Friday, December 11, 2009

The so-called Technology

It was Saturday morning. The sun was shining, birds were twittering, a cockerel was crowing, the sky was bright blue and my alarm clock went off at a convenient 9 o'clock. "I am not going anywhere", I thought to myself. I reached out to my alarm cum mobile phone and saw two messages (it was strange. I've never got messages very often. Especially in the morning). It was written: 'Attached are the queries that have been outstanding for more than 6 months. Please answer these queries and fax. Let me know if you have any problem in answering them. Thank you for your cooperation' (I copied and pasted them verbatim. It sounds quite serious but, believe me, it only looks like that because it was written in English. It is similar when you think the food is better if it is written in French). I hesitantly got up and after a minute or so haggling with myself over responsibility versus comfortability, I was on my way to my workplace. Oh, and the other message was an advert about a musical concert taking place on that day. I've told you, nobody texts me that often.

To be perfectly honest, I don't think my deed would do anything good. Firstly, I've just started working a month ago. My knowledge on answering queries is the same with my knowledge on North Korean nuclear policy. Secondly, nobody really works on Saturday. I had nobody to consult. My bosses went for oncology update something in the city. Well, they are pretty busy people who don't really have time to answer queries in six months. I only saw an immensely nice cleaning lady who always gives me leftover snack smiled at me when I entered the front door. So why I decided to come instead of enjoying my alluring bed in Saturday morning? Actually, my workplace is slightly more comfortable than my room. It is more spacious, has tea/coffee maker just around the corner, has well-functioned air conditioning, internet connection, telephone, fax machine, copier, printer and stationery. It's a perfect place when you are busy writing christmas cards and new year greetings. Double tape, check. Glue, check. Envelope, check. All size of paper, check. And on Saturdays, I have the whole room all for myself. No kidding. All I need to do is to fax some documents and then I can use all my spare time scribbling my glittering christmas cards. That was my perfect plan. Little did I know that some plan is just not as simple as it sounds.

To begin with, the copier refused my original document. It said: incorrect alignment. Please wait for adjustment ( I have no idea what it meant, I was feeding the very same size of paper for the whole month). Only later than a few relentless attempts (including hit and kick the backside of the machine, put the ink inside hot water and cut the paper into halves) to fix it, it worked again. Then the printer produced blank paper. I opened its case to find the cartridge was empty. I am certainly not the best person to deal with machines. The secretary lady who at normal day would sit in the next room doing paperwork was surely busy enjoying her weekend. I ran to front desk where I found a man (I guess he is the receptionist, I am not sure because I am a brand new employee) and asked for assistance. He kindly helped me refill the cartridge, but when we put it back, the printer somehow wasn't connected properly to the computer. We repaired the connection, restarted the computer. But it took a couple times of test-printing before it managed to print a line of letters. And again, the printer did not work for documents such 25 pages long. I gave up and start writing with hand. When I tried to fax, not to my surprise, it was also failed. I was thinking to go to post office (It happened that I also had a few christmas cards to send. What a coincidence!) when I found out that post office was closed on Saturday. So that day, namely this morning, all I had done is fixing the so-called technology. When did people stop using carrier pigeons or running messengers? This is what happens if I pay too much attention to my mobile.

I should have stayed in bed. Happy saturday, by the way.

8 comments:

It's Me Joe said...

syumpahhh ora ngerti blas-blasan....

Sri Riyati Sugiarto & Kristina Melani Budiman said...

Aku nggak percaya!!!! Tapi emang aku nulis ini buat tmn2ku yang nekad ngikutin blogku meskipun nggak ngerti bahasa ibu pertiwi. Jadi tunggu aja postingan selanjutnya ya, Bang Joe. Mungkin seharusnya aku bikin blog terpisah....Tapi tetep makasih bangedddd *mantap gak makasihnya?* untuk mau buka dan kasih komen(^_^)

Fanda said...

Hahaha...ngakak baca kesialanmu!

