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January 20, 2000

They didn't call me!

Another day has passed and my computer is now gone completely. Yesterday morning I decided to call the Warranty Company, I did not receive that call the young man promised. I spoke to a lovely young woman who told me my claim was still in the dispatch queue. She suggested I call a local Macintosh Authorized Dealer and ask them if they would deal directly with the Warranty Company, in order to "expedite" matters. I told her I was a little miffed that this had not been suggested two days ago.

I followed her advice and a local dealer agreed to contact the Warranty Company to make arrangements. Yesterday afternoon the arrangements were complete and I took the computer in to the local Macintosh Authorized Dealer. A friendly and refreshingly efficient fellow named Mike greeted me at the door; assured me he would call me today and carried my computer away to the back rooms. He did call today; he called just after they closed. I had just nipped out to the bank and missed the call. So, I will call him first thing in the morning and pray that resolution be at hand. It will be one week ago tomorrow that my hard drive died.

I did not receive the call I was waiting for; I did receive a call I was not waiting for. "The Teenager's" Math Teacher called. She is frustrated; she tries hard. We discuss attitude versus aptitude. She is relieved that it is not "just her"; I am sad that it is not "just her". As far as I am concerned, the needed epiphany cannot come too soon. It seems that some epiphanies take place in tiny, invisible increments. You cannot be sure they are happening at all. Faith is required. No one said it would be easy; I just did not know what they meant by difficult. She is beautiful when she is asleep. This remains a constant. "Always look on the bright side of life...."

While chaos reigned in the outside world I retreated into one my favorite pastimes, I cooked. Attila brought home a small basket of apples a few weeks ago; he left them in his vehicle overnight and they froze. I have been looking at those sad apples ever since. Today I put them out of their misery. I retrieved all the wholesome bits with a knife, threw them into a crockpot with a bit of apple juice, a little cinnamon and a wee bit of brown sugar and left them for the day. My next project was to cook the chickpeas I had soaked overnight, this I did in another crockpot. I use the chickpeas to make a low-fat baked falafel; the steps are many and soaking/cooking the chickpeas is the first step. "The Teenager" and a friend arrived home after school and immediately sampled the applesauce; it got the thumbs up. The falafels are for next week; they will be my birthday dinner.

The evening is winding down, or so I wish. It is after 10:30 p.m. and "The Teenager" has just finished preparing and is about to serve a meal of spaghetti to herself and her friend. Her girlfriend did not make it home tonight because the roads are hazardous; we have a dinner and overnight guest. Attila is doing Attila-like things in his studio. I can hear him in there; he seems to be enjoying himself whatever he is doing. I am at the keyboard, pining for my regular computer. Tomorrow will be here before I know it...