Experiencing technical difficulty

Yesterday morning at baseball camp I was talking to some other moms about what it's like to telecommute. I mentioned one of the drawbacks being the necessity to perform one's own tech support. Well, wouldn't you know, an hour later, during my 10:00 a.m. conference call, when we decided it would be a good idea to collaborate online, my computer told me I needed to restart in order to launch NetMeeting. So, I told my colleague, "I'll ping you when I reboot; ten minutes, tops." I shut down. But I couldn't reboot. So, by the time I picked up the kids and I saw these moms again (one of whom told me I must've jinxed myself), I had been through tech-support hell and by that time was resigned to the fact that I couldn't work until I got my emergency replacement computer, which was promised "before noon the next day."

The one benefit of that experience was that I did not have to work around the kids that afternoon and could actually hang out with them and get the laundry taken care of and prepare for Pasta Night without being in a rush. (I tried not to think about all the work backlog that would await and the fact that I am preparing for an event less than two weeks from now.)

Fast forward to this morning, when I'm shooing the boys around the house, trying to get them out the door, so I can get back in time to wait for the UPS delivery, for which I'd need to sign. I figured before noon meant between 10-12, so when I got back at 9:20 and saw the notice stuck to the door, I was crestfallen. More than that, really. I got out of the car and stomped up the steps and snatched the note off the door, cursing.

I trudged upstairs and signed on to UPS.com and tried to track the package with the new number on the notice. There was no information available. I figured it would at least say, "delivery attempted." I looked up the original tracking number at it indicated the package was still out on the truck. I cursed some more. I was hoping I'd be able to schedule my day around a trip to the UPS facility, but not if the package was still in limbo.

I checked online several more times before I trudged back downstairs with the signed notice to stick back on the door to ensure that -- if I couldn't figure out how and where to pick up the package -- that when the UPS man came back tomorrow he'd just leave it.

When I got out to the porch, I saw the UPS truck pulling around the corner. The driver parked across the street. He had a package. For me! "Oh my gosh," I said. "You came back!" And I went on about how I telecommute, I can't do much of anything without my computer, thought I'd have to ... didn't know what I was gonna do...blah blah blah." I imagine he figures we telecommuters really need to get out more, but really don't know what he thinks given his equaniminous demeanor.

That really made my day, even though I spent most of this afternoon in tech-support hell again, because this machine currently can't read my hard drive, which contains some sort of vital email client information that I need to access all my mail files and my calendar. As soon as I know the kids are in bed for keeps tonight, I'll be back on the phone with tech support. (And I'll try not to think about all the work backlog that would await and the fact that I am preparing for an event less than two weeks from now.)