Sweet sweat

We're not talking here about Dr Death and the web instructions on how to commit suicide that he keeps promoting, nope, just another rant about computers, programs and the frustrations they bring to our lives. The frustration level experienced when something goes awry and the instant gratification of internet communication is snatched from us is felt in direct proportion to our pleasure in it and dependence on it.

I'm sitting at my desk in my computer-controlled office. Everything is in there. My calendar, my files, the story I need to put out today, the address and phone number of every contact and...I press the right buttons, but nothing happens. At least what happens is not what I expect to happen, not what I absolutely require to enable me to do my job, make some runs on the board, fulfill promises made, justify my bloody existence and the fact that I'm being paid to sit at this terminal.

Terminal is a good word for it. If it doesn't work, my day's terminated, my useless life might as well be terminated.

Eight hours of struggle, writing every piece of correspondence three and four times before a successful 'send'. The microsoft exchange server has blah blah... but what it means is you are not going to be connected to the world today... we have the power!!!!

... and so I go dragon-boat racing and take out my 8 hours of frustration on a paddle and a stretch of smooth water. Then I come home and go to my email. Here is what's waiting for me:


Thank you for contacting Picasa customer support.
For your convenience, I have verified your Hello account for you:
Username: nightrider2
Email: (verified)
You should have no further problems accessing your account.
Thank you for your interest in Picasa.
Sincerely,
Gunnar
The Picasa Team

With hopeful heart I access HELLO and guess what....it's still the same as it was yesterday and the day before and the day before that and it's not going to let me in no way.

Thanks Gunnar, thanks business customer HELPDESK, thanks Exchange server HELPDESK...

If I could only get onto the internet now, I'd most likely be looking for those suicide directions!

Weekend is coming and I'm going to take your good advice and get onto one of those other free picture hosting sites and stop whinging about computers. Or maybe I'll just throw both of them out the door and walk off talking to myself and singing and tearing my hair out until somebody takes pity on me and locks me in a computer-controlled cell, with padding on the walls and three meals a day pushed under the door....la, la, la, la, hmmm, hmmm, da de dum de dah.....