Ah, kind sir, I hope you will not be unduly discomfited by my
disagreement, or by my gentle assertion that most likely we all are
asleep most of the time. The present moment, now therein lies
nirvana. Like today, for example, when I awakened to discover I had
no internet service. A respectful call to tech support at Time Warner
Cable cured the problem. A reboot of the cable modem was all that was
required. I sipped a cup of green tea and reflected on my lack of
ire. It could be said I was pleased with myself, but that would imply
self-absorption, and that is of course impossible to one so awake as
I. <wink> Then I noticed I had no e-mail. Sigh. A few deep breaths to
center myself, and another call to tech support. I gave thanx for the
speaker function on my cordless phone which allowed me freedom to
roam about accomplishing other missions while waiting for tech
support to answer my call.
Did I mention how grateful I was for the periodic recorded message
assuring me that my call was very important, and that Time Warner
thanked me for my patience? No? I had ample opportunity to meditate
on my gratitude. So finally a most kind and helpful female person
with a charming Islands accent walked me through adjusting my account
settings to compensate for a software upgrade T-W had just
implemented, which apparently messed up Adelphia orphans such as
myself. She was so helpful I could only wallow in my joy, knowing as
I did so that I risked another bout of self-absorption. Sigh. She
asked me to send myself a couple of test e-mails, and I did so, and
it worked, and I hung up again filled with satisfaction and joy.
But then I learned I could only send e-mails to myself, and I already
knew what I wanted to say, and it wasn't to myself I wanted to say
it. Further investigation revealed that I also could send e-mails to
other Adelphia orphans, but not to anyone else. Round Four with tech
support gave me the opportunity to encounter a gentleman who said
words to the effect: "Damn, you've got a Mac. I don't know anything
about Macs. You're going to have to call back and speak to ____."
Funny, I didn't feel quite so joyful. But throughout the temptation
to fly off the effing wall, I maintained my self-control, all the
while reminding myself that the self is only an illusion. (In which
case self-control must be one of the mothers of all illusion.)
Finally, I was escorted to Tech Support Level Three, a place at Time
Warner where the real computer geeks hang out. The very polite and
resourceful lady I spoke with allowed as how she'd never in all her
years encountered this problem. We did a little of this and a little
of that and she finally suggested, just for the hell of it, that I
unplug my computer from its router and plug directly into the modem.
Zounds! It worked! Gadzooks! E-mail again. She told me it was her
first time encountering this phenomenon. I replied as magnanimously
as possible that it was always a pleasure to escort someone through
their first time at something. She had the temerity to giggle.
So, having been peaceful and centered all effing day long, I finally
discovered that for some reason, my Linksys wireless router had
decided not to allow any outgoing e-mails except to myself and other
Adelphia orphans. And for the moment there was nothing more I could
effing do about it.
Ain't it funny how gin will give one a better perspective on one's woes?
--Bob
On Jun 14, 2007, at 7:54 PM, Andrew Fildes wrote:
> I am a deep believer in the concept of goodwill to all and rarely get
> red-faced except in the face of proven malevolence for I have a more
> subtle, measured kid of outrage, but dammit sir, if you aren't pissed
> off about something, you are most definitely asleep.
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