Thursday, September 2, 2010

The Rest Of The Story

So I called the tech help. Got a very nice guy within a reasonable amount of time. Yes, he was definitely in another country but he spoke English better than many of my fellow countrymen.
And it has been decided that my unit is defective. He asked me at least five times if my red answering light was glowing steadily.
Oh yes, I kept saying. Yes it is.
When he told me I could pack the unit back up and send it back to the factory for an exchange, I laughed. Right.
No thanks, I told him. I'll be returning it to the store and exchanging it for a different model and oh yes, BRAND.
"I am so sorry," he said. "I understand."
I wonder. Does he? He certainly sounded sincere.

But this whole thing reminds me of the first time Mr. Moon ever took Hank and May fishing. It was in a tiny pond and they were in a tiny jon boat and I was on the bank. They caught lots of fishes and had them on a stringer but somehow, the stringer got loose and fell away.
May, who was about five at the time was incredibly distraught.
"All that work!" she wailed.
All the work of fishing, lost forever.
And whenever something happens in our family in which there has been vast wasted effort, we say, "All that work!" and we know what we're talking about, the memory inherent now in the phrase.

And that's all I can think about- the battery insertions, the cord-plugging, the setting of each and every hand-set's ringtone, the entire figuring out of a new system.
All that work.

Ah lah. Life goes on. And someone in India understands.
Bless his heart.

18 comments:

  1. I write technical software manuals, but I sure hate reading that shit and trying to figure stuff out.

    My sympathies!

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  2. Can't you just buy a couple basic phones and put one in each room?

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  3. I had a post that was pretty good, but blogger ate it and gave me an error message.

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  4. Ms. Bastard-Beloved- I am sure your manuals are pieces of art!

    DTG- Costs more. Plus, I want an answering machine.

    Rebecca- Ha!

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  5. Yes, someone in India understands. Love that sentence.

    What else could anyone ask for???

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  8. I don't get why people are down on Indian (or whatever) tech support. They know their shit, and in a different language no less.

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  9. Oh that must piss you off. I like phones with wires that you just enter a number into. No presets even.

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  10. And I be the phone system was made in China and the tech support was outsourced to India. I wonder how long before the phones will have Chinese characters for numbers/letters. I find the outsourced tech help to be good as well. It is just the idea that we have so few companies who are willing to hire within the US and pay decent wages. Sorry...I am off the soap box rant.

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  11. I HATE technical problems! Dell inflicted emotional scars that I'm never going to forget, or forgive.

    Sorry you had to go through it all.

    New masthead is a lovely photo but I miss your beautiful home and yard with the soft light shining in the picture so I felt the warmth from inside.

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  12. Jill- Well, I sort of believed him. Sort of not.

    Nancy C- I have found this to be very true.

    Mwa- Presets?

    Syd- Can we share this soapbox?

    Kathleen- Well, gotta shake it up, you know. There will be more light pictures soon. You can bet on that. It's coming-on fall.

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  13. I love when those Indian guys ask me, ever so politely, whether they can call me "Miss Eleeesabeth?"

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  14. Oh god. I think we are the last people on earth who don't have a cell phone. So when our phone died earlier this year, we had to replace it. We got some sort of system with two receivers and two bases, and blah blah, only one works and it's spotty. I could use the regular corded phone in our bedroom, but someone small absconded with the receiver. Good luck getting a "phone system" that you can operate, and that works!

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  15. computer problems make me want to cry because they are SO beyond my capacity for fixing. i can barely follow directions correctly on one.
    'all that work!'

    can i add that in my novel for my 'family' if it works?

    loveyouloveyouloveyou

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  16. Pottery Barn sells 'retro looking' phones that just need to be plugged into a telephone outlet. They don't have caller ID and they don't have an answering machine built into them. They cost about $100, which I think is kind of pricey, but they're idiot proof, so I'm going to get one!

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  17. Elizabeth- I know. It's like we get an international cultural experience when something breaks down and we have to call tech help. Not a bad thing.

    Lora- Thank-you. I am off to phone shop today.
    And really? No cell phone? God bless you!

    Maggie May- Yes. You may use the story. Love you, too.

    Lucy At Home- Go to Goodwill and get a real retro phone for less than ten bucks.

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  18. So, these were two entries I shared with Joe. We were so amused though we feel your pain. Good luck on the newer system!

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