Sunday, July 11, 2010

Einstein's Aether


Regardless of the fact that modern physics decries Einstein's Aether theory,  I have simply always adored the thought of it.  That electromagnetic waves (or any other matter such as protons, or my blog...) need a transmitting medium, such as air to arrive at their appointed destination.

I've had a few weeks to think about this.  I was waiting for my new router to arrive. When it finally did, and after jumping through the necessary hoops ( "No biggie," the AT & T salesperson said.), to get the darn thing hooked up, not to mention reconfiguring the three computers in the house (sadly two of which are embedded with Windows VISTA, boo), I really just wanted the aether to be there to magically transmit my words.  Unfortunately this is not the case. 

After calling tech-support to inform them there was no green data cable in the box they sent, the brutally honest support person informed me they have "color issues" and to use the grey wire. Huh, OK.  Naturally after the many cords were draped and plugged, and assuming Internet service would magically commence, nothing would work without the yellow cord physically plugged into the computer being used to set the whole mess up.  At which point the discovery was made the phone would not ring while this process was ongoing.  Shut the whole thing down and recall tech-support ( Thank You AT & T for having all English as a first language employees that I can understand ).

By this time I was on serious tech overload feeling as if I had used the last wrinkle available to store data in my brain.  When the nice kid finally was on the line after a six or seven minute hold, I advised him I was in the next to the last age bracket one is asked to check off on questionnaires, that I have a slight heart condition and was on the verge of a stroke.   He genuinely guffawed.  Normally this would bring my shattered nerves and overheating brain down a few notches, alas my Internet withdrawal was far too progressed.   He said he understood, his mother had been the same way two months ago when she was changing services.  He said he could simply hop into my computer and just do it if I gave him permission.  Now we're talkin'.

It was a strange Big Brother Is Watching experience.  As I sat amazed, not touching my computer, the mouse whizzed around clicking on this and that, and after less than ten minutes everything was in working order.

While I was in Internet Withdrawal I had a lot of time to think about a lot of other things aside from the aether, such as...

IS there a cure for empathy?

Edgar and his charges, waiting for good homes.


I really need to finish this lap quilt for the CAT-FARM-AID yard sale.
(We are going through two 14 lb. bags of food a week)


A Granny should know how to crochet Granny Octagons.
Luckily the library had an instruction book I could borrow.


And how I really don't need to find a cure...


13 comments:

  1. The cat in the last photo looks almost identical to one of mine - except my Bongo has a white mouth that makes him looked surprised constantly!

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  2. I am glad you got your computer issues fixed.

    Welcome back to the blog, BTW. I missed you and checked it daily.

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  3. Wow, that's a lot of wool. And a lot of cats.

    I sympathize about the networking craziness. I often let the IT guy from work take over my home computer to fix issues. It is a weird feeling.

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  4. Wow, that must have been a strange sight to see, the computer whizzing away as if by magic. But glad to see you back, and those kitties are definitely adorable. I am a cat person too, but I hope they find deserving homes. I know you will do your part.

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  5. U mean to say, u still need homes? omg, I thought by now they would have been adopted!...

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  6. Thanks for dropping by. I enjoy your post too. The tech world is definitely working in the background to keep us from harm or?? Remote access has taken firm roots and so has sharing just about everything. Back online. Yeah!!

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  7. Hi there, I came over because you left a good comment on my blog. I'm going to stay because I like what I see and appear to be a "cat person." So, if you don't mind, I'm going to tag along...
    thanks

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  8. I'm honored to have everyone here, welcome to my world!

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  9. oh, and Chrissy, two littermates have a life home, seven more to go...sigh! Three ferals going to the GREATEST place I found in the city called HOPE.ORG to get fixed this Thursday. Though they have had their own entryway room for nearly nine months, tow of them refused to be tamed. I need to drive down to pick up Have-A-Heart cages Weds. to transport them in. Easy for the vet to get to them quick without getting mauled. All I have to do is coax them in before midnight, after which they may have no food or water. Pray for me!!!!! (That will make five total fixed thus far. Dead Beat Dad (A.K.A Baby-Daddy) remains elusive...

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  10. Gigi, I missed everyone! It was horrible not only being unable to keep up with blog-land but I have a serious case of google-itis. When I couldn't google everything that came up that I needed to know about I started writing a list. I am still catching up on that!

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  11. "No biggie," the AT & T salesperson said...

    Talk about famous last words. When it comes to hardware, is it ever not a biggie?

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  12. Odd, when you hadn't posted for a while I was actually starting to worry about you. Never seen your face nor heard your voice, yet your absence I noticed. Makes me wonder what I've fallen into in this bloggosphere! Anyway, glad the issue was merely technological.

    By the way, granting access to my PC is wayyyyyy too Big Brother for me, I prefer to have them talk me through it. That's OK, they get to practice their English.

    Welcome back.

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  13. Thank You kindly Robert. Little did I realize while I was wondering what everyone else out there was up to I was being wondered about. Its a nice feeling and I appreciate it. My son was a mess while the guy was IN my computer, "Watch everything he does, he may be getting into files and downloading at the same time, oh wait, what just flashed..." More like his mother and grandmother every day...sigh. And there is a picture of my very own actual face in the 'I Volunteer' entry in May. Just don't call me when you need to replace your monitor.... EEEEEEEEEK!

    And K.... Yuh no biggie, specially when one is FRANTIC, soooooo close, yet so many clicks far. If you smelled something burning where you are around that time it was my brain sending up smoke signals... Still having hardware problems with the notebook. Vista won't recognize (scuse me tecchie speak is "talk to" case the AT & T people are in here!!!!) it's own driver I had to download.

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