After about a year of contemplating and speaking to friends about the pros and cons of switching from AT & T to Brighthouse for telephone service, I made the switch yesterday.  They gave me an 8:00 to 10:00am appointment, which I thought meant he’d show up anytime between those hours.  Before he arrived, I made sure to clear the areas he’d be working in, so he’d have plenty of room.  I moved 4 rolling tables out of the office and moved everything away from the wall.  I glanced at the clock and had time to vacuum the room again, so I began doing that. Sure enough, as soon as I turned on the vacuum cleaner, he knocked on the door.  Had I not had such a heavy brass door knocker, I would not have heard him.

As he went about installing new connections, I couldn’t go online so I went outside and pruned back a few more turk’s cap around the utility box outside.  Then I planted the cuttings along the ongoing front hedge.  Another layer of privacy! He showed up at 7:55am and was done at exactly 10:00am. It was weird trying to find things to do while I couldn’t go online, but I didn’t know it would take him two hours.  I didn’t know what all was involved, or I would have planned my time better.

I smiled to think of how put off my schedule I was being unable to go online or use the land lines.  I love my cell phone but only use it when I have to, like when I travel.  For most of my calls, the land line is a much better choice.  So, I thought, if I didn’t have the internet and didn’t have phones, how would I do business?

For some reason that didn’t really freak me out. I figure if that ever happens, I’ll figure out something from whatever I’ve got on hand at the time.  Like Alan Cohen‘s teacher Hilda Charlton told him, “Take what you’ve got and make what you want.”

Had I known how long it would take to hook up the cable and phone connections, I would have planned for it.  I thought how many times in the past I unexpectedly had a big bank of time and was unprepared for it, so it went to waste?

I thought of how many weekends did I end up having free time, that I could have gone on a short vacation?  How many days do I fritter away in unorganized busy work, when Having a Game Plan Leaves me More Time For Fun Adventures?

So maybe my time today was not wasted, since I made me bring this to mind again.

It’s about time to plan a vacation.

I wish I had somewhere I really wanted to go.

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