullet point covers multiple tasks.

Step One, Bullet Point Five, for instance, requires the assembler to:

• put washer on bolt
• insert bolt in machine
• tighten bolt
• repeat the three above steps three more times

Of course, the instructions don't provide a GOTO 10 FOR 3 like I did here. The instructions spell out the process for each of the four bolts. So Bullet Point Five of Step One is itself no fewer than four tasks.

I'm currently on Bullet Point Nine of Step One ("slide the rail assembly into the main frame. Insert one bolt through each side and attach a flat washer and a nyloc nut to each joint on the inside"). I've been working on this for four hours.

I'm going to tell everyone I know about Sailfish OS, because it was easy to install and delightful to use. I'm going to put "exercise equipment assembly and installation" on my resume, because by the time I'm done, I will have put in enough hours for this to count as a part-time job.