About Fred

There are some days, like any day you see a squirrel trying to unsuccessfully climb a tree with an empty jar of peanut butter in its mouth, that you know are going to be a little different than all the rest. Today has been a good day, all things considered. I learned that lemmings do not commit mass suicide. I learned the proper use of a University credit card and was given one with which to test my knowledge. I learned that my friend Sharon has started updating her weblog again. I cancelled an interview for a job I wasn’t sure I wanted, and an hour later I was asked if I would like to interview for a different job somewhere else. I decided I’m taking this Friday off, finished addressing the last of my Christmas cards (I realize they will be late), had a decent lunch, and saw a squirrel trying to climb a tree with an empty jar of peanut butter in its mouth. Some days are weird, but they’re worth the price of admission.

Last night, quite unexpectedly, my cable modem started working again. Just like that. No more blinking lights, no more refused connections, no more error messages to prompt a wasted hour on the phone with AT&T. After seventeen days without an internet connection (minus what I have at work and the dial-up that arrived sometime Friday afternoon), I can wash my hands of them. My account is now owned by Adelphia. AT&T never told me this of course, would not even admit they were negotiating a deal, but the local paper reported it yesterday, and someone told me about it at lunch. And when I got home, my modem was working. AT&T’s phone number no longer worked, and Adelphia’s phone number welcomed their new custormers in State College, Pennsylvania. I should receive a check from AT&T in about eight weeks paying me two days credit for each day of interrupted service.

And, as an added bonus, my plush Rabbit with Big Pointy Teeth arrived at my door yesterday. It’s a wonderfully silly thing. I am quite pleased.

From Xenocide by Orson Scott Card:

So you’re saying that no one is ever individually intelligent, and groups are even stupider than individuals — and yet by keeping so many fools engaged in pretending to be intelligent, they still come up with some of the same results that an intelligent speices would come up with.

Exactly.

If they’re so stupid and we’re so intelligent, why do we have only one hive, which thrives here because a human being carried us? And why have you been so utterly dependent on them for every technical and scientific advance you make?

Maybe intelligence isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Maybe we’re the fools, for thinking we know things. Maybe humans are the only ones who deal with the fact that nothing can ever be known at all.

My free AT&T WorldNet CD finally arrived this past Friday, and by Saturday afternoon I was back online. Well, more or less. The sign-up process wasn’t exactly intuitive, the first phone number I dialed was busy, and the backup number may or may not be a local call. The beauty of a cable modem, aside from its speed, is that it’s always on. You never have to watch the clock or worry that you’re online during peak hours. You pay one flat rate, receive unlimited hours, and it makes life much easier. AT&T doesn’t like making life easier. At the end of the month, I need to call them to cancel the dial-up service or they will automatically rebill my account. And yet they’ve given me no definite date when my cable modem service will be restored. They have told me practically nothing. What little I know is pieced together from reports from other disgruntled customers at the State College, PA ATTBI Forum at DSLreports. I learned more there in five minutes than I did in an entire weekend of calling AT&T’s so-called customer support.

DSL is looking better every day. That, or moving.

I spent the past weekend cleaning my apartment, although the scrub-until-it-shines-and-your-fingers-bleed clean I had at first envisioned gave way pretty early on to just getting the real problem areas covered. I washed dishes, mopped my kitchen floor, cleared tables of debris, filled plastic bags with recycling, and did seven (count ’em, seven) loads of laundry. I felt good. I did the New York Times crossword puzzle Sunday evening, sipped my instant cappuccino and watched TV, and felt like I had accomplished something. That’s really all it takes to keep me happy. If I set goals and stick to them, I feel better about myself, even when it’s something as mundane as cleaning a messy apartment.

This week, I need to finish my Christmas shopping, get a haircut, and buy my bus ticket home for the holidays. I also need to speak to someone about providing me with automobile insurance, since my parents and I will be buying a new car sometime at the end of next week. Geico has already turned me down, so I plan on phoning the local Honda dealer (I’m leaning toward buying the four-door Civic EX) and seeing if they can recommend someone. I need to get this squared away before I leave for New York on Saturday. That way, hopefully, I can actually be driving by the start of the new year. There are so many little ways my life will be easier once I own a car.