Our T-1 line has been in a terrible snit* for a few days. That may not sound very serious to those of you who don’t know what a T-1 line is, but to those of us “in the know,” we’re darkly aware that it’s very serious indeed.

The T-1 line brings us our telephone and Internet service so we’re pretty useless as consultants without a telephone or Internet connectivity; these are, after all, essential tools of the trade. It’s a bit like the Slurpee machine and the hot dog roller at the 7-11 going on the fritz, or Santa’s Elves emigrating to Thailand. Like convenience stores and Santa, there are some tools one must have to do business.

Oh sure, our computers still work. I can write fascinating blog posts (not necessarily this one), but I can’t post them. I can develop interesting videos and Photoshop pictures, but I can’t send them anywhere. Our T-1 glitch has rendered us electronically hamstrung as it were, and that’s frustrating to a bunch of propeller-heads such as we have become.

T-1 snits are unusual; these phone lines are quite reliable as a matter of course. This history of reliability brings me no satisfaction, it is but weak solace on this sunny afternoon. As I sit in electronic isolation, I fear it’s quite possible that the end of the world has come and I shall never know of it.

Oh joy! A technician has arrived to resolve the problem. After much trudging back and forth between his truck and the connection box, he informs us that a smidgen of corrosion on a connection has caused the snit just as a flight attendant in a snit can stop an airliner.

The problem has been resolved for today so we’re back online and there are pressing matters to attend to so I’d better end this short rant and move on to more meaningful activities.

*snit – adjective – An expression of aggravation roughly equivalent to a red-faced, screaming 2-year-old in the grocery store whose mother is waiting desperately for the person checking out ahead of her to learn how to use an ATM card. See also: Mel Gibson, Christian Bale.

(This post/rant was written by non-profit consultant and expert grant writer, Derek Link.)

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