August 14, 2010
I have touched on this
before but here we are again. Saturday morning. 10.21am
and no internet. How long has it been off for? Don't
know. Since last evening at the very least.
So what do you do with
regards to betting this afternoon? Move down to the
nearest TAB with a lap top or a whole bunch of scribbled
notes? Sit tight and hope for the best? Is it a sign
from God, whoever or whatever you determine that to
be, not to bet today? (Ludicrous but a whole bunch
of people would think that!)
So you ring up the "internet
provider" - not a rinky dinky one but a real
fair dinkum one that's in the top 3 in Australia.
"If you are calling
about a technical issue, press 3". "If you
are calling about a HOME based product press 1".
Don't you just love these automated voice procedures?
Remember the good old days when real people would
be the point of entry in to any business and their
input was valued as much as anyone else in the company
because they were the first point of contact with
the customer? Remember customers before they became
consumers or stake holders or itinerant pre-churn
users?
"If you are calling
from Tasmania we are aware of the issue". Well
that's just great for you. I am so pleased. Are you
aware enough to do anything about it? Is there some
hope of resolution before the "End Of Days"?
Can you automatedly give
me some idea whether it is a minor technical issue,
a major technical problem or a complete stuff up?
"Thank you for calling." Yeah - thanks for
nothing.
Again this is one of
the great imponderables and variables in racing. Now
what would happen if I were to be in the middle of
a long progression of outs in a systematic approach
to betting that was really starting to get to the
"pointy end" of things? Which I'm not but
what if that were the case? You just know that the
next horse in a race you are interested in which may
or may not be due to run at 12.10 is therefore an
absolute "stone bonker" because you can't
get on. As per the God comment above - another ludicrous
suggestion BUT a lot of people think like that.
10.36am - check again.
"If you are calling from Tasmania we are aware
of the issue"
Because of the state
of winter racing and bottomless tracks that abound
at the moment I am only really interested in eight
races across four States so no big deal. This will
not be the end of the world but what if?
Well, here's my strategy:
if it ain't on by 11am, neither am I. In fact the
grand kids are coming around for dinner this evening
so I'll simply take the time to make one of my "famous
poppy's desserts" and watch the look of satisfaction
on their tiny faces as they dig in. That sort of pleasure
doesn't come from racing!
It is ironic at the time
of writing this, the roll out of reliable high speed
optic fibre cable in Tasmania is happening. The very
thing that good old Tony Abbott wants to stop in its
tracks and go off to some committee for decision on
a cheaper model. And they wonder why they can't win
a seat in Tasmania? Duh! Dopes.
10.45am - check again."If
you are calling from Tasmania we are aware of the
issue"
Hmm - time to check to
see if I have all the ingredients for my famous dessert
recipe.
11.02am - "If you
are calling from Tasmania we are aware of the issue"
So that's me out for
the day. No. I don't want to go down to a TAB for
the afternoon. If that's how I wanted to enjoy this
game I would never have put all the infrastructure
at HOME in place. So that is my advice to you. If
something like this happens to you that is going to
throw out your whole normal manner of betting, STOP.
Walk away. Come back tomorrow. The world is never
going to run out of races to bet on.
If you have been trying
to communicate with me via email for the last "who
knows how long" - umm, sorry. Beyond my control.
And I never worry about things that are beyond my
control. Just like no internet. At the end of the
day, who cares? If you really want to have problems,
go live in Pakistan and join the 15 MILLION who've
lost everything in their unprecedented floods. Now
THAT"S a problem.
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