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Jewish World Review July 26, 2011 / 24 Tamuz, 5771 A cable calamity By Betsy Hart
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
I waited, fearful and trembling, for my children to return home so I could tell them.
Yep, it was that bad: Our Internet was out of commission, and likely would be for some 40 hours until the cable company could get here to fix it.
Forty hours.
Knowing I would have to face the kids with that news as they walked in was right up there with sharing news of a beloved pet's death. Of course, I begged and pleaded with the cable fellow to somehow get me service sooner. A nice fellow, that cable man. He apparently sensed my panic: "Forty hours?? I've got four kids, pal. I'm a single mom to those four kids. Do you really want to be responsible for what could happen here without an Internet connection to keep them occupied over that span of time? It could get really ugly, friend!"
He promised to include, as he put it, a "begging for service" note on my ticket. Seriously. He got it.
After hanging up, I did what any resilient mom would do. I walked all over the house with my laptop trying to find a hot spot that would pick up a neighbor's Wi-Fi signal. What is it with people so uptight about "locking up" their wireless Internet connections, anyway? Sheesh.
I braced myself for the onslaught.
When it came, it washed over me like waves. One after another. The first, daughter Tori, 14, had her mouth drop to the floor. Her exact words after several seconds: "I won't know about my life until Wednesday?" Her life apparently being Facebook and email.
Daughter Madi, 12, had brought a friend home and apparently felt the need to put her game face on as she received the news. OK, two down. Son Peter, the oldest at 17, literally refused to believe it: "Of course it's working, Mom." Now that's devotion. The last, daughter Livey, 9, simply asked, "Did Madi use it too much?"
Madi is currently the source of all problems in Olivia's life.
But it was Livey who came around the most quickly. "Well, Mom," she said, "this is how old people used to live in olden days. I guess we can just play around like they did for a while." Pause. "Do we still have indoor plumbing?"
Back to figuring things out.
I really don't like to come up against a brick wall. I'm always determined to find the back door. My oven went on the blink recently, constantly beeping when not actually on. I discovered it had to do with a computer chip that there was no way to fix. Replacement? We're talking $660. Morally outraged at the idea of such a thing, I got back at the fancy-pants oven people by getting an inexpensive toaster oven for the little things. For the big ones, the kids are now used to me calling down to the basement, "Honey, can you go to the fuse box and turn the oven on?"
So, I decided to try wrestling with the Internet connection again myself, thinking failure just couldn't be an option.
I pushed and I prodded the various wires, and reset everything for the tenth time. Finally, somehow, there was a flicker of Internet — a teaser, really, before it went out again. I just became more determined. Then, amazingly, it came back on and has now been on for several hours. Problem solved? We'll see.
I know, I know — I have a lot to learn from all this about depending way too much on high-tech. Later. Right now, I'm just trying to figure out how to work into the monthly budget the cost of putting a cable repair guy on retainer.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. JWR contributor Betsy Hart, a frequent commentator on CNN and the Fox News Channel, can be reached by clicking here.
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