Sunday 9th December
A very exciting moment for me…
My very first word document on
my new pride and joy. I have activated my magic mouse, opened and
enlarged a new page and off I go, just a bit unsteadily but…bear with me!
It has been a bit of a team effort
getting to this point, with just a teensy bit of stress and anxiety. I absolutely love new technology and am
fiercely fond of whichever phone or computer I have as part of my equipment at
any given time. But getting to know each
new technological marvel always causes me to internalise quite a lot of quiet
rage. And no, my darling pride and joy,
it’s not you, it’s me…
Or maybe not entirely all my
fault. I finally acquired this beautiful
little MacBook Air nearly two weeks ago.
Dear kind and patient James had assured me that my internet connection
thingy would connect my new system to the internet. Unfortunately, it did not… Last weekend Pete
and I lurked around the computer department in JB for quite a long time while
various young men (James wasn’t working that day) whistled through their teeth
and jiggled this and that until finally they said that my internet connection
thingy was far too old. In fact they
were quite surprised it still existed in 2012.
(I bought it in 2010…) Go to the Telstra Shop, they said,
rather too blithely.
On Monday Allan, our registrar,
very kindly encouraged me to go early.
We all know how the queues grow, in the Telstra Shop. Full of people who are, mostly, internalising
(or maybe NOT internalising) quite a lot of quiet rage. I got there at 9.30 and got back to work two
and a half hours later. (In case you are
an Angry Taxpayer, please let me assure you, gently, that I do actually make up
these lost hours, one way or the other.)
It just took such a l-o-n-g time.
I am aware that many people hate
and loathe Telstra. I am not among them,
in fact I am a loyal Telstra customer and very appreciative of good service
over many years. (I hear howls of
protest rushing through cyberspace…) It
took this long because that is in fact how long it took, to connect a new
internet connection thingy. I had a
lovely young woman (Georgia) and an equally lovely young trainee (Bec), who was
very kind and admiring because I am a Harmsen and the only other Harmsen she
knows is – it took me no time at all to guess this – is my wonderfully
handsome, charming and athletic 17 year old nephew Will. For some of the time I also had the services
of a technician, and towards the end of the marathon experience the store
manager came and tried to take credit for the successful installation and
registration of my new modem. (The first
one they installed was faulty; it took forever to de-install it and to start
all over again.) I tried not to look at
the long long queue snaking out the door… I could feel angry eyes boring into
the back of my head as I sat happily enough with my new friends Bec and
Georgia, calmly helping me with my difficulties.
We had time to chat about
families, sharks, the general public. I
asked whether they found it difficult working in the Telstra Shop, where (I am
not joking) people really do get irate.
Bec said she worked at the Ball & Chain, where people get furious
about their food, and Georgia told me that her friend works in Just Jeans and
that recently a customer wrote to the manager complaining that the mirrors in
the change rooms are not flattering enough. So there is rage everywhere!
And now I am sitting in the sun
at Pete’s big dining table very happily playing with my new toys. I am still having some difficulty with this
and that…my iPad doesn’t seem to recognize my new modem but…never mind; I am sure
I will find helpful kindly people to talk me through yet another technological experience.
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