Technology is dimensional

The electrical power company in our area is, hopefully, not typical. Since my bill has been creeping upwards the past year I've actively switched off unused devices. There's been no major appliances or new devices at the beach house in several years. Yet, they (the electric company) casually pass off my drop in usage over the past few months due to conservation and then a 200% increase in one month as nothing. "Oh well, the dude reading the meter musta made a mistake the month before. It'll all average out," the guy standing at the counter said. Right. Tell that to someone on fixed income. This is going somewhere, bear with me.

In the words of that great writer, Snoopy Brown, "It was a dark and stormy night." With rain solidly forecast and thunderstorms possible, I decided to give the computer room a rest. After carefully turning off all machines properly and in order, I unplugged the network from the phone line (DSL) and cable (cable modem) then switched off all ancillary devices. This powered down the computer room for a while giving the machines a rest so to speak. Upon returning, after a stressful day waging war with the network demons and goblins, my fat butt parked in front of the TV, ate some leftovers, and fell asleep.

Arising just a few minutes ago I came in and powered up in proper sequence all devices and discovered that my dual processor, 1 gig of memory, 10,000 spin SCSI (pronounced scuzzy) machine wouldn't quit chattering. Folks, SCSIs are fast! They have to be because the noises they make will drive one crazy. After some investigation it was a pleasant suprise to find that the beta version of AVG being tested was doing a quick check due to the 'power down' and missed scheduled daily scan! Nice.

There's great satisfaction in knowing that while an electrcial meter reader 'plays' with my burdened financial situation as though it means nothing there are computer technicians in eastern Europe (yes AVG is based there) that are working to make my life less stressful. Thank you Grisoft and AVG techs! Tombigbee Valley Electric? All I can say is, "Hey, Bill! Will you realize what a burden this bad meter reading might be to some retired couple on a tight budget? Is it too much to ask you people to be human and humane?"

Ahhhhh my friends and fellow geekmeisters, let us be thankful that tomorrow may bring sunshine! For more of Snoopy Brown's great works please check Mr. Schultz's Peanuts.

"The dog is a gentleman; I hope to go to his heaven, not man's."
-Mark Twain