It's me again, Margaret.
Tonight, I'd like to address a relationship in my life that certainly seen its share of ups and downs recently. Hot one minute, cold the next. On again, off again.
No, I'm not talking about guys (although there are some we could ALL put in this category)...I'm talking about my tumultuous affair with my satellite radio.
I have leaped headlong into the whirlwind of technology with the equivalent of an umbrella in a hurricane as far as knowledge is concerned. See, I'm one of those people who views owner's manuals as something akin to a suggestion, to be used only after one has exhausted the full line of "I'm sure THIS is the way it's supposed to go" excuses. I have my new radio, which I love dearly, but since I skipped the step in the handbook on getting the best satellite signal, I am, with great regularity, adjusting the antenna to get better reception.
And before you say it, yes, I do know that correctly mounting the antenna would fix the problem. I'm not stupid, just stubborn.
It's like any relationship where there are problems - you have just enough of the good to gloss right on over the less-than-pleasant. (There the damn thing goes again. And I was really enjoying that Earth, Wind and Fire song...) And it's not like I'm not getting anything positive out of it - I love that I can hear any kind of music any time of the day, with minimal interruptions and no commercials. I LOVE THAT! I love the little features the radio has, and the fact that I can take it from home to car just by plugging it in another docking station.
I'm not alone, either. Just today, at lunch, I was talking to a friend who became a satellite radio convert over a year ago, and wouldn't think of going back. Heck, I like it so much, I've bought two more sets to give as holiday gifts. The things are coming standard in certain vehicles now. (Can you say 'I know what my next car will be'?)
But just as I'm grooving to Sting, or getting my Cash on, there's that deafening silence and the little box on the screen that tells me it's acquiring a signal. (Alas, I WAS enjoying Labelle's 'Lady Marmalade', until I lost it again. 'Vous le vous something something avec moi' is really French for 'How do you install this damn thing?', I swear...)
But for all its foibles, I do love it. Couldn't do without it. It's lure is the promise of nothing but the format I want to hear, without the garbage. Be it country, love songs, CNN, or All Slim Shady All the Time, I can have it anytime.
There it is again. All is forgiven. Siriusly.

(All rights reserved - Copyright 2004)

I'm trying really hard to make this an upbeat blog, but it's proving to be quite the challenge. It's been one of those days where you have just enough good news sprinkled in with the unpleasant to make things tolerable. One of those days where you don't have to wonder where certain people's loyalties lie - unfortunately, you know. One of those days in which your relationship is tested with one person, but fulfilled tenfold with another. You've had them, I know.
(The only problem I have with a blog is the time I spend sitting in front of my computer, hands on keyboard, wondering just how much information to put in it. I always err on the side of "less is more", as some are wont to say, so suffice it to say that no matter what I write, there's always more that isn't being told. Preservation, I guess. Of my privacy and the unspoken person's feelings.)
Back to what's eating me...Doesn't it just suck when people let you down? I think it does. And I'm not talking about mere mortals going about their lives who inadvertently do something to piss you off because you're already in one of 'those moods' and they don't realize it. I'm talking about the people that, when push comes to shove, they're the ones who are 'shove'ing you under the bus. By the way, I'm taking this argument up not just for me, but for the rest of my friends who have been, in one way or another, shoved under the bus recently. (Think of my tirade as a public service for those who have been victims as well as me.)
Just today, I got wind of a scenario which entailed someone who pulled a Peter on me. (Reference to the Bible, where Peter denies he knew Jesus...not that I'm comparing myself to Jesus, mind you. Keep the emails - I'm in no way being blasphemous.) Then, in the same short period of time, I got confirmation that one of my articles will be published in a magazine. See? Two sides of the same coin, I guess.
I did learn two things from the day, though. One is that when push does come to shove, your real friends are the ones who will move heaven and earth to keep you from seeing the underside of the Greyhound. The other is that the ones who will let you take the fall if things get hairy, don't even deserve to get the time of day from you.
I could give you the platitudes you've probably heard 10,000 times before:
"You're better off without them"
"It's better that you know for sure what they're really all about"
"Want me to run them over with the car?" (Wait, no...that's something different altogether.)
It boils down to this: it's disappointing to learn people can suck, but it's much better to know who really cares about you.

And life's very good when you have people that call just to remind you if you strap a piece of buttered toast to a cat's back, it will levitate forever.
:-)

(All rights reserved - Copyright 2004)