It was a day when everything goes wrong. I think everybody has gone through it once or twice in our life. Anyway, technology was invented to make our life easier. And we are supposed to keep learning in this life. When we are stuck on some 'wrong condition' and wanted to take a step behind, then we will never move ahead.

If we must live on the 'so-called technology' era, learn to live like that. Make the best of the technology for our life.

Udah ga bete lagi kan?

Sri Riyati Sugiarto & Kristina Melani Budiman said...

Makasih Fanda. Emang sih, kadang2 bisa ya niat baik (mo nulis kartu natal mangsudnya ihihi) mala jadi berantakan semua. Kurang amal ibadah kali ya? Hehe...Iya udah gak bete. Malemnya jalan2 cari makan ma tmn2...=)

Baek Sung Jo Oppa said...

hahahaha..kok mesakke men si kowe...ketoke si goro2 kowe pak memanfaatkan fasilitas kantor nggo kepentingan pribadi mugakno printere jadi macet.ambil positifE ra..jadi kowe rak males2 an wae neng kost. kan luwih ngirit neng kantor..iso ngombe gratisan (ngirit air galon), trus iso ngadem juga. btw emange saiki isih jaman yo berkirim2 kartu natal...???

It's Me Joe said...

Mbok yao ngganggo boso jowo wae.. pasti aku luweh ngerti... or at least use javinglish lahhh....

Sri Riyati Sugiarto & Kristina Melani Budiman said...

Hehehe. Sebenere nek dipikir2 maneh pancen bener kuwi goro2 kuwalat. Iyo, ngirit air galon kan mending, opomaneh ngangkat galon aqua kuwi abot dan nggawe otot tanganku methekol. Aku seneng ngirim kartu natal, kan iso digambari barang...iso ketok bentuke; bisa dipegang, diraba, ditrawang. Matur nuwun mas Jo, memang luwih asik nganggo boso Jowo. Aku dadi pingin nggawe artikel boso Jowo ah kapan2...

Fanda said...

Ria and Kristina...ada Santa Claus datang bagi2 kado loh. Jangan lupa diambil bagianmu di blogku ya!

Jam

Sejujurnya, inilah Ria dan Kristina...

Ria dan Kristina, sama-sama punya ide-ide yang nggak masuk akal saking nggak bangetnya pikiran kami berdua. Obrolan kami ini, berkat kemajuan jaman dan menjamurnya aplikasi internet (hiduplah Indonesia Raya!), kami sekarang bisa tuangkan di blog. Dulu kami suka ngetik-ngetik pake mesin ketik manual di belakang kertas HVS A4 bekas fotokopian. Tapi tetep aja kami tidak berhenti menulis. Kata pepatah: setipis-tipisnya tinta masih lebih tajam dari ingatan manusia. Kata Pramoedya: menulis berarti memetakan sejarah. Halah, kalo tulisan kita mah sebenernya gak ada hubungannya ama sejarah. Cuma mengukirkan betapa masa muda kami ini sangat indah. Dan jelas nggak mutu isinya. Jadi, mending kalo sisa-sisa waktu dan pengen baca yang tidak terlalu berguna sajalah baru buka blog kami... Tapi apapun komentar, masukan dan pendapat teman-teman, semuanya adalah cendera mata yang indah buat kami...

Ria dan Kristina (hualah, koyok undangan penganten. Amit2 deh. Lesbong juga pilih-pilih ah...)

About Us

My photo
pindah2..tergantung mood, Indonesia
Sri Riyati Sugiarto (aka Ria) adalah cewek kelahiran limpung..(pinggiran kota Pekalongan)..habis sekolah di SMU St. Bernardus Pekalongan trus kuliah kedokteran di Undip Semarang..sementara Kristina Melani Budiman (aka Kristina) juga lahir di Pekalongan trus satu SMU ama Ria dan kuliah di Atma Jaya Jogjakarta. kami kenal di kelas 3 SMU tapi mo duduk bareng selalu ga bisa gara2 terlalu cerewet dan kalo duduk sebangku selalu bikin keributan karena hobinya menggosip jadi terpaksa sampai sekarang tidak pernah duduk bareng..untungnya kita ga satu kampus :p