Fax machines are how
old? I ponder this as I stand by our fancy all-in-one machine. This is
the third day I’ve tried to fax this single-page document (with cover
letter!) to the State of Texas. I also ponder
how long it takes to send an email. Two seconds maybe? How long does it
take to send a fax? Twenty minutes? I’m just trying to verify it goes
through so tomorrow I don’t come in to someone handing me a FAX FAILED document, which is what happened this morning.
So I’m standing at
the printer (/fax/whatever) just waiting, watching the status bar say
“Dialing” for who knows how long. Then someone prints something. Ugh.
I’m sure that pauses my fax. The second and third
printings don’t seem to bother it though. But the lady leaves and I
find myself praying to the fax machine. “Please just send. Please send.”
With my hand on its shoulder, imploring. Then I realize the
ridiculousness of what I am doing. “I am praying to the
fax machine.” And instead get mad at it. This ancient piece of
technology (because it’s older than I am) refusing to do the simplest of
its tasks—send one page over a phone line. Dial-up would’ve done this
faster.
I get bored and poke
around a bit. Accidentally hitting the power button. Why is the power
button there? I had no idea it was there. Then I pressed it. Now my fax
goes from “Sending” to dead. And I have to
wait who-knows-how-long for this satanic object to restart.
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