You have an interesting definition of "saving time."

[Ben_Who]

She came downstairs to my department to check the status of one of her jobs. While down there, she found errata, and asked if there was a computer where she could use her log-in to use the proprietary software to fix it, so that she wouldn't have to go allllll the way upstairs (I'm on 3rd, she's on 5th). Last job before she had to leave. She even had her coat on.

Well, all the computers down here use that proprietary software, but when you log into a remote computer instead of your own, you might not get all the options you'd get on your own machine. Not every computer, for instance, has your version of the E-mail client.

So she logs into one of the unused workstations down here, and I return to my man-cave to continue my duties in there.

Twenty minutes later, I emerge from the man-cave to find that she's still trying to log into the proprietary software, since there was no login application on the desktop for her. She's been plumbing the depths of the hard drive for a third of an hour seeking the login application, but she doesn't remember what it's called.

I found the login application for her, and she was finished and gone in five minutes. I heroically refrained from pointing out that had she braved a frontal assault on the two flights of stairs (or even the elevator) between her and her objective, she could have been gone a long time ago.

Still, she saved herself all the trouble of pressing the elevator button, so I guess she's got that going for her.

Love, Who?

[HYHYBT]

I'll do stuff like that. The couple of minutes that would have been saved if it had worked right away quickly become less important than getting it to work the way you want.

[bsaana]

The whole "I know it works and I will make it work". From time to time I am guilty of this too. Just too damned stubborn.

[Samaliel]

Some people call this an "absconse trap", where you don't want to give up because you've already invested so much time and energy that you don't want it to go to waste. The more time/energy you've invested, the less willing you are to give up. And when, in the end, it appears that you won't be able to do what you wanted, you're even more annoyed.