My Yesterday

My yesterday was a difficult day mainly because I was without phone/Internet/cable/fax for four hours.

I was actually on a conference call at 11:00am when all of a sudden, I couldn't hear anyone. I hung up the phone and tried to turn it back on. No go. I had no dial tone.

Phone's out and the conference call is going on with them thinking that I am on the call.

I got online to try to find Cox Communication's phone number. For awhile I had it sticky noted to my desk. I should just keep it there. I have been royally unimpressed with their services during our time in Florida. I have been told that isn't Cox's fault -- that military bases are notoriously famous for losing power, having poor cell phone reception, and lots of "in and out" services. But since Cox is my only provider -- ever -- I feel comfortable blaming it on them.

So anyways, I pull out my handy dandy cell phone. Of course, I don't get reception in the house so I meander out into the front driveway and call the RLS Foundation. I tell Lois, our awesome receptionist, that I've been cut out on the call. They patch me through, and I spend the next 30 minutes in the heat of my driveway finishing up the call. I'm sweating, but hey, I got all the details of Beth's departure down.

Beth's departure is another part of the saga. My wonderful and awesome friend Beth is leaving the RLS Foundation. I have worked with her for the last 3+ years. She is amazing. She and I talk on instant messenger about work nearly all day long. It's seriously like I am not even working from afar. But alas ... her husband was transferred. In the long run, this will be a "good thing" for me. I actually got a promotion/raise with her departure as I am picking up more hours and more responsibility and am now the "Director of Publications". I appreciate the promotion and everything but would gladly forgo it to not have Beth leave. She'll be freelancing for us for a few hours a week which at least allows me to have her help for awhile.

Anyways, so that conference call comes to an end, and I try to get a hold of Cox the old fashioned way -- the phonebook. When I hear that "All circuits are busy" I opt to call my good friend Tif. She answers her cell phone and tells me that she is technology-less as well. This is good news to me. If I am the only one out ... I am sure they wouldn't come racing over to fix my problem. However, if our whole block is out ... maybe they will.

It is at this point that I realize how dependent I am on technology. Everything I do during the day is reliant on the Internet. I think: hey I can call one of the interviewees on my list for an article I need to write. No can do. I need to be able to be on the phone while I type her answers, not standing in my driveway. So that won't work. I have no access to email. My fax machine is out of commission. No one can call me unless I wander out to my driveway. I finally come up with something I can work on that doesn't require the Internet, only to realize that clip art actually runs off the Internet as well. I can't drop clip art in without the Internet. I can't do anything!

To make matters worse, I have another conference call at 12:30. Still no phone and the heat of the day is upon us. I try, hard, and in vain, to get cell phone service anywhere in my house. Nothing. Not even with the window open can I get service. Back to the driveway I go for a 90 minute call in the heat of the day. I picture all my coworkers in their nice business attire. Oh if they could have seen me in my shorts, shirt and bare feet.

It was 3:00 before I was back up and running. I realized this because all of a sudden my Outlook starting flashing all the emails being delivered. In four hours, I'd prefer not to tell you how far behind I was on my email. With Beth leaving, her email is forwarding to me as well so my Inbox was quite littered. Good thing it was a quiet day at Mayo. I needed a quiet day somewhere.

All of this amidst me just not feeling well. For the last week, I have just been a bit "ill". I can't tell you exactly what it is, but John thinks it is some sort of viral issue as my joints hurt, my throat hurts, and I overall just don't feel well. It is getting better but just some little bug to cause me a bit of grief.

I was so blessed when Scrubs and I picked up JB from the hospital at 6pm, and John told me I was getting a night off. He picked up Thai and took care of the dog -- which was quite an ordeal because all of a sudden, our, what we thought was a house-broken pup, had two accidents. He's been doing great (except for peeing on my mom twice out of excitement) so we aren't sure why this happened. We've been allowing him more of the run of the house because he is so reliable. Hmmm .... we are rethinking that now. Poor JB was trying to take care of everything himself, but finally called me to the kitchen to help him hose the dog down. It was wonderful of him to try though.

Anyways, it was a long Wednesday, but hopefully, Thursday will be a great day. I am hosting our weekly women's lunch/brunch at 10:30 -- a great occasion to see how all the other wives are doing.