The "detective story" of the problem solving needed to resume my daily Cub harvesting is a classic illustration of the "big picture" opportunity we all have as investors in this remarkable new asset class.

^{Source: Based on image of creator AbsolutVision on Pixabay}

So ...

In the spirit of "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade," this post contains the details of the solution. As well as the broader implications to all of those who wish to participate in the "digital asset" class this early in its (growing) maturity.

Let's take a closer look ... 🧐

Solving My Cub Finance Harvest Failure

As an engineer, I am well acquainted with problem-solving. Over a long professional career, I developed some "well worn paths" which I would follow to ultimately "checking the box" on solving whatever problem was in the way of progress.

^{Source: Creator mohamed_hassan on Pixabay}

Unfortunately, they all involve time. And time is very valuable to me. I never feel like there are enough hours in a day to get done what I would like.

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So ... Getting started, first, what exactly was the problem? In my daily clicking of the "Harvest all" button (the Cub Finance "fan favorite!" 🤗) on the Cub Finance home page, it would always result in transactions, via my MetaMask wallet, to be approved on my linked Ledger.

Toward the end of last week, suddenly it didn't happen ... What? 🤷‍♂️ Great ...

Sparing you the "gory details," here is a quick outline of what I tried, in the way of "easy button" solutions:

Rebooted my computer - often a surprisingly effective "swiss army knife" solution, to flush any "gremlins" out and not have to worry about what exactly happened. Nope ... 😑

Turned off one after another, then all, of my security layers. Nope ... 🙁

Restarted my browser. Nope ... 🙁

Asked in the #tech-support channel, on LeoFinance's Discord server, whether anyone else was experiencing similar problems. @flauwy, as always, was pretty quick to respond, but ... Nope ...☹️

At this point ... 😒 ... I knew there was no "easy button" answer. Of course not ... I was going to have to dig deeper / try harder.

^{Source: Creator GraphicMama-team on Pixabay}

Again, sparing you the "gory details," here is a quick outline of what I tried next:

With my Ledger communicating fine with other apps and Web pages, I spent some time trying to decide if it was a Cub Finance page problem. With numerous references on Discord to BSC node issues, it was worth a look.

Since there was no indication others were experiencing any problem, I moved on from that pretty quickly.

Looking at the list of "layers" (see next section), I spent a lot of unfruitful time looking through MetaMask docs and troubleshooting links. To eliminate that as a possibility, I took the time (I didn't have ... 👎) to perform a complete "reset" of MetaMask, by disconnecting and reconnecting. First, the Cub Finance web pages. Then the wallet ties to my Ledger.

Nope ...

Lots more wasted time then spent looking online for any other possibilities, as to what the source of the problem might be. Won't go into detail here ...

In an effort to begin a processing of systematically breaking the problem down and trying to eliminate one possibility after another, took the time to install all of the needed support on a different computer in my home.

When "what to my wondering eyes did appear," I get a notification on this second computer pointing to the exact cause of the problem:

Windows Notification ... 🙄😒

While this proved out to be the source of the problem, it's discovery led to a number of other questions, not the least of which is why this notification never appeared on my primary workstation?! 🤷‍♂️😠

Would've saved me an enormous amount of time and trouble ...

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So ...

"Alls well that ends well, right?"

Yeah, but good grief! Does it always have to be that challenging? Was it even (always easy to ask after ... 🤔) challenging? Well, all I can tell you, dear readers, is that I have been at this "game" for over 3-½ years.

It is just the nature of "life" in these "virtual worlds" that there are a lot of technical complexities to deal with and overcome, to be successful in it ...

"Big" Picture Implications?

"In the beginning," some brilliant people conceived of new "virtual worlds" that had never existed previously. Unlike much of human history, where whole nations existed for hundreds and thousands of years without any awareness of what was going on in other parts of the world, these were connected ...

^{Source: Creator ColiN00B on Pixabay}

So connected, in fact, that world we once knew seems to be rapidly disappearing. In its place is a "new normal" world, where it is remarkably interconnected.

And what is the basis for all of this connectivity? How does all of this connectivity work?

^{Source: Creator geralt on Pixabay}

Computers (our "smart" phones can be considered "computers," as well, given their need to have processors, memory, operating systems (OIs), etc.). Connected to each other by a vast network we call the Internet. And the computers themselves have all sorts of "layers" to how all of these remarkably powerful, but exceedingly complex, connections interact with each other.

Based upon our need for security, desire for privacy, etc., etc. ... Should we experience any point of failure, the "why, what, when, where, how ..." questions can become mind-numbingly complex to work through and ultimately resolve ...

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Case in point: My post is about suddenly having my daily harvesting fail.

After working without incident for over a month, why did it suddenly begin to fail? Where exactly was the source of the failure?

