1.6.1
Dear One In Charge,
Bless me as I return to
work. Enlighten my mind and revive my spirit that I
might bring this work to completion.

Renew my strength and grant me stamina, with or without
increased caffeine intake, so that I may accomplish this task.
Amen.

Of course, we’re all overjoyed here that the Saints won. According to Sarah, over in The Promises Department, it was never in doubt. That’s not what the #Fail is for.

There’s been some flurry of ruffled feathers. Seems that as the camera was on Mr. Brees as he was holding his son, a television announcer opined that winning the Super Bowl was the most precious moment a father could share with his son. There hasn’t been An Official Response yet from The One In Charge. I’d hate to be on the other end of that phone call.

Sistertech can think of many, many precious moments fathers share with their…children: sons and daughters. And on the Colts side, there is the very important job of showing others how to be gracious in losing. The most American sports moment to share? Sure. An Olympic medal, on the international side of things. Yes. That would be precious.

But overall? Too bad the game happened on a Sunday. I’d love to see an exercise given to all the dads in church. Imagine anything possible. Now list the most precious moment you could share with your child.

Romans 8:38-39

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

She said she moved the mouse round and round, and that she even shook it, holding it up to her ear. But nothing happened. I suppose she thought there might be some broken pieces inside the mouse which would explain why it was not working.

I checked the typical suspect: dead batteries. I popped in new ones for both peripherals. Still no connectivity.

I pulled out the receiver from its USB port and inserted it into another port. Still nothing.

I pushed the reset button on the mouse. I pushed the reset button on the keyboard.

And then it dawned on me. I pushed the reset button on the wireless USB receiver. That’s all it needed. A reset.

From the tech end of things, this was such a simple fix. But Sistertech began thinking about the human factor. Human connectivity with The One In Charge is an issue that is discussed continually by the folks in the Human Support Department. It’s huge.

When I saw a Staff member from Human Support, I started to mention this incident. Thankfully, Sistertech stopped before saying something foolish. You see, she has learned that computers are much simpler to maintain than are humans. And from what I have heard from the folks in Human Support, there does not seem to be a “reset” button for humans. Or it’s hidden or tends to malfunction, or some such thing. They are not sure themselves. Evidently it is a source of some concern. Now, I do not want this to snowball into a crisis of faith for anyone. But think about it: Commander Data on Star Trek had an on and off switch. It does show a certain lack of imagination that human units were not equipped with a simple reset button. How difficult would that have been?

We in the tech support community realize, however, that one must deal with the product that has been placed before one: Identify the unit. Diagnose. Check the Manual (or not). Then improvise if you must, being careful not to void the warranty.  My best guess for the human reset button? Prayer.

If any of you has had experience with the “human reset” issue please leave me a note. It’s a known issue and I’m sure they’d appreciate input. You know, best practices and whatnot. I shall be happy to pass your suggestions on to the Staff.

You got to move, you got to move,
you got to move child, you got to move
But when the Lord gets ready, you got to move
You may be high, you may be low
You may be rich, child, you may be poor
But when the Lord gets ready, you got to move
You see that woman, that walk the street
You see the policeman, out on his beat
But when the Lord gets ready, they got to move
You got to move, you got to move,
you got to move child, you got to move
But when the Lord gets ready, you got to move

Listen it sung by Cassandra Wilson. She does an excellent job.

Anyway, we thought of a catchy name: PsalmBytes. Get it: small portions of the Psalms delivered electronically. “Bytes” seemed quite appropriate. These will be sent out from another Department down the hall. I’ll still be doing the Psalm of the Day and will experiment with various formats. Feel free to comment here or email me directly at tech AT sistertech DOT com. (There. I hope that keeps the spambots at bay!)

Yours faithfully,

Sistertech

Sorting these kind of theological knots is above Sistertech’s pay grade. But for the sake of the Internet bonding we have begun, allow me to share an entry from my personal diary. (You won’t go blabbing it. I think we’ve established that amount of trust, yes?)

I got out of a long shower tonight and thought about
all the prayers that need to be said for all the
suffering people all over the world. I thought,
“if I just didn’t have all the other stuff to do,
I could finish the task of praying day and night.”

Sistertech laughed out loud at myself. Of course, I know better than to separate one’s prayer life from any activity. Duh! As all of you in the tech world know, we’re praying constantly! How could software programs possibly come to market without prayer!

But seriously, it’s just a sign of the burdens upon Sistertech’s heart that for a moment she forget that the “sacred” doesn’t happen only in a special place, at a special time, by a special person, saying special words, or singing special songs. We pray every moment we attend to our intentions and when our intentions are directed to what we’re attending to. I certainly don’t mean that to sound as circular as it did. As “hip” as Sistertech tries, or rather, pretends to be, I would never lower myself to equating prayer with “thoughts” or worse yet: VIBES! Heavens! Vibrations are what earthquakes are. No. What the world needs is more prayer, not more “vibes”.

By “intention” I mean just that: the focusing of an angel’s soul on that which should be its sole focus: giving praise and glory to The One In Charge. I appreciate the fact that it is harder for some of you to be so single-minded. But here’s a little secret: In my Department we often find our intentions slipping this way and that.

Bottom line: whether one is installing some more RAM, dumping a clogged up cache, updating one’s Twitter page, or making a cup of coffee (which is what I’ll need to be doing if I don’t hurry up and fold my wings for the night!), I urge us all to stay focused on that which we should be intending at all times.

Oh dear. It’s almost  Sunday in Australia!

But Sistertech cautions her clients that there is more to life than productivity. One of the senior Technicians just relayed to me something that she had been told by an Early Adopter, as we like to call them. This Technician was an early follower of The One In Charge. What she said was: “Do one thing for somebody else every day”. Without their having asked you to do it, without the fear of penalty or reward, without hoping that the same act shall be done unto you.

“Do one thing for somebody else every day.”

Now Sistertech, and the rest of the known cosmos, has been aware that we should “practice random acts of kindness”. But that saying, while, um, kindly, always seemed a bit too saccharine for spurring people to action in the difficult days in which we live and move and breathe.

No. We need something more direct.  Something more firm. Something, well, more muscular and not so wimpy sounding. “Do one thing for somebody else every day.” It has a nice ring, doesn’t it? Easy to remember, too.

Have you thought yet of your “one thing”?