Posted on Jul 31, 2018 in
FEATURES
Nancy Olson is a former broadcast journalist, wife of Congressman Pete Olson and mom of two.
the last word! By Nancy Olson –
Growing up in Los Angeles, the center of the movie industry, I always heard that they died in “threes.” If by chance two famous people passed away within a couple of days of each other, the likely comment would be, “There will be one more.” Strangely enough, they were like usually right.
I am convinced movie stars aren’t the only thing that seem to die in “threes.” Have you ever noticed that appliances and technology in your home follow the same rule? And, it always seems to happen over the weekend when service people are difficult to find and twice the cost.
One recent Sunday, I went to turn on my computer. Nothing. You develop a pit in your stomach, and your mind starts to assume the worst. “What if I’ve lost everything?” “What if my data can’t be retrieved?” I’m sure some of you can relate. After trying the obvious layman’s troubleshooting tactics a few times with no success (turn everything off to try to reset the computer, change the plug, hit every key – you know the drill), I decide to walk away realizing it was time to call in an expert for help.
I headed to the kitchen – time to load and start the dishwasher. All loaded and ready to go, I push the start button – nothing. Really? Have my computer and dishwasher entered a conspiracy pact? I add another service call to my Monday morning list. I now decide it’s time to get out of the house and run some necessary errands. A change of scenery will help quell my frustration level.
I headed to the garage and pushed the button to open the garage door – wait for it, wait for it – you guessed it. Nothing. Now the conspiracy pact has grown to “three,” which confirms my initial theory. I imagine a scene from the movie Toy Story when the lights go out and the toys come alive to conspire against the humans. At this point, I would be okay with talking toys if they could solve all of my electronic problems. “Buzz Lightyear, to the rescue and beyond!”
Electronics are meant to make our lives easier, but when they fail us, we can get ourselves in a tither! Frustrations were running high in the Olson household this particular Sunday. Fortunately, it was a beautiful day, and I decided to take a nice long walk to put everything into perspective. It helped. When I got home, we decided to watch a movie on Netflix. When we accessed our account, we received a notice to enter our passcode. First try, nothing. Second try, nothing. An hour later, no luck in attempting to reset the code. No movie. I threw in the towel. The score: Technology – 1, Nancy – 0. I decided I would recharge my batteries, bring in enforcements and go back in to battle again tomorrow!
Until next time,
Nancy
