Andy wanted an external hard drive (EHD) for Christmas. Easy.
I went to our local Apple store and made my way to the back corner where the EHDs live. I stared at the huge wall of multiple brands and sizes trying to make heads or tails of what I was looking at. 500GB, 750GB, 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, Iomega, Western Digital, LaCie, G-tech, Porche… I was overwhelmed.
As if sensing my distressed state (or perhaps just seeing a girl staring at a wall), an employee approached me.
“May I help you find something?” said Scott with a sympathetic smile.
I continued staring, baffled, at the wall of possibilities. “Um, I’m not really sure what I’m looking for.” I immediately hate myself for not doing some homework about these little boxes and how many I would have to choose from.
“Well, you’re standing in front of the EHDs”.
“Right. That’s what I need but I don’t know much about them.” SHAME.
“Ok, well, what size do you need?”
“I don’t know.” SHAME.
“How much memory is on your computer currently?”
“I don’t know.” SHAME.
“What kind of computer do you have?”
“A black one.” SHAME.
“A black one. What year did you buy it?”
“Uh…five years ago maybe? Four?” SHAME.
“Was it four or five years ago?”
“I don’t know.” SHAME.
“What will you be storing?”
“Music and pictures.” AHA! I knew this one.
Scott grabbed a 500 GB EHD and began telling me about how it was his favorite brand and it rarely had problems. I held the box and stared at it waiting for it to tell me that it was just what I was looking for. I turned the box around in my hand pretending to look for something and trying to seem interested in what Scott was saying. At least, I think I nodded my head in the correct places.
“So, when I say we’re storing music, I’m talking about hundreds of albums” I challenged Scott. “Do I need something bigger than this?”
“Oh” said Scott. “A lot of music. Ok.” He took the 500 GB EHD out of my hand and replaced it with a 1 TB EHD. He thought this would hold us over for a while.
Unfortunately they didn’t have this size in his favorite brand, but he thought this other brand would be ok.
I thanked him for his help and checked out. Leaving the store, I hung my head in shame as I had just confirmed the stereotype that women know nothing about technology.
Thank God women like my sister are in the world to prove this stereotype wrong.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Nothing went according to plan.
A week ago, Andy and I had the opportunity to present a Christmas program for a delightful group at our church. We were approached by this group two months in advance and agreed to provide background music for a Christmas dinner. They would graciously provide dinner for us in return for our involvement.
One month ago we found out we would not be providing background music. We were asked to put together a 45 minute concert to serve as entertainment after dinner.
OK. Not what we were expecting. But OK.
Andy and I sat down and talked about the possibilities. We came up with the following program:2 songs by Andy, one song by me, 6 song group carol sing, one song by Andy, a duet, and end with “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”. We figured that this would cover about 45 minutes.
We purchased the music and worked on our program.
The night of the dinner/concert:
I raced to the church after work with my change of dress in tow. I quickly made a power point slide show for the group carol sing. Andy showed up and we warmed up, checked levels, and sang through a few songs. Due to our frazzled state, we asked if our dinner could be held for us until after the concert.
A group of singers asked if they could join us onstage for the carol sing in the middle of the program. The more the merrier, I figured.
With the guests pleasantly filled with their delicious dinner, the program began as perfectly as could be desired. Andy rocked his first two songs (hardly a dry eye in the house) and I was pretty content with my own performance. We invited the group of singers onto the stage and we led the audience in a 6-song-medley. All was going well until a lovely lady (with the very best of intentions) announced to the audience:
“GOOD NIGHT AND HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!”
At her announcement, everyone in the audience grabbed their belongings and headed for the door. Andy and I remained on stage trying to figure out what had just happened. We still had the other half of our program to do. Did we care? Did we call out for everyone to come back? Did we just shrug it off and go get dinner?
We chose the latter. We chuckled over the strange ending to our concert and went to the kitchen to retrieve our dinner.
Before we reached the kitchen, we were met by a guilty looking lady who informed us (with her head hung low) that our meals had accidentally been thrown out. She firmly thrust a $20 bill into Andy’s hand and apologized over and over again for how the night turned out.
Then she asked if we would do a concert for their mother/daughter dinner they hold in May.
To which we replied: Yes.
One month ago we found out we would not be providing background music. We were asked to put together a 45 minute concert to serve as entertainment after dinner.
OK. Not what we were expecting. But OK.
Andy and I sat down and talked about the possibilities. We came up with the following program:2 songs by Andy, one song by me, 6 song group carol sing, one song by Andy, a duet, and end with “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”. We figured that this would cover about 45 minutes.
We purchased the music and worked on our program.
The night of the dinner/concert:
I raced to the church after work with my change of dress in tow. I quickly made a power point slide show for the group carol sing. Andy showed up and we warmed up, checked levels, and sang through a few songs. Due to our frazzled state, we asked if our dinner could be held for us until after the concert.
A group of singers asked if they could join us onstage for the carol sing in the middle of the program. The more the merrier, I figured.
With the guests pleasantly filled with their delicious dinner, the program began as perfectly as could be desired. Andy rocked his first two songs (hardly a dry eye in the house) and I was pretty content with my own performance. We invited the group of singers onto the stage and we led the audience in a 6-song-medley. All was going well until a lovely lady (with the very best of intentions) announced to the audience:
“GOOD NIGHT AND HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!”
At her announcement, everyone in the audience grabbed their belongings and headed for the door. Andy and I remained on stage trying to figure out what had just happened. We still had the other half of our program to do. Did we care? Did we call out for everyone to come back? Did we just shrug it off and go get dinner?
We chose the latter. We chuckled over the strange ending to our concert and went to the kitchen to retrieve our dinner.
Before we reached the kitchen, we were met by a guilty looking lady who informed us (with her head hung low) that our meals had accidentally been thrown out. She firmly thrust a $20 bill into Andy’s hand and apologized over and over again for how the night turned out.
Then she asked if we would do a concert for their mother/daughter dinner they hold in May.
To which we replied: Yes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
