Reprieve

Whew! That was awkward.

Coming back to work after a trip only to discover we were 24 hours into a 48-hour ISP outage... may I just say: Ouch. We finally rejoined the civilized world about three hours ago. There was much rejoicing. No, really; we were just convening to share a coffee cake to celebrate a birthday when the data started flowing.

The best part was having to explain to more than a few of my coworkers (and one of the owners) that no, there would be no flood of emails and web orders awaiting us when the issue was resolved. Since we host our website on an internal server, no ISP --> no website, no webstore, and no email. We effectively ceased to exist on the interweb. That caused a few assholes to pucker, I tell you.

The second best part was bearing the brunt of the irritation of my coworkers for the ISP's hardware failure and the fact that the ISP apparently doesn't keep spares for every single system on hand at all time. (Smile and nod, smile and nod...)

Also, one coworker asked why I wasn't screaming at the ISP over the extended outage. A of all, I am not a screamer. B of all, I'm thinking that the privilege of screaming at a customer support person who has nothing to do with the repair should be reserved for someone who pays the bill; namely, one of the owners. But maybe that's just me.

And I wonder how, in the name of all that's good and beautiful in the world, I spent the first 15 years of my work life sitting at desks without internet access. It's like trying to remember the world before ATMs, microwaves, and cable TV. I simply can't do it.

Needless to say, it's now Friday afternoon and my concentration is shot. I should be able to get my shit together over the weekend and be back at it good and proper on Monday. See y'all then!