Sometimes the answer to our problems or conflicts is more evident or obvious than we see. On Wednesday night around 11:00 p.m. the television went dead. The TV screen froze; there was no signal coming through. Since it was late anyway I just turned it off and went to sleep. I figured it would clear up by morning.
I woke us around 4:00 the next morning as I usually do and opened up my email to get started on a new day of work. Nothing, nada, zero. The internet was completely dead, no email. I then checked Facebook. Nope. Nothing, no connection. I was beginning to get the message but not wanting to believe it I tried opening the Washington Post. Nope, nada, nothing, no internet, no paper.
I tried calling Comcast but since the house phone is part of the same system it was dead too. I called Comcast again, this time on my cell phone. After a lengthy wait and several minutes of automated computer-generated moments in the land of “your call is important to us” (no it isn’t, or they would put a live voice on the line with me) I finally got hold of live person. It took way more time than it should have, and I had to endure four or five text verifications, passwords being provided and proof I wasn’t a robot, but I finally got hold of a live person. Thankfully I got a skilled person on the phone and after another twenty minutes of so of trying all the options they informed me there was nothing further they could do from their end. They would have to schedule a technician to come to the house. Knowing New Year’s Eve and Day were just around the corner I wanted to get someone here as soon as possible. The good technician was fully cooperative and got me an appointment for between one and three o’clock on Thursday.
After another round of multiple texts back and forth I got a text the technician was on his way at 2:00 p.m. I was elated. The technician arrived and within 10 minutes, assessed the problem, fixed it and was on his way. He was terrific. The technician was skilled, personable, professional, and a credit to Comcast. I really appreciated him. Oh, the problem you ask? Oh my goodness, after all this he ascertained someone had unplugged the power box coming in from outside of the house. The tiny little power box is in the basement, and I couldn’t believe it was unplugged. “Elf on the Shelf,” I told the technician, it had to be that little devil. He laughed and could not have been more pleasant about it all. After some detective work on my part, it was clearly established that one of our company had unplugged that little box so they could plug their laptop in. Innocent enough; they didn’t know it would kill the whole internet connection.
Sometimes, the solutions to life’s problems, mishaps, and difficulties are found in the basic, the obvious, the easy to spot, if we will just pay attention. It’s not always true but sometimes we should just start with the obvious answers to our problems. Sometimes we look in all the wrong places, the hard places when the answer is right in front of us. Can you think of any areas of your life that the answers to your problems might be more obvious than you suspected? Have you tried the simple solutions before moving on to the more complex and involved solutions? Sometimes, the answer is a lot simpler than you knew. Sometimes the power is disconnected. Happy New Year, and as you face problems in the year to come, don’t forget to try the simple solutions first.