It’s lovely to site here at my desk and look out over the cow pasture some days. Every so often one of the retired oxen or cows will slowly walk by (they always look over at us in case we have leftovers or extra veggies for them). I can see a rainstorm sweeping in across the pasture, or hear the wind in the trees outside. It’s very relaxing and centering to be this close to the real world instead of the city.
It’s lovely to site here at my desk and look out over the cow pasture some days. Every so often one of the retired oxen or cows will slowly walk by (they always look over at us in case we have leftovers or extra veggies for them). I can see a rainstorm sweeping in across the pasture, or hear the wind in the trees outside. It’s very relaxing and centering to be this close to the real world instead of the city.
Unfortunately, we’re trying to provide a high-tech service from our low-tech corner of the world. And sometimes it shows more than normal. For instance, our phone and internet connection today. It just wasn’t there at all.
On a good day we have several phone lines and internet/DSL lines coming out to us at the far end of the cow pasture. It’s not always good. The internet is slow as molasses and everyone has to hare the bad connection. Sometimes the phone lines crackle and get fuzzy. But at least they work most of the time. Until they don’t work.
There has been some work on the main road that runs past the farm, and today apparently the workmen bumped our lines. We were completely without phone or internet all day. And there was nothing we could do about it until the workmen came out and fixed the lines. We couldn’t work on the website. We couldn’t process and ship store orders. We couldn’t take or make calls to customers. It was very frustrating for everyone.
I’m very proud of our little team for taking it in stride. Some people went home to work from there if they could. Some studied for school while they waited. We did some office cleaning and organizing. Some people chanted their japa and sat out in the sunshine. But no one got upset about it. There is something very liberating about knowing when to give up any sense of control over a situation.
Eventually the phone rang and everyone left in the build jumped up in disbelief. After a shocked silence, everyone ran for their computers to see if the internet connection was back. And like magic, everyone was back at work as if nothing had happened. I love that everyone that works here is so mild and calm about these inevitable interruptions, and yet everyone is also just as excited about getting down to work when they need to.
Like a parent, I am happy to see my “kids” happy. And I am the one that worries about the big picture. I worry about the customers that couldn’t get through to us today, and I worry about the work time lost on the website. I worry about the next time this happens, since it seems to happen every few months out here in the cow pasture. If it’s not the phone or internet, it’s the electricity, or water.
We are pushing to move our office to a proper building in town, away from the cow pasture and closer to reliable electricity, internet, phone, and other necessities. It’s going to cost more to own and run a proper office, and I worry about making the money stretch that far. I worry about being able to find a building we can afford to buy. I worry about packing up everything and relocating. Making sure everyone has enough space to do their jobs. About moving further from the temple, away from the cows and the trees.
I suppose I haven’t learned yet to give up my worries and trust that Krishna will look after Krishna.com as He has for ten years so far. I still have to pace around and glare at the computers and cables and phones as if I can force them to work. It’s a lot of wasted energy. I know that.
What I’m saying in my long, round about way, is that if you tried to call or email us today, and you couldn’t get through, we weren’t trying to ignore you. We really wanted to help you. Please try again!
Please, please, please Krishna! We want a bigger building, with good internet connection and phone and electricity that works!
-Radha