Know your limits.

I am having such a hard time packing for this cruise. I don't know why, I usually pack in an instant, but for some reason this trip has me buffaloed.

I brought out all my suitcases, and I have many. (Hello, my name is Shannon and I am a luggage-holic) I have stared at them all morning and have come to no conclusions.

Should I take a big one and check it? Should I just take carry-on, which is my preferred method?. But what if it's cold and I need extra sweaters and pants? Do I really need 4 pairs of long pants? Well, what if I spill on one? What if I eat too much at the buffets and the already tight ones then don't fit? What if I rip a pair and the other pair is being washed? What if it's hot out? Then I'll need capris..at least 2 pair (see prior statement for reason that I might need at least 2) So that's now 6 pairs of pants. Sandals? Extra shoes? Raingear? Umbrella? Long sleeve shirts, short sleeve shirts? How many pairs of socks and underwear? Why is this such a problem?

I would like to bring what the first picture shows, but I fear I am on my way to looking lke the second one. Do they allow horses on the ship?

A what?

I think I am a Luddite, although the fact that I am writing this on a computer that is hooked up to the Internet is a bit oxymoron-ish.

Perhaps I am a partial Luddite, I have Luddite-like tendancies.

Technology baffles me. It really isn't as time saving as often thought.

Today was a fine example of "when technology fails".

1. Shaw Cable had cable problems. Said cable is buried under our yard, and granted, the city has 3 feet right-of-way, but we have to care for that 3 feet. Steven spends a lot of time caring for our yard so that it looks nice and tidy. But, the cable needed to be updated/replaced/fixed...whatever, and here they came, back hoe and all. They dug, made a mess, left, came back, made some more mess, dug deeper, left because it started to rain, came back, parked in our driveway so that I couldn't get out, blew up their hoe, left, came back and made a bigger mess....oil from the hoe all over the place, cracked the cement in our drive-way, tossed the dirt back in the hole and proceeded on to the neighbours yard to continue their mayhem.

I shan't go into detail of the conversation between Steven and them. Suffice to say, a nice load of topsoil was delivered to the house, as well as some new rolls of sod..neither of which we laid down. This evening it looks quite nice.

2. Same day. Came down to use the Internet (as a Luddite, I shall call it the Interweb of the Magic Box) and nothing would happen. Telus (our provider) kept telling me I had to "register my devices", and before that could possibly begin to happen, I had to proceed with my user name and password. Of course I have neither. And I've been using these same devices for months now.

I phoned the number and after the "press one" runaround, I was connected with Rajad, who, from the noise, was sitting by his laptop on a street in Mumbai. *sigh*.

He eventually got me reconnected ("Please be waiting one more minute Miss Shannon, thank you veddy much.") (umm, this is my blog and I can be politically incorrect if I choose!)

Turned out it was their fault, some signal error.

3. Our reception on our TV has been not very good lately. We have a satellite dish, which annoys me at the best of times, and this past while the picture gets all boxy...you know? Like little boxes. I think the term "pixels" comes into play here, but again, I don't swing that way.

So we phoned ( some more "Press One") and when we explained the problem, they said they'd send a technician up. And they did, promptly (just 3 days late). He arrived today.

He was actually very nice, and did some readjusting and switching things and moved antennae from here to there, and said we needed a new something or other and gave us the info to call Shaw....Ok, yes, the SAME Shaw as was mentioned in the beginning of this post...yeah, Shaw has bought out Star Choice, our satellite company. I can sort of hear the Gods of Fate laughing already.

So we phoned Shaw ("Press One") and we were on hold for...guess how long? Guess! 73 minutes. I finally hung up, went out, jumping over the mud and bits of sod that Shaw had left all over, and came home a few hours later. Called again. On hold for 14 minutes. Hung up and swore a bit, made supper and phoned again. On hold 36 minutes.

As of this writng, I have had no answer, but you know what's funny? We "left" Shaw because their customer service was SO awful. I cannot abide poor customer service. So, as I am on hold,one of the little blurbs that they repeat ("your call is important to us.") was this: "Now that Star Choice is Shaw Cable, we want to reassure you that you will recieve the same wonderful customer service as always."

*sigh*

My entire day was virtually wasted by waiting for repairmen, phoning repairmen, trying to track repairmen down to move their vehicles, waiting for phone calls, waiting to NOT be on hold, and just waiting, waiting, waiting. All in the name of modern time saving technology.

~Technology is a queer thing...it brings you great gifts with one hand, and stabs you in the back with the other. ~CP Snow

Cows

I have always been partial to cows.

Not to have as house decorations, or pets, but to look at in fields. And I was thinking the other day, as we drove down the highway past fields full of new born calves, that you don't see as many varieties as you used to. Or maybe it's just a BC thing. In Saskatchewan you'd see a field of the pitch black Aberdeen Angus, looking mean and cranky. The next farmer would have the black and white Holsteins, the type that you see on kitchen towels and fridge magnets. And then the pretty Jersey cow, the kind that look like they belong in a Disney movie, with big brown eyes and long eyelashes. Some farmers had the white Charolais, which always seemed a little uppity. Not of the farmers, but the cows themselves. They weren't as common and I guess they felt a little special, you'd never see them wander over to the fenceline like the pretty little Jerseys would. They Jerseys would take grass from our hands, snuffling for more and liking a scratch on the nose. The Holsteins would meander over too, not quite as friendly, and hesitant to take anything from us. The Aberdeens would just stand and look mean, I guess knowing that you are being bred to be eaten makes you a little less prone to be friendly and the Charolais would just be happy in their own little clique, never even looking our way.

I guess seeing all the calves the other day has made me think a little of my "formative" teen years in Saskatchewan, hangin' out with cows and my best friend (who wasn't a cow...she was a real person!) We would walk out of town and head down the back roads and byways and talk of what we were going to "be" when we grew up, discuss the latest crush we had in school and who was going to ask who to the dance. You know, the normal sort of teen talk. We'd hang over the fence posts and wait for the cows to come and see what we we were doing. Cows are very curious, especially the Jerseys. In no time they would come trotting over, and once one came, they would all come. If a cow is ill, and the vet (or farmer) comes out and stands over it, all the others will hastily come too see what's up. Maybe they are just worried that they are missing out on some sort of cow-treat, but I like to think that they have a little social concern for each other.

Kids today probably would sooner fall over in a dead faint than visit a cow, and I'll bet that most of them couldn't even name 2 different breeds of cattle. Which, to my way of thinking, is sort of sad.