Here were (are) the "layers of complexity" I had, for addressing my particular challenge of the moment:

Dell laptop computer, running a Windows 10 Professional, 64-bit OS (operating system)

Brave browser, connecting to the Internet through a VPN and various antivirus and malware utilities

Cub Finance web site and all of its layers of "smart contract" interactions with blockchains (which, in turn, are running on top of various "nodes" all over the face of the earth!)

MetaMask, running via a Chrome extension (and whatever layers Google has inserted into it ...), as a "wallet"

Ledger hardware, connecting MetaMask to yours truly, who must physically press down on its buttons, for any transaction to take place ...

So ... What's the big deal? What could possibly go wrong? 🤷‍♂️😉

Seriously, looking down through that list above, in which layer did the problem originate? And was it limited to that layer only? Or was it a "team effort" of two or more of them?

What we are heavily dependent on, perhaps more than we typically realize, are the teams of very bright people working 24 / 7 / 365 ...

^{Source: Creator GraphicMama-team on Pixabay}

... solving all of the problems associated with this complexity of the interactions of these various layers. They "get it right" an impressive amount of the time, if we think about it.

But ... Given the relative "immaturity" of these "new worlds" then we are bound to run into problems. And when those problems arise, it is not uncommon to find:

There are no "easy button" answers.

You are largely on your own to provide them.

In addressing this "immaturity" and the enormous "time sinks" that can open up for us, as a result, what can / will / must happen? In the coming months and years, to "clean this up," for the most part, and greatly reduce the time and trouble required by the "next generation" of adopters?

Here is a very brief and short list of my answers, associated with my particular problem:

Bare minimum: Coders at Ledger can design their upgrades such that the current settings on their customers devices are not touched! This is very basic and should have already been done.

Unless, of course, something about the latest version of whatever app has been upgraded needs some sort of attention. Which should then be "presented" to us, in a nice, friendly dialog ...

Optimized settings: Our UIs (user interfaces) should never allow us to change a setting which may address one issue, but "opens the door" on another one (or two ...), particularly without any warnings and / or recommendations.

Improved error trapping: No one knows the "show stopping" difficulties like the developers / programmers / coders. They must devote time to both optimized and maximized code to "protect" us from them. Which generates concise and clear messages to us, at a minimum. As well as providing their customers full recovery options, where possible ...

We'll all experience, in the coming months and years, how effectively these challenges are addressed. What I count on personally is the powerful motivation of both profit and competition with others threatening that profit, for compelling these teams to make these improvements ...

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If you choose to wander into these new "virtual worlds," dear reader, enticed like many by the promise of "riches," just be prepared. It is still referred to as the "Wild West" for a reason and can be likened to a frontier still today.

In the "Wild West" era of man's history, it took some rugged individualism to survive, let alone prosper.

^{Source: Creator qimono on Pixabay}

Today, that means you are often your own ~~bank~~ tech support!

The more we come to understand the enormous complexity of these new "virtual worlds" the more we can probably be thankful they work as well as they do. As touched on above, as they continue to develop and mature over time, they will almost certainly get better and more stable. We will probably look back then (in our rocking chairs, on the front porch ... 😉) and tell the "kiddies" what it was like back in the day ...

When we were "pioneers" ... 😉

Closing Thoughts

An old saying is:

"Time is money"

[attributed to Benjamin Franklin]

I certainly try hard to consistently treat it that way. So ... This was a very expensive lesson. From which I will learn, for the inevitable next time ...

Now at the end of this latest challenge, dear reader, in my usual reflective state-of-mind, I can say that we can choose to view challenges like this as a problem (which technically, it clearly was ...) or an opportunity.

Many (most?) people will simply choose to avoid the challenge altogether. If we are ever going to live to see "mass adoption," it will almost certainly be accompanied by many of the problems covered in this post being "hidden."

My personal view is this is a key to why we are experiencing such remarkable ROIs on our crypto investments. We have been willing and able to take these challenges on, well in advance of their being any "easy button" solutions available to placate "the masses." Once that "easy button day" arrives, I believe there will be a corresponding decrease in the ROI potential of crypto investing ...

I’d love to hear any feedback you may be inspired to provide.

Until "next time," all the best to you for a better tomorrow, as we all work together to build up our Hive Communities and add increasing value to our Hive blockchain! 👍 😊

Respectfully,
Blogger @roleerob
Hive "Dolphin" 🐬, LeoFinance "Whale" 🐋, & Man Cave "Dragon" 🐉

🐝 🍯 🐝

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P.S. I am not a financial adviser. Please consider this post as financial information and / or opinion only. Please perform your own due diligence, in whatever manner you seems best to you, if you have found it to be beneficial.

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🌲 No trees were harmed in the publishing of this post! 🌲

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