Betty
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I hope Bub doesn’t get upset because Betty is good at pool and he isn’t. He’s so sweet I want him to be happy. I’m amused I feel so protective of him.
On the other hand, I’ve been mentally celebrating all day. I’m chuffed because Andy’s flip phone is again connected to the internet up on the land. I set that up for him a long time ago, but recently it didn’t seem to be working. Sometimes we can connect by phone when he’s in the house, but sometimes we can’t.
Kaitlin and Torben have set up Starlink there, and that is working fine — so I used his phone down here to review how to connect to it again. I was so confident when I went up yesterday that it would be a piece of cake. But I was stopped for a minute when I looked at the keyboard.
I seldom send texts from the phone so even though I remembered how to type lower case letters, I couldn’t remember how to type the capital letters and symbols that passwords need. Arghh! But I sat there for a minute and it came back to me. Use the * button for symbols, the # button for caps. Then I fumbled a few times trying to get the password in because, of course, it wouldn’t tell me what I had already typed. I kept making mistakes. So I had to get pen and paper and methodically write down each individual character I put in, and that worked. So now Andy can do WiFi calling from the land again.
Ok, is that really profound enough for me to be chuffed all day? Yes! The other day a friend of mine — who knows I have trained myself not to get frustrated when problems come up — asked me how I do it. Answer: constant positive reinforcement. I celebrate every little thing I handle well, and if I don’t handle it well, I figure out how to “fine tune the system.” I cheerfully admit it sounds silly, but it works for me.
On the same note, when I was searching through old posts for a quotation I wanted, I came across this post from January, 2008: Are You Enjoying the Process? I had been trying to resolve a problem with health insurance for seven months and was starting to make progress. It was time to phone and try to move things along a little more.
That, of course, meant time-consuming interactions with automated voices asking for information, being put on hold for long periods, and dealing with agents who weren’t trained to deal with the problem in question. Patience with bureaucracy has never been my strong suit, so it was a great chance to devise a better method of dealing with it. And that was the key…focusing on my own performance rather than letting my mood depend on how this interaction turned out.
That was 18 years ago, and I do seem to be getting better at it. Sometimes silliness pays.
May 8, 2026
That is funny about Betty. Great job on the phone!!!
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I got in! I went back to Chrome and this time your blog opened. Poor Bub, bested at everything. I wouldn’t know what to do with a flip phone anymore. I do become frustrated and sometimes severely annoyed but I do try to keep it out of my voice. I do want the help, afterall. Let’s see if this posts.
Yes, it posted! 🙂
So DID you devise a better method? This is one bad drawback about modern tech. It is way too hard to talk to an actual person. And the ones you do finally reach either have an accent that is too hard to understand or are not trained properly. And none are EVER local!!
Yes, I figured out how not to waste my time by getting frustrated. 🙂
…I rarely text too!
When I do send texts to Andy I do it on my computer to his phone.
I desperately need a remedial course in patience.
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Bravo, you got it done!
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Funny
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I wish I was as good as you at turning the bad moments around and thinking positive. I can do it sometimes but others I miss the mark completely.
I’m with you. I hope Bub doesn’t get upset about Betty being better at pool.
It takes a lot of practice — the main thing is to congratulate yourself every time you do the least little thing right. 🙂
I am proud of you that you never give up!
Thanks. 🙂
So they got the pool table and she’s liking it.
Sorry about the phone issues. I certainly wouldn’t be any good at it. Glad you were able to get the WiFi working for him.
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I don’t do any texts on my phone. I do emails, though. I just don’t like the sounds that happen when people receive a text! LOL! I find it kind of annoying. I take public transit and when I hear the “ding” when someone on the bus receives a text, I don’t like it at all. So I just don’t bother texting.
I mainly only text to Andy up on the land, so there’s no problem.