| Faith Restored |
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| Written by Susan Hollingshead | |||
| Tuesday, 26 June 2007 03:27 | |||
 Every so often our faith in humanity is given a jolt; a test of sorts and it makes us ask questions. I have always believed that basically all human beings are good; they are born with good hearts but circumstances can happen to them that can change them.Most often we use a satellite dish to get on the internet but occasionally, like now when we are parked in a very tight spot with no room for movement and a very large tree is blocking the satellite from our dish, we cannot get a signal. Fortunately, we have access to Karley and Ian’s Wifi which enables us to get online. We are members of the Datastorm Users group and when we move, I plot our new location on the map. I have a great little device, courtesy of a fellow Datastorm user, where I can retrieve our co-ordinates and automatically plug them onto the map; however I need a satellite signal to get those numbers. Not having access because of the tree, I tried using our Garmin GPS to get the co-ordinates and I manually entered them. They weren’t terribly accurate for some reason when I looked at where we were located on the map so I tried to tweak the numbers a little, several times. Some Datastorm users subscribe to an automatic email feature that notifies them when someone comes within their vicinity. Well it seems there is one person who received several notifications yesterday for everytime I adjusted the settings and he wasn’t happy about it. I received the following email from “John”: “How many more times are you going to move your dish before you get it right? Five times just today alone! Give us a break PLEASE. You may not know this, but Don Bradner (the Datastorm user that provided the handy plotting device) has added a lot of features to the mapping program, but it's people like you that make me WONDER why he did this...Just change your PHYSICAL location once and be done with it...PLEASE! I use these new features so when someone I KNOW or is IMPORTANT arrives nearby I can go visit them--YOU ARE NEITHER and getting less so every hour!” Wow! That was pretty harsh and I figured he was just having a bad day so I responded with this: “Sorry Mr. Happy, But my dish is being obscured by a large tree and I cannot get the proper co-ordinates. My Garmin Nuvi GPS evidently is a little off and also isn't giving the correct co-ordinates. And believe it or not, there are a few folks out there that DO care. So unless and until I can get the correct co-ordinates, I will have to stab at adjustments until I get closer to where I actually am located. If you have any brilliant suggestions I would be more than happy to try them. Sorry for inconveniencing you so much!” Then Mr. Happy John followed up with this: “It's a shame you don't know how to work a GPS, but then you probably don't know much else either...your just another example of a STUPID CANUCK who can't get things right...that's okay...I'll just shut off the feature and wait till you go play with yourselves someplace else...hopefully NOME ALASKA!” Aside from being shocked, Happy John really made me question my belief that all people are essentially good. Between our break-in on Saturday and the above dialogue with this rude individual, I have to say I was not feeling really good about my faith in humanity. My last response to Happy John was simply, “You have my deepest sympathies!” Then this morning my faith was restored when I received a wonderful email from some strangers (to me). “Dear Susan, We came across your review of our business, Main Street Coffee House, and we want you to know we appreciate your kindness very much! We would like to have your mailing address (if available). Thank-you Marcus & Debra Main Street Coffee House Nappanee, IN” Thanks Marcus and Debbie, you have restored my faith and I am happy to know that the Mr. Happy John’s of this world are a rare breed. (In three and a half years; that is the first time I have ever received such a horrible email.) In the picture you can see the tree that is creating a blockage and the satellite dish in it’s stored position on the Moho. (Oh and by the way, the tweaking paid off...the map is accurate now.)
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