CoffeeBuzz: Observations on almost everything

And I even get paid for it.

I do tech installations and troubleshooting for a company that provides costing terminals for printers and copiers (our primary clientele is made up of law offices). Well, work decided to send me to Buffalo yesterday. That's kind of weird, because I'm based in Cleveland and my territory is supposed to be limited to a 100-mile radius of there. Someone must have either gotten sick or quit or something. In any case, I got up super-early to drive from Cleveland to Buffalo, in the wake of a snowstorm. They'd originally wanted me to go on Friday, but with a storm forecast I'd said no, it would have to wait until Monday. Driving around the southern and eastern shore of Lake Erie in that kind of weather is something I'd prefer to avoid if I can. Not that I haven't done it before, but all things considered, I wasn't willing to do it on this occasion.

So I rolled into Buffalo in mid-morning, well in time for the first of two service calls I was to make. Found the building I needed, then went to locate coffee and something to eat. It had been years since I'd driven through downtown Buffalo during business hours, and people's driving and parking habits simply amazed me. Twice I encountered vehicles whose drivers simply double-parked them in the right-hand lane of a two-lane street, without even turning on their flashers, and got out to go into this or that building. Unreal.

Anyway, the first service call was the service call from hell. Obviously, I want to do the best for the client, but when the client is clearly unprepared to handle their own end of what needs to be done, there's only so much I can accomplish. I was there for nearly two hours, and still couldn't get the equipment to work because of problems that were the client's responsibility to handle. Ugh. Good thing I had some downtime between the two appointments to regain my equilibrium.

The second service call was as easy as the first had been difficult. I was in and out in under 45 minutes, and everyone was happy.

On the return trip, I got off the highway in the northern part of Chautauqua county, the county where I was born and raised. Took a nice scenic drive through rural western New York to Jamestown, where I met up with an old friend I hadn't seen in nearly a quarter-century and went out to dinner. That was fun. Driving through my old hometown was interesting, though. So much has changed! Some of the changes seem to be improvements, while others I'm not so sure about. Well, everything changes, I guess.

Got home late in the evening. A phone call from my friend Jilli in Australia kept me entertained for part of the trip; thank goodness for the speakerphone feature on my cellphone!

I wonder if they're going to send me to Timbuktu next time?