Every Day Is Special: May 21 - I Need a Patch for That Day

May 21 - I Need a Patch for That Day

Posted on May 21, 2020

A tear in your jeans could be fashionable!

Unless it's in the wrong place...in which case, you're going to need a patch.

When an app gets updated, sometimes there's a new problem, and a bajillion people complain to the manufacturer "It stopped doing this-and-such!" or "Now it does that-and-so, which is not at all good!"

The manufacturer needs to get some coders onto the new software problem pretty darned pronto, and often the fix for the problem - really, a bit of code - is called a patch.

"Download this patch," users are told, "and it will fix the bug in our last update."

Lots of things can develop holes or problems, and a patch can be a quick-fix slapped over a hole or inserted into software. Leaky boat or tire? Patch it. Hole in the drywall? Patch it. Pipe accidentally cut? Patch it.

The word patch often refers to a small amount of something, like a bit of cloth or plastic, specifically meant to cover a hole in, say, a jacket or pooI toy. A cabbage patch is a small bit of land devoted to growing cabbages, and sometimes we refer to small, embroidered decorative or commemorative cloth items as patches.

"To patch" usually means to repair something by applying a small bit of material over a whole or joining together severed parts. Patching something often refers to a rather primitive repair form, maybe a quick form of repair that doesn't address whatever the original problem was...

I'm not sure why we need a I Need a Patch for That Day, but I do realize that we all sometimes need patches.