POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE
Postmark 26-002
From: Somewhere Between “No Service” and “I’ll Figure It Out”
Population: One stubborn digital marketer, one iPhone and Mom
Minor Victories and Other Misadventures
When I shoved my HR career into the witness protection program I felt like I had just been released from Supermax Federal prison in Florence.
Florence, Colorado.
Not Florence, Italy.
For some reason the travel brochures are dramatically different.
I was now free to start my online marketing business.
Freedom is exhilarating until your checking account starts asking uncomfortable questions.
So I did what any rational sane adult would do. . .
I closed my eyes, took a running start, and leapt off the cliff hoping the invisible bridge from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade appeared before gravity noticed.
Mid-leap my phone rang.
My mom broke her right arm. . . the universe rerouted me to a different destination without asking:
Mom’s house.
You don’t realize how many everyday ordinary but important things require two hands . . . until one of them is in a sling.
Good thing my leap off the cliff was a refundable ticket.
What Punched Me In The Face
Plot twist.
Mom’s house has no Wi-Fi.
None. The universe wasn’t finished testing my commitment.
- One bar on my iPhone made carrier pigeons attractive as a practical communication strategy with the outside world.
- Eventually I stopped asking: “Why now?” And asked what can I build with what I have?
In my tool box: an iPhone 15 p (thanks plus-size screen), a Mac laptop, a fresh white notepad and three black pens. - I was forced to accept that my Mac in my home office with fast reliable Wi-Fi and I were now in a long-distance relationship. The separation was much harder on me than it was on my Mac.
Apparently life is a rabid fan of schadenfreude.
Wish You Were Here
Reality wasn’t taking requests. So I stopped negotiating with it.
Time to embrace the suck.
- I kept on a strict publishing schedule.
- Drafted a beta program for a training course on the fresh white notepad with a black pen.
- Discovered a Cox Wi-Fi hotspot with a weak pulse, nasty attitude and hatred for my laptop.
Thankfully it liked my phone. - Without Wi-Fi my laptop became an expensive paper weight, but Pages came to the rescue for blog posts and other documents.
- Stayed ridiculously organized because losing one file suddenly meant a forty-five minute scavenger hunt.
- Made Google Drive earn its salary. Slacker.
Perfect Conditions: Gate 7B
Arrival Time: Never
Waiting for perfect conditions is a brilliantly gorgeous way to stay exactly where you are.
Until the next postcard,
Brenda
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