High tech, low service

Thursday morning, and all is quiet. I have been texting with my daughter in Florida since around five thirty am. What amazing technology we enjoy these days - do you ever stop and think about it? We can zip a message into space and back to earth across the country in mere fractions of a second, we could fly there in hours. We can even drive there in days. Compare that to early settlers. OK - I'm not old enough to remember the settlers, let's be clear on that point.

I have just done battle with Itunes. It is the epitome of advanced technology to me: we can close all the music stores, video stores, libraries and just download information and entertainment into our computers and hand-held devices. But I have NEVER gotten Itunes to work well for me. Just the other morning I got a notice that I have a new version available to download. I gave it permission to do so. It tried several times but as always, it 'times out' before it is done. I am powerless. I purchased a show called "Dirty Jobs" once, and it tried to download twenty four shows into my system. But it never made it: it seems to be too much, or whatever. I don't want my money back, I don't want to watch those stupid shows (I have now seen most of them on line anyway) I just want my system to stop trying. So I have selected those tracks and then clicked "delete." But, of course, nothing happens. The infuriating thing is that the "delete" option is not highlighted if it is not available as an option, and it IS highlighted when it IS an option. In this case, "delete" IS highlighted, but doesn't DO anything when I select it.

Yes, I have a little knowledge of these things. As in, "a little knowledge is dangerous." My kids know this stuff like the back of their iPhone, but I can't have them sit at my computer and work for hours every time they come over. That seems to get old for them...

But if an option is there, and highlighted, it should work when you select it. Nothing is more frustrating than something which seems to be available, yet isn't. OK - perhaps there is one thing - how about a person who is designed to live and be a certain way, yet isn't?

God calls us to live according to His plan. Yet so many of us settle for something else. It must frustrate God - if I can be so bold as to pretend to know God's feelings - to see "serve me" highlighted on the menu, select it, but we don't serve. We say we will, but we simply don't. Or, we say we are, think we are, but we actually just keep on living according to our own ideas, our own plan.

Wow - I have just had a God moment, courtesy of the fine people at Apple Computer.

Now, if you will excuse me, I appear to need to put in a call to the Geek Squad.