IT AIN’T OVER YET

The satellite dish installer called before 8:00 a.m. today. I gave him directions to the farm. He seemed to understand and read them back to me. His English seemed fluent enough but he spoke with a heavy accent. I felt we hadn't really understood one another and had a sinking feeling about his ability to find us. Sure enough! Between 10:00 and 11:00 we had several more calls from him. He didn't understand that he had to travel the whole grade. The words "on top" eluded him. I had said 10 miles; he understood 3 miles. Nevertheless, he persevered and was willing enough.

The installer announced that first of all he would have to call the tech number because there was no dish on the work order. That in itself was an appalling omission when we were requesting an update to HD. "Now, there will just be one dish, right?" asked Mike. "No sir. You have to have two dishes. Just one dish doesn't work. There were problems and the company no longer uses just one dish," explained the installer. But we had been told by Dish India that the install in town was wrong, that we should have only one dish, and that there would be just one dish at the farm. "I don't have room for another dish," said a frustrated Mike. And this proved to be the case. So, after calls to his main office, the entire update was cancelled. Mike made two calls to Dish India before our service here was restored.

Well, it just isn't over yet. I told Mike I admired him for not throwing in the towel three days ago. I offered to wean myself from television altogether. If I were the "alpha do-er," I'm sure I would have given up. And you might remember that we haven't been handled well by Cableone, although the local office was sympathetic and ultimately helpful.

On a lighter note, I made two batches of elderberry jelly – both successful. I have enough juice for two more batches. And I have been working on bears, although that was disappointing in a way. I didn't realize that my old Singer Athena 2000 has really given up, so I was unable to sew here. I'm breathing deeply and knowing that everything will work out – everything will come together. It will be all right. KW