October 7 – “Veeklon and Klayvor”

Well, I guess every so often there will be one of those days when the biggest accomplishment I can think of is that I didn’t magically meld with my computer keyboard.  I spent most of the entire day yesterday glued to the computer.  That is actually what ends up happening on most Mondays, mainly because I want to get a good head start on preparations for the Bible studies and teachings I have going on for the next week.  Chris even went up to stay with Kel’s kids for most of the afternoon.  Of course she did get in a parting shot before she left.  Reminded me to sit up straight.  She’s not too interested in my efforts to create a masterfully formed curvature of the upper back to match the little old man image I have been working toward for about 60 or so years.  Actually I do appreciate the reminder.  Keeping my spine as straight as possible helps greatly with some relatively minor things in life.  Like, say, breathing. 

Cailyn came over and peeled me away from my post for a bit in the afternoon.  Her Mom and Dad had the first big parent-teacher conference of Cailyn’s kindergarten career.  Results?  Glowing reports, as usual.  She is apparently the picture of perfection as a student.  But hey, what else would she be, right?  It’s all in her genes.  Takes after her DadDad, I imagine. 

One thing we decided to do together was watch some of those silly videos that sometimes come up on the FaceBook feed.  Cute puppies.  Wedding bloopers.  Things like that.  While we were watching one, however, the screen suddenly flickered.  Then went dim.  Then became a mass of wavy lines.  I had flashbacks of the old TV show, Outer Limits.  Was some kind of demon going to leap from the screen?  Would a flash of lightning strike us and turn us into Veeklon and Klayvor, crusaders for justice against spammers and viruses infecting the computer world?  Sadly, none of those.  Instead the screen went black.  And after an interminably long pause, flashed back to life in that dreaded blue mode with its warnings of imminent danger, a massive explosion of data into cyber-nothingness.  Just the situation that would require a savior like Veeklon, a champion like Klayvor.  But neither had materialized.  Nay.  Instead we were forced to follow the foreboding instructions on the screen.  “Restart your computer.”  With trembling hand, I pressed the off button.  Five long seconds later the intimidating blue screen disappeared.  Silence.  After waiting the prescribed ten seconds I once again reached for the power button.  Internal mechanisms sprang to life.  The familiar whirring sound was there.  The periodic R2-D2 impersonations came forth.  But for the longest time, no image of any kind appeared on the screen.  I fought back the rising panic, forcing myself to remain calm.  Finally, after a long wait, signs of visual life began to appear.  The cursor arrow.  A hint of a background screen.  An icon.  No, two.  Now more.  A brief fade to black and then … an explosion of images covered the screen.  Every icon was back.  The clock returned, as accurate as ever.  And … wait for it … yes.  There was Weather Bug.  The final piece of the start-up puzzle.  I breathed a sigh of relief.  No need for the superhero services of Veeklon and Klayvor after all.  The blogger is back.  I have returned.

Psalms 66:7 says, “He rules forever by his power, his eyes watch the nations — let not the rebellious rise up against him.”

Father, thank you for being … forever.  Amen.