One of my conveniences took a nosedive yesterday, too. My telephone—we switched it last year to work over the internet cable—kept going in an out. This tenuous connection to the outside world was a real inconvenience, especially when I was talking to work-related people. Luckily I’m old and charming. My cable provider was sympathetic to my problem and immediately sent out a repairperson and waived the standard fee. (Fast repair service is almost unheard of. And repair without a service charge…ridiculous!)

My telephone problem was discovered (a squirrel munched on the cable wire) and fixed in less than 30 minutes (again…unheard of!) and it was done by a very pleasant repairman. My telephone calls are no longer dropped.

Yesterday was a great day for learning experiences. First…the more stuff we have and need—I call them “conveniences”—the more the chance for malfunctions. (I guess, however, that this is the price we pay for an “easier” life!) I also realized that charm works! Charm and an added bonus, in my daughter’s case, good looks. What also works is not getting too upset when something breaks—because something always will malfunction.