Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Small world indeed

Last night my wireless router stopped working.  I turned everything off and went to bed, hoping it would fix itself by morning.  It didn't.   
I unhooked the router and connected the modem directly to my computer.  Internet happened!  Unfortunately, we need the wireless router in order for Cliff to use his laptop in the living room.  When he and I were taking our walk this morning, I explained our options.  
"I could call Linksys tech support," I said.  "I'll be talking to someone in India, so I never know whether I'll be able to understand them.  And I may have to pay a fee; I had to the last time I called them (to secure our Internet) because we've had our router for years.  I think the fee was good for six months' support, though; I wonder if it's been six months."  
Cliff didn't offer much in the way of feedback.  
"It would probably be easier to run to Oak Grove and get a new router," I said.  
Silence.  We were just in Oak Grove yesterday, after our ride.
As we arrived back at the house, I gave a long sigh and said, "OK, I guess I'll try calling tech support in India."  
The lady who answered spoke English with such fluency, it took me awhile to realize she did indeed have a faint accent.  
I was on the phone with her for at least an hour; Cliff says it was longer.  She had me undo some cords, type numbers into my address bar, click this, click that, stick a pin in a hole.  In the process, there were long pauses when we had to wait for something to happen, so she struck up a conversation with me.
"Where do you live," she asked.  

Totally forgetting she wasn't even in this country, I answered, "The Kansas City, Missouri, area."  
"Oh, is it almost summer there?"  
"It's spring," I told her.  
And we went on to talk about my garden.  
"What sort of things do you do on the Internet," she asked.  "Do you game?"  
"The only games I play online are on Facebook."  
"Which ones do you play?"  
"Mostly Farmville," I said.  "Sometimes a little Yoville."  
"Oh, I like Farmville too," she exclaimed.  "Do you play Farm Town?"  
"I used to, but I like Farmville better; a person can only play so many games."  
The conversation went on like that; at one point she said she was enjoying talking to me because "You're fun."  
So, later on Cliff and I went to the dentist.  I needed an adjustment, and Cliff had to turn in his partial for a couple of days to get a broken tooth fixed.  The dental assistant told us to both come on in together.  
When it was Cliff's turn, I said, "Oh, here I am without my camera!  I could be taking pictures of Cliff in the dentist's chair."  
"You like to take pictures of him doing things like that?"  
"I have a blog," I explained, "and I have a lot of fun with pictures like that."  
"On Facebook?"  
"No, on Blogger; I do have a Facebook account, though."  
"Do you farm?"  
At first I thought she was changing the subject; then I realized she meant the Facebook games.  
"Yes, I enjoy Farmville."  
"Oh, me too," she responded.  "What level are you?"  
"Thirty-seven, I think."
She said she thought she was somewhere around that level too.
"Sometimes I get bored with it," I said, "but then they come up with something new, like the co-op farming, and the puppies."  
"I know!  Do you have a puppy yet?"  
"Yes," I answered.  "I just got mine this morning."  
Now seriously, did you ever think grown-up people in so many countries from all walks of life would be discussing a pretend farming game so enthusiastically?  
What a world we live in.

6 comments:

  1. I am totally into Farmville too. LOL. It is an ice breaker to start a conversation with.

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  2. Every one likes having something to do that is fun and I think that is why so many do the games. I've not tried them yet, but lots of my kids do. I'm still too busy having fun with other things, maybe someday I'll farm too.

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  3. Anonymous8:42 PM

    I HAVE GIVEN UP ON TRYING TO UNDERSTAND FACEBOOK AND ATTEMPTED TO DELETE THE WHOLE THING AND IT JUST KEEPS COMING BACK.
    OH WELL, LET IT BE . sam

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  4. Lindie8:48 AM

    I seem to use Facebook just to look at pictures and keep up with distant members of my family and friends. Several people have tried to get me to play the games but so far I have resisted.

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  5. Well, that was my first laugh-out-loud moment of the day. I have to read this to Thomas, because he is swearing he'll never play games on Facebook. (And he probably won't.)

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  6. I heard some people at work talking about their farms, 2 guys that looked like they would have actual farms...then after a couple of minutes I put together they were talking about farmville!

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