My trusty old PC, patched up after a serious hard drive scare several years ago, finally reached retirement age.
For a long time, family and friends had been urging me to get with it. Yes…my old PC had served me well, putting up with all kinds of words I’ve been writing on it, for how long? For 10, maybe 12 years, or more? I did see subtle signs of aging. The PC’s tower, at the side of my desk, was looking worn and stodgy, compared to the newest PCs, featured in ads.
Everything, all the parts — the guts — of the new machines, are built into a thin screen. There’s no tower? When did that happen? And there’s only a couple of cables? All those wires and cables, looking like spaghetti, under my desk would be gone? I’d have legroom?
Yeah, I was tempted to take the plunge.
When the time, finally, had come, when the last cable was being disconnected from my old PC, and the screen flickered one last time, the bugle song called “Retreat” — that played at the end of work each day at an Army base where, years ago, I’d spent some time — was playing in my mind.
The next morning, I was hearing “Reveille,” that peppy music played at the start of the new day.
So, I’m typing this article on a wireless keyboard. Wireless! I can move it all around! Even the mouse is wireless! There are lots of nooks and crannies to check out. But, first-things-first. I’ll get to the fancier stuff, later.
In the meantime, I still haven’t heard back from anyone at USPS public relations. Not even on my new PC!
I had emailed Postal Service PR to see how they’re coping with all the negative news regarding their Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy. You’ve heard he’s, apparently, been slowing mail delivery, having blue mailboxes removed from cities, and he’s been getting rid of mail sorting machines? And, doing all that, during the pandemic, when lots of people will want to be voting by mail? He even had to testify about what’s going on, in Senate and House committee hearings.
I emailed USPS PR, days ago, on Tuesday, August 18.
But, like a I said, I’m still waiting for a response. Maybe the PR staff is just too tied up, right now… with way too much DeJoy on their hands?
You know who else is in PR purgatory? Various police departments. I wonder how they’re coping. Maybe I should send them an email?
Harvey Radin is former senior vice president in charge of corporate communications and media relations, Bank of America Western Region. He makes his home in Redwood City, CA.