Today we got involved in an area that always makes me nervous. Our "provider" had taken care of our cable television and internet and phone service for years and years. Recently they made a decision to only do phone service starting in June so we had to choose a new provider.
Now I love all the services in our technological services in our home but I am very leery of cell phone companies and of cable television campanies. They can be a dark hole of expanding expenses with not a lot of clarity over what you are paying for. I often feel like I've been working with the con man on the street with the three walnut shells asking you to tell him under which shell the nut is located. In the end nothing makes much sense and there is always a lot of fine print.
We finally made our decision to switch and I was on the phone for almost two hours to get the job done. I felt like I had run a marathon. Today we started the transition and now it feels like we made it. We got through the transition safely. Our new television service is installed and working beautifully. Out internet will end up being a lot quicker and much less expensive. And both Rachel and I survived the change without the total confusion that can come when someone tries to explain modern technology.
I realize what age can do to one. I used to negotiate large multi-million dollar contracts with sub-contractors and Owners and had to make sure everything was in order. I once had a project with over 700 openings and I coordinated the door frames, doors and hardware contract from start to finish of project. I followed up with delivery, inventory, and installation. But when our new television provider started to talk to me my mind turned to mush and I had to ask lots of questions.
But it also seems that people are kind to us "older citizens." They slow down to work with us. I get the feeling they all have an older relative in their family who they knew they had to explain things to slowly. Today our technician said he actually had customers who did not have a computer! Of course,, we didn't tell him we had a computer but don't understand much how it works. It's another area designed to seem like smoke and mirrors with a language of it's own.
So it continues to be about slowing down and taking our time to understand it all by asking lots of questions. I am blessed because my wife is the master of questions and we aren't done until she understands it. It sure helps. We catch the mistakes that way........,so it is still a grand adventure!
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