::thwap:: Thank you, Sir, may I have another?

[captainsblog]

This day wound up ending about as frustratingly as it began.

Both of the morning cancellations meant merely me having to go to the various mountains instead of them coming to me. The earlier one will entail a 60-mile trip on Wednesday, while the later one got tacked onto a 30-mile jaunt earlier today. At least I combined that one with some mildly satisfying work.

I've become something of a troubleshooter for computer problems at our church. After fixing a couple of things last week, our semiretired minister asked if I could help figure out why her wireless internet and email at home have been completely kaput for the past few weeks. Since she lives near my 10 a.m. missing client, I set out down Onion Road to take care of both birds.

I should emphasize that I do not mind this "job" around the church at ALL. I'm thrilled they've found a calling for me that I'm reasonably good at and can fit into my schedule. That said, though, I'm thoroughly disgusted at the wonderful worlds of Microsoftware and Gatewayhardware that got Gail into this mess. After trying a half dozen troubleshooting steps and configurations of wires and hardware devices, we finally caught a reference to checking that her "wireless switch is on."  Neither of us saw no stinkin' wireless switch, but, it turned out, there was one. Buried in the laptop documentation was a note saying that the machine's wireless capabilities could be toggled, with no visible sign of that fact, by holding down the FN and F2 keys at the same time- a trick which either another helpful parishioner, or one of their two new kittens, had unwittingly managed to pull off at just the time the wireless went out.

Instead of using my usual words of adoration for such engineering (since the minister might read this), I will only say this in conclusion to the fine folks out at the Gateway cow pasture:

"" (Watch on YouTube)

----

In other news, the only news that was good news turned out not to be news.

Our morning headlines greeted us with a story of awwwwwwww- warmth and generosity for our local theater community. Our only professional producing theater, Studio Arena, shut down earlier this year and wound up in Chapter 11 in hopes of emerging in some kind of scaled-down form. (Full disclosure: I have nothing whatsoever to do with this case, which for this legal community is virtually impossible.)

Here's one of the statements we read online:

Buffalo's struggling Studio Arena Theatre is gaining an unexpected supporter, Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman. The Australian-born actress was filming scene for a new movie in London when she made some remarks about the importance of saving regional theaters like Studio Arena.

The theater filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy back in June. Since then, theater officials have been working hard to raise money and awareness about the theater's plight. Tonight they say their efforts are starting to pay off.

The curtain went down last season after Studio Arena racked up nearly $3 million in debts. The future was, and still is, uncertain for the regionally famous theater. But with a few well-placed words, one actress is putting Studio Arena back in the spotlight. "To have Nicole Kidman, who has never appeared on our stage, take up our cause was just amazing and gratifying. We're so happy," said Studio Arena's Aristic Director, Kathleen Gaffney.

Speaking to reporters on the set of her latest film, the London Mirror writes that Kidman said, "I can't imagine Chicago without the Goodman and I couldn't imagine Houston without the Alley. And to let this theater of similar status in Buffalo fall to the wayside would be a crime. Six people need to step forward with checks for $50,000 and the problem is halfway done. It is such a tiny amount, really."

Kidman vowed to raise the entire amount herself if the theatre's trustees agreed to rename the company's storied Main Street venue in accordance with her wishes. At press time, it was not known if the name "Tom Cruise Is A Gay Psychotic Dwarf Theatre" was available or not.

Okay, I made that last part up. Funny thing, though? Somebody else apparently made up all the rest of it and completely Punk'd the local media into buying this malarkey hook, line and koala. As the morning paper shamefacedly admitted this afternoon:

The News has learned that a widely circulated report about Nicole Kidman stepping to the aid of Studio Arena Theatre is likely fabricated.

The News has been unable to corroborate the original report, which was posted on Saturday to the Web site PR-inside.com.

Oh, come on. That site, like many with names like that, is nothing more than a sockpuppet venue for stock manipulators, frustrated entertainers, and Lyndon LaRouche supporters to post "press releases" with no vetting whatsoever of the content.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm having Barack Obama over for a house party starting at 7.

Comments

[headbanger118.livejournal.com]

Glad you got the computer debacle solved!

Oh, I'll ask Nicole Kidman if she really will pitch in and help. You know she and Keith only live a few hours from me in Nashville.