Our internet service stopped working sometime yesterday afternoon. I was out doing various errands for most of the day. My car desperately needed servicing. When the mechanic told me that it would take about 90 minutes to get to my vehicle, I decided to walk to a nearby shopping center. It was a 20 minute walk. Called my friend Kelly, and she decided to meet me there. We shopped, then enjoyed a great Greek salad lunch at Daphne's Greek Cafe. It was so nice of Kelly to come and meet with me! She's such a great friend! After lunch, I was grateful that I didn't have to walk back to the servicing center to pick up my car.
When I arrived home, the internet was down. My son came home during his break from work, and he tried all the usual plugging and unplugging the cable modem and wireless router so that we could get back online. To no avail. We figured that the server must be down.
This morning, it was still out so I decided to call the cable company. A nice man answered my call and was willing to help me solve the problem. When I described that we were getting a "network cable unplugged" message, but as far as I could see, everything was plugged in, he instructed me to follow the main cable line and be sure that it was connected to the outlet. I proceeded to crouch under the desk in my husband's office, crawling along as I followed the familiar white cable wire towards the outlet. Welp! Didn't get very far! Oh my. Problem solved! Our dog had chewed through the cable cord!! The tell-tale splash of vomit nearby indicated that her chewing frenzy didn't sit well in her stomach!
The guy on the phone and I started laughing. He told me that the "dog chewed the cable cord" problem is usually the one that he typically gives as an example of problems not covered for a service call!!
I was really surprised. I can't remember the last time our puggle had chewed something she wasn't supposed to! Sasha is 2 1/2 years old! She's supposed to be trained not to do that! Sneaky doggie!!
Of course, I had to bring her in and show her the damage saying NO!! She knew she had done something wrong! But how could I stay mad at her? One look at her cute little face just melts my heart!
Sent a text message to my husband and son letting them know that I found the problem. They both called me at different times. My husband said that he would get new cable cord and fix it later tonight.
My next thought was...oh well, no blogging today! So, I decided to get some spring cleaning done! It's a beautiful day...mid 70's! I love it when I can open all the windows and let the fresh air in the house.
Late this afternoon, while taking Sasha out for a walk, I noticed a cable guy fixing something at the cable box on our property. We chatted briefly. Apparently, our neighbor across the street was having cable internet problems. When I returned from the walk, I asked him if he had any spare white cable cord line that I might buy. He offered to come in and look at the problem. He then spliced the lines and put connectors at the two ends. That was much easier than replacing the entire cable cord!
Next, I unplugged the cable modem and router (as the technician on the phone had instructed), waited 5 minutes, then plugged in the cable modem wire. Waited 5 more minutes, then connected the router. It worked! Here I am back online!
I thanked the cable guy for being so gracious and willing to help me! He didn't charge me anything, but I gave him money anyway and said, "have lunch on me!"
So...how was your day?
Dear Christine—
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful post, my friend! What a refreshing treat to let your readers into your personal life for a change. This was so well written, cute, funny and very entertaining too. Hope you will try this again sometime.
From a chilly and rainy South Carolina...much love to the West coast. (ss)
Hi Susan,
ReplyDeleteThanks for such a sweet, encouraging comment! I would love to share more personal stories here. The few that I have shared are usually about the dogs! Ha!
The troubles that friends, relatives and acquaintances have encountered in this life are opportunities for me to help comfort them as best I can, and to share the love and salvation promise of the Great Physician, Jesus Christ.
I have shared very few of those stories here, but I do hesitate to mention names for obvious reasons. I have thought about "changing the names to protect the identities," but I still have concerns even about that.
The phone calls that I get sometimes last two hours! But I always try to share some Scriptures of hope for the person who is suffering or going through a tough time.
One person whom I have tried to counsel and have shared Christian books with is making a dramatic change in his/her life! I truly praise God for this new development! It will help so many people!
Back to the dog stories. I'm not sure if I shared the following one here on this blog.
Back in December, before Christmas, our older dog was given a large, square biscuit treat. I was trying a new brand. Sasha was crunching away on hers, but Heidi suddenly appeared very stressed. She was crying, her jaw looked funny, and then she started foaming at the mouth.
I thought that she was choking, so I picked her up, wrapping my arms across her abdomen under her ribcage, and tried doing the Heimlich manuever. After two pumps on her, I carried her over to the backyard door and tried it a few more times, thinking that she might spit up the biscuit that I presumed was caught in her throat. Well...that didn't work.
This all happened around 9:00 on a Friday night because we were watching "Monk" on T.V.
Long story short. Since her jaw was so out of whack, we figured that she may have broken her jawbone. Went to the vet, found out it was a loose, rotten tooth that was sitting sideways in her mouth making her unable to close her mouth. She needed to be placed under anesthesia to have it surgically removed. My husband was so tired, so I drove him home and my son came back to the animal emergency hospital with me.
The surgery was a success; a bit expensive, but at least Heidi made it through.
When I got home, my husband was already asleep.
The next morning, we slept in because it was Saturday. We awoke at about the same time and Charlie asked about Heidi. As we were cuddling, I started to giggle. Charlie asked what I was laughing about. I said, "I just started to think about trying to give the Heimlich to Heidi." My husband quipped, "Yeah, when the vet asked what the problem was, I was tempted to tell her that our dog has a broken jaw and two broken ribs!"
We laughed so hard!!!
At the company Christmas party, Charlie's boss said, "You guys always have the greatest dog stories!" He he
Christine,
ReplyDeleteGreat story (both of them actually) but my jaw dropped upon seeing that your dog is named Sasha... so is mine! Admittedly, I never would have picked it, my wife already had her when we met, she's an 11 or 12 year old Bichon Frise... actually I tried to convince my wife to change her name when we first met, but alas, her name is still Sasha. isn't that too funny?
Matt
What a funny coincidence Matt!
ReplyDeleteMy husband picked out that name. He chose her middle name - Marie - too.
Oh, the funny things you can find out on the internet! I just did a brief search on the meaning of the name "Sasha" and according to Baby Names World, it means "defending men."
Next, I was curious to check out the name of "Sasha's" popularity and other info about it.
On this page, one commenter said that she was sometimes called "sausage" because of her name! How ironic is it that "sausage" is one of my son's nicknames for our Sasha!
Her middle name, "Marie" means "bitter." Well, that certainly doesn't describe Sasha! She's a playful [the Beagle in her], yet loving [the Pug in her!]dog!
"Marie" is the French form of Mary. The baby names page also states:
Also the earlier form of the name in England until the Authorized version of the Bible established Mary as the English spelling.
My name "Christine" is Latin and means "Follower of Christ."
Wow. The popularity of my name was at its peak when I was born! It's popularity has gone steadily downhill since then.
Hey Matt! Is your full name "Matthew"? Look at the meaning:
Matthew
Boy
Hebrew
Gift of God
And, your name has always been popular and ranked in the top 100 names!
I had been aware of the origins/meaning of my name (and yes it is Matthew) but I was a little suprised to see that there have been times (mostly in the 70's and 80's) it actually made the top 1000 rankings as a girls name.... huh???????????
ReplyDeleteAh yes, wire chewing. I had a cat named, "Sarah," many moons ago, who loved to snack on lamp wires, stereo wires, and any other kind of wire she could find. It's a wonder she didn't electrocute herself.
ReplyDeleteIn spite of her peculiar eating habits, she knew how to reach my heart with her soft purrs and adoring looks.