Modem well done

My modem died today. Actually, it's been in failing health for about a month, but the technician has officially pronounced it DOA. Like most trails of woe these days, the breadcrumbs seem to lead to the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation.

I suggested that, even though it was on the backup battery, it probably hadn't done the little DSL gadget any good to be reset from one to three times a day. She agreed.

I combine my trips these days, so I went mouse hunting while I was on the road. Batteries were stacked in a pyramid at PC Outlet. “Your best seller?” I asked. The clerk smiled. I'm shopping around, because mine has been warning me with strange plaintive chirps that it's not happy about working this hard. My brother's just went to the great recharger.

All of which makes me wonder about the cumulative toll on Saipan's electrical population. Many of our toys just aren't designed to be abused this way. Cycling between off and on is the most precarious part of their existence, dangerous like taking off and landing in an airplane. Add the horrendous spikes that piggyback on our already 'dirty' power and, well...

I also wonder how many backup generators are getting enough hours that they're ready for an overhaul. And, because of the economy, how many people will be like CUC and put off that maintenance.

“The mouse that roared?”

The clerk didn't get it. It's an old movie after all, and a tale of a country declaring war on the United States so it can get aid isn't very relevant here.

My chosen rodent has a microphone. “Free” earphones thrown in. No webcam yet, though I was tempted. I'm not ready to play dress-up on the net and, hmm, I'll have to see how federalized immigration would affect that other idea. You know, the sort of Call Center we're likely to get.