84-Lancaster Farming, Saturday. September 18, 1999 On Being a Farm Wife (and other hazards) Joyce Bupp Well, we and our electronic other spot on the page when the household gadgets made it letters p, t, s, or apostrophe were through the 9-9-99 computeriza- struck—l was tempted to try a tion concern. suggestion made by our comput- But, we may never make it to e r-teacher daughter, the Y2K crisis stage. Immerse the keyboard in a Because if one or more of the bathtub of warm water, electronic gadgets around here No, no, not to drown the irri goes goofy on me, I’m going to tating thing—though the idea use the tried and true method, wag sorely tempting. Trying to which—sometimes in despera- print payment checks and write tion—fixes the small magnet in columns had become a time the floats in our milker units wasting exercise in frustration when they stick. an d impossibility. Whack ’em with a shovel han- No, the idea is to soak loose die. an y dust and possible spills of Actually, when my computer st Jff which may have gotten keyboard began doing weird under a key and created some things to the programs-like giv- sor t 0 f electronic short, ing me a row of “3s” when a zero Supposedly, the warm bath was struck, or jumping to some loosens any interfering goop and WHY BE SICK & TIRED Most health problems are due to toxins in the body which hinder the immune system from fighting off diseases. Toxins are a result of food grown, processed and impaired by chemicals, insecticides, weed killers and many other poisons, detrimental to the body and cause diseases. But there is an alternative and safe way to remove toxins. Try the SuLin Program. It Really Works! Will Not Interfere With Medication These ALL NATURAL products cost less to help your body remove toxins and build up your immune systems to fight off diseases and health problems. It reduced cost for food. Introductory Offer For total program A3O day supply ONLY $49 plus $4.50 shipping You can also buy wholesale without monthy requirements SATISFACTION GUARANTEED or money back for the whole program What can you lose but your health problems To order special offer send a check for $53.50 Ivan & Esther Martin An Independent SuLm distributor 539 Hilltop Rd., Myerstown, PA 17067 Ph. 717-866-4928 or 800-668-7373 for credit card order More information & testimonials available upon request Distributors Needed - Excellent Opportunity allows the keyboard to function unimpeded once again. But, of course, then it has to really dry out. And in the rain forest humidity environment in which this part of the country has existed in recent weeks, it’s hard to get even a thin pair of nylon hose dry without throwing them in the dryer. And the dryer didn’t seem a viable option for the keyboard. Besides, if the keyboard had a problem, as the computer itself kept telling me at boot-up, then a replacement was in order. After exhausting reasonably easy fix-it attempts, I resigned myself to going into battle with the phone menus and voice mail exchanges of l-SOO-DOG-GONE computer support. Ultimately, I was assigned an “event” number by a helpful lady support techni cian, who after coaching me through several fix tries, sug gested plugging in another key board to make sure that was the problem. And noted that, if it was, a company replacement was possibly in order. I did. It was. Next day, in a followup, I got another technician, with no clue as to what the first had done, who wanted me to start switch ing component plugs around. Even though it seemed the key- Gutters Clogged and Overflowing? Not Looking Forward To Cleaning Them Out? Have Gutter Pro Tech™ Installed. Rain Gets In, Leaves and Debris Stay Out rCfB’JVSEWJG ’S-T pouting — * Call today for a Free Estimate 265 E. Meadow Valley Rd., Lltitz, PA 17543 717-733-7160 • 717-627-6886 1-800-247-2107 3£ Iflßj Financing Available ££ WtoAZ board was the obvious problem. On deadlines and in a writing time crunch, I nixed playing with component plugs and placed a call to my favorite local computer sales/service people, who warmly and promptly sup plied me with a keyboard. First thing I wrote with it was a long letter to the computer company’s customer service department. Meanwhile, if you recently called the farm here, left a mes sage, and have not received a reply, please accept my sincere apologies. Our message machine has an “erase” button, which I punched last week instead of the “play” button. And sent a bunch of messages into electronic eter nity. Oops! Sorry about that. And, by accident, we have dis covered yet another way to irri tate innocent phone callers. Put the fax machine in automatic mode. It does cause the fax machine to pick up those calls immediately. And also diverts all phone calls. Oops! Sorry about that, too. From the VCR, which oper ates with lines running across the screens after overheating, to The Farmer’s cell phone (which can reach him at an equipment company across the river but not around to the far side of the hill beyond the meadow) to the face less, voiceless, digital phone menu with which we communi cate by punching numbers, I sometimes feel as if we are all victims of what I would label the looming social problem of the fast-approaching Millennium. Electronics abuse. Maybe if we just switched around all the component plugs... PROBLEM MILK? Don't Dump Your Hard Work Down The Drainl Making Cheese With Your Milk Preserves Its Value 4-Milking Penalty Warm Milk No Milk Market CALL THE CHEESEMAKER We’ll Take Care of Everything Toll Free 888/624-3373 or 717/933-4385 NEED YOUR FARM BUILDINGS PAINTED? Let us give you a price! Write: Daniel’s Painting 637-A Georgetown Rd. Ronks, PA 17572 (or leave message) (717) 687-8262 Spray on and Brush in Painting