Most days I conduct business from my vehicle. I rely largely on cellular service to get things done. When I do not have access to the internet or phone I am a total wreck. I need internet for invoicing and estimates, cell service for communication, and GPS for navigation. If I have bad reception, my business is difficult to manage.

There is one part of town in particular that has bad reception. It makes me nuts to work there. Every time I enter this part of the city, I see red. With every dropped call, spinning beach ball, website freeze, and GPS search, I become a raging animal. What’s even worse is that I know that reception is bad. I know full-well that the communication will not be good. I have advanced knowledge that the information I am trying to exchange will not be handled smoothly and the commands will be misinterpreted. I am fully aware that the data transmitted will not transfer as intended. Yet, I act surprised when the reception is just as bad as it always has been.

To my knowledge, this particular area has never had good reception. The fact that the ability to transmit data has never been a feature of this area but I continue to get frustrated about it only shows that the problem is not in the are but in my expectations of the area. The sooner that I learn to accept that I simply cannot communicate in this environment, the sooner I can start to focus on what I can do instead of being angry about what I can’t.

I don’t believe that the problem with bad reception is limited to technology. There will always be friends, co-workers, neighbors, and family members with whom I simply cannot communicate. The information transfer between me and them is broken and always has been. I shouldn’t expect there to be a good exchange of information when historically there never has been. In this case I have two choices:

  1. Keep pressing buttons and trying to force-feed the data down the throats of the people with whom I have problems transmitting information.
  2. Accept that the lines of communication are broken, acknowledge that I am in an area with bad reception, and do whatever I can to remain productive with the environment I am working in.

Peace, Love, and all things Beef related,

Beefcake