Our Windstream internet has at times been really good. At times it's been really frustrating. Last week sometime it began to struggle quite mightily. It would literally take five minutes to load a basic web page. That tested our patience a bit. We called customer service and were told there was definitely an issue (Thank you for that, Windstream customer service person. I was previously unaware that there was an issue.) and that a service technician would need to visit. That was on Thursday, and a technician was scheduled for a Saturday visit.
The reminder call came on Friday to let me know that a technician would be starting work on Saturday between the hours of 8 AM and 7 PM. The technician was supposed to call before he came to the house. Without calling, he showed up around 3 PM I think. After a little work outside and a little work inside, he was stumped. He called for reinforcements. After another hour or so of work, we were told it was better and that they had one more thing to do and then all would be well. The internet worked pretty well after that, for about 16 hours or so.
So I called back in on Monday and was told the ticket was still open and the issue would be resolved by 6 PM. That technician told Jen we had a problem with the wiring in the house and would need new wiring. He would have to complete it the next day. So today a different technician called and said he needed to drill a hole in the floor to run a new wire to eliminate the wiring issue as a problem. I said okay! He did that, and once he was finished around lunch time said it was working but that there was still a problem.
He referred it back to the experts who deal with the issues in the lines down the road. Two more technicians visited our home in the afternoon to say they had narrowed it down to an issue with one of the pins at the hub, they thought. So a total of six technicians later, they were still a little stumped. At this hour our internet is working, but I don't know if the full problem has been resolved.
Let me just say this about Windstream. The local people that work for the company are terrific people. In fact, we go to church with two of the technicians that helped us. And we know a couple of other folks who work there, and they are awesome individuals. One in particular is a friend who helps me out a lot and tracks what is going on. So the people are great. The product has been less than great over the years.
On Friday morning I arrived at work to this:
So that was fun! I've tried to keep everything saved on the network drive at work, so I didn't figure it would be a big deal. Of course anything I had saved on the hard drive was gone. I'm thinking many folks would have had a nervous breakdown here. It was okay in my case. But the IT guy (our IT guys are great, by the way) commented how much easier it was for him when I didn't explode in anger. That made me feel good.
People have told me I'm really patient. Sometimes I'm not, but it's usually when I'm not in public. I get frustrated with the kids, and, yes, even with my wife. Jen can tell you. I'm really not as patient as people think. I have outbursts occasionally, and I snap at the kids sometimes for no real reason. I have held screaming babies in the air and yelled in frustration. But the everyday situations, like the ones above, and like when you're in a restaurant and they clearly aren't serving well, are opportunities to show our kids how to be patient. They watch how we treat people.
Oh, and you fathers out there, they watch how you treat your wife. This is something I have to really think about or I mess up royally. Here's the thing...there are going to be arguments in marriage. It happens, and it will happen occasionally probably forever. We talked the other day on our Facebook Live session how Jen doesn't want me to roll over in arguments because it makes her think I don't care. But, if I do engage in the spirited discussion, that can come across to my boys potentially in a way that appears that I'm not being loving. And if I'm not careful I might be modeling something that seems to make it okay to be disrespectful to your wife. So it's a balance. Not an easy balance like Karate Kid on that pole at the beach. A difficult balance like me trying to do a front flip on a balance beam. That kind.
Keeping a patient mindset helps me to keep my voice low and hopefully my tone appropriate. Jen believes my tone is always perfect, and I appreciate that she recognizes it (No, no she doesn't.). What we need to remember is that in all these situations, if we have kids, they are watching. They are learning. There's a saying that goes, "More is caught than taught." I think that is true in this case. The kids learn more from what we do in front of them than what we tell them to do.
I just asked T.J. and Reilly if they think Jen and I are patient. T.J.'s answer was "Sometimes." Reilly's answer was, "For three days, yes. For two days, no." I don't know what the latter means, but I'm thinking we have room for improvement.
