Slowing The Pace

SUNDAY. I've decided to call Wild Blue Internet to see how soon they can hook us up to high-speed satellite internet. Saturday evening web research revealed that cable and DSL are not the only broadband options in Albuquerque. While it's pricier than wired connections, satellite internet delivers comparable speed and reliability. This encouraging discovery has elevated my mood and restored my confidence. Though solutions are not always immediately apparent, with patience and determination they often appear on the horizon like bright jewels. It's a relief knowing there's a new possibility to consider. I'm done wtih Comcast. Without so much as a courtesy phone call, they never showed up as scheduled on either Friday or Saturday.

On the minus side of my work equation, my laptop is headed for the computer doctor on Tuesday morning. Sometime Friday night it stopped working and wouldn't come out of standby on Saturday morning. A hard boot restarted the computer. However, system files were hogging 100% of CPU resources and there was nothing left to run any programs. The machine was very hot and wouldn't shut down. Suspecting a virus, I updated my spyware and virus defintions--a real challenge for an ailing computer with a dialup connection. Then I scanned the hard drive several times, but found nothing. Next, I backed up all my documents to an external hard drive, reformatted the C drive, and reloaded Windows. The whole process took hours. Sadly, the problem persisted after the reinstallation of Windows, so I'm guessing the motherboard is fried. Fortunately, I still have a Mac PowerBook to use for email and blogging. I have never regretted having "extra" computers around the house. Geek girl is always prepared.

Though chilly air, overcast skies and a few raindrops threatened to spoil our afternoon at Cochiti Lake, we headed north anyway around 2 PM, equipped with rain parkas, sweatshirts, water, sushi, sandwiches, and plenty of towels and tennis balls. The lake was more crowded than usual, but Murphy still had a good swim and rolled in the sand like a young puppy. There's something to be said for a Lab's oily double coat. It's like Teflon. Nothing seems to stick to it. The sand that covered Murphy's shiny black fur was completely gone by the time we returned home. However, the back of the van is now somewhat reminiscent of Siesta Key.

On the way home we stopped at Santo Domingo Pueblo for the annnual Labor Day Indian Market, complete with dancing, drumming, and countless tents filled with silver jewelry decorated with turquoise, serpentine and carnelian, as well as beautiful tribal pottery and crafts, all for sale. I purchased a wonderful necklace that caught my eye. The price was exactly half what I'd expected to pay. Murphy slept in the back of the car while we browsed among the stalls, watched tribal dancing, and explored the Mission. We drove through the Pueblo, avoiding the dozens of dogs roaming free and collarless. Dogs wandered through the market as well. I wondered if these dogs were cared for by the entire Pueblo, rather than belonging to one person or family. Lazy and docile, a few sought shelter from the crowds under pickup trucks. Others slept in the streets.

The dancing and drumming were strangely stirring.

It was good to get out of the city, get away from cardboard boxes, and see open space again. We may return to Santo Domingo tomorrow afternoon to sample some Pueblo food and visit the rest of the market

I took this photo on the way home. The desert is lush and green from six weeks of record-breaking, persistent summer monsoons. Looking out at desert expanses like this I'm reminded of a story my mother recently shared with me about a professor who placed a chair on a table at the front of his classroom and asked his class to write an essay about how to make the chair disappear. The highest grade was earned by the student who wrote only two words on his paper: "What chair?"

And so it is with my ongoing Comcast problems. The desert whispers to me, "What problems?"