Tuesday, February 21, 2006

All Aboard, No Class, -and- Fat Cat


All Aboard - Amtrak conductor helps passenger, gets fired
No Class - mother arrested for dropping 6-year-old daughter at school, on Saturday
Fat Cat - enormous domestic feline

It is considerably warmer today, in part because the wind that plagued us yesterday is gone (for now, at least). There was no ice on RAMMMMM's windshield this morning, and it was warmer by several degrees at 8 AM than it was yesterday at that time.

The client from last week called late yesterday afternoon to say that she had been unable to install the Internet account software I had provided her. I told her to bring her computer to my office this morning, and I would install the software for her. She shared with me that she was eager to get her Internet account activated so that she could use some Bible study resources that had been recommended to her. In case you did not see the previous post concerning this client, she was delivered from a life of drug abuse and crime when she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.

When she arrive, I quickly determined that her computer did not meet the requirements for Internet access. The hard drive was too small, there was insufficient memory, and the version of Windows, Windows 95, was incompatible with the Internet account software. I explained this to her, and tears filled her eyes. She said, "There's nothing I can do. This computer was given to me by my sister, and it's all I have, and I can't afford to buy anything." She was obviously embarrassed and looked away as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

I had a Windows 98 machine in the back room that had been left by a client who bought a new system from me. I said, "I have a computer that will work fine for you. Give me an hour to remove the previous owner's data from it, and you can have it." "But I have no way to pay for it," she said, tears once again filling her eyes. "That is wonderful," I said, "since I do not sell used equipment! I can certainly give it to you, however!"

Her tears of sadness became tears of joy.