The Revolution Will NOT Be Televised

Lately I've been feeling like I'm in some twisted Matrix movie, except there are no cool special effects. I don't think my electric and electronic devices appreciate being subservient to me. Therefore, they have organized and decided to revolt! Now, you might think these are the ranting of a crazy person. And you're not incorrect. But just because I'm a nut doesn't mean I'm wrong.

First, it was my television. It started clicking itself off after I turned it on. And, since I fancy myself a technical person, I knew exactly what the problem was. So I opened the back of it and fixed it. Success! Or so it wanted me to believe. I soon discovered that, although it was no longer spontaneously turning itself off, I had irreparably damaged the speaker connection. No sound. So I had to get rid of it.

Then there's my car. Personally, I've always been partial to foreign automobiles. My last car was a Toyota. It ran for seven years with very few problems. But I figured that, now that I live in Michigan and in the Motor City metropolitan area at that, I would go ahead and purchase a good ol' GM car built right up the highway in Lansing. I've had nothing but problems with it. I've had it for 4 years, and I've had the brakes rebuilt 4 times. I had my Corrolla for 7.5 years, and I had the brakes rebuilt exactly once. The interior dome light stopped working after I'd had the car for about 9 months, and it wasn't covered by the warranty. So, a few months ago, the thing started making this annoying clicking sound. It sounds like the turning signal, but it clicks about 10 times as fast. I have to beat the shit outta the dash to get it to stop. Now, my passenger-side tail light is out. If that's NOT conspiracy, then tell me what is!

And, of course, my cell phone is tripping. It's a Sanyo PM8200 and it's JUNK, I tell you. I am not the type of person who is hard on cell phones. Every phone I've owned, I've kept for a couple of years. I even have a cushion-y protective sleeve that I keep it in. So when the hinge on it broke, I was a little miffed. When my '4' key started intermittently ignoring me, I started to get angry. But when my display went out on the outside of the phone altogether, that was the last straw. I took it up to the wireless store and demanded that they fix or replace it. I was confident they would replace it, since I am within the 1-year warranty. And, sure enough, they said they couldn't fix it. Aha! But then those fools told me it would cost me $55 to repace it. Excuse me, what? $55???? I've got two phones on my account, both PM8200's and both acting stupid. But I didn't pay $55 for the two phones TOGETHER. What, exactly, would make them think I would pay them MORE for a replacement than I paid for the original? And then, how do I know THAT one wouldn't start doing the same exact thing? I've been online and I've seen several people complaining about the same problems with this model. So, since I'm off work tomorrow, I'm calling the Sprint corporate office, and I'm showing my color.

Then, my laptop stopped charging. AC adapter went bad. I've ordered a new one. I had to borrow one until the replacement comes. Problem solved, right? Wrong. A couple of nights ago, I suddenly couldn't get connected to the internet. After fooling with it for a few hours, I finally decided to just go back to the last system restore point. It's working...for now.

And I won't even talk about my camera, which has started screaming at me when it doesn't feel like working. That's okay. I've got my eye on a Nikon D50. But I am hesitating to purchase one until the electronics vs. me war ends.

I know this world isn't real, but my mind is making it real. I know I need to realize there is no spoon. Where are Neo and Morpheus when you need them?