This last week was remarkable and not necessarily in a good way either. My step daughter got married a second time to a second husband in a small church inside a small town just outside Spokane. My wife and I went, taking our dog Zeus and getting a motel that my stepson raved about, so she reserved a room.
It was a horrendous, stinky, carpet-stained room with cigarette burns on the bathroom sink and carpet. She got her money back and we went to another hotel with better accommodations. I don’t know what happened to my Yeti travel mug, but sometime either during the wedding or when we were doing wedding pictures, it disappeared.
I checked my emails and saw I had an editor position available, and they wanted to do some editing quiz and virtual interview. I put that notice in my archive file with the intention of coming back to it on Wednesday just before the deadline. That letter disappeared. POOF! I checked everywhere including my deleted box and it’s nowhere to be found.
Anyway, the wedding was a nice, quiet affair, as I mentioned in a small church inside a small town called Rockford. As I have mentioned in the past my stepdaughter is very religious and wears her faith like a glove for all to see. The vast majority of the groom’s guests, including the husband himself, were former drug addicts and recovering alcoholics who discovered God. He changed his name when he saw the light and accepted Christ into his life. It was Cole, now his name is Nick.
During the reception when everyone present stated their praises to the newly married couple, it was apparent to me that I once knew Cole, though we never met. As I mentioned in my own previous blogs, I too had my demons with regard to substance abuse. So I know Cole. He was a charming man who would do anything it took to get a fix. Cole was smart, he knew how to manipulate people, entrust himself to them while robbing them blind. Cole knew how to work the system to get every possible advantage. And Cole made fast friends whom he took advantage of. We all met Cole at one point in our lives. Now, he is Nick, and he appears happier, more trustworthy and more caring of others in his life.
So I’m home now and have been trying to get hold of someone here in Gooding that can look at and fix my desktop computer. It stopped working before I left to the wedding and have tried without success to get ahold of someone. All I’m getting are voicemail recordings to leave a message and they’ll get back.
Yesterday, out of frustration I called Best Buy and hoped I could talk to a real person at least, but NOOO! I was directed to an automated caller system and then asked if I would like to wait for someone to call me. I finally grew so angry that I unplugged my computer and drove 40 miles to Twin Falls, walked into the store and asked the first person I saw, “Can someone help me?”
He was a Hispanic looking young man in his 30s who asked, “Did you get a reservation?”
“I can’t get hold of anyone,” I screamed back at him. “I am very angry right now and I’m about ready to throw this computer in the trash. Now is there anyone who can help me?”
He directed me to a Geek Squad associate who tested it and happily charged me $200 to enroll in their plan and whatever the cost for repairing my computer will come to once they are finished.
I’m happy now. Sometime in the foreseeable future I’ll get my other computer back. That week is behind me and am looking forward to next week that I hope goes smoother.
Jerry Schellhammer 