An Interchapter Interlude about the Plantronics Voyager™ 510S Bluetooth Headset as a metaphor for grit and determination

This is a special note not related to the dispute with the ex but worthy of reporting. I use a bluetooth mobile phone headset, particularly while driving as it is safer and given I use a prosthesis on my left arm it is also practical. During one very cold morning this winter (I believe it was January 23rd, 2008 the day I was to take Delia to school early to catch the bus for Buttermilk downhill ski lessons with her classmates.) I lost the headset in the driveway after a heavy snowfall while trying to start my truck. I needed to hook cables to the battery under the hood. I must have moved my ear against the upraised collar of my coat and given the coldness didn't feel the headset fall off. It disappeared under the snow of which we have had copious quantities. Delia saw it on the weekend sitting forlornly out of the melting snow, its tarnished grey body attesting to the cold and dark grave it sat in for over two months. What a keen eye she has. I immediately took it in the house and started drying it out. Water had gotten into the electronics portion and was dripping out as the device was tapped against my wrist. I put it on the window ledge and let it soak up sunshine and heat and then overnight on the furnace grate to catch the warm air circulating. I checked it after 24 hours on the grate and it seemed to be dry. I plugged it into the charger and the flashing red light came on. A good sign I thought. This morning the blue light was burning steadily meaning a full charge. I'm wearing it now and it is fully functional. I am impressed. It spent over 2 months under the snow and ice, got driven over many times in its icy cocoon and yet it is functional. This is not a commercial by any stretch of the imagination nor do I have shares in Plantronics but I am one impressed user of this device. It is a bit of good news amidst all the gloom. My daughter has great visual acuity and helped rescue this headset from its icy grave. That it works is testament to not giving up against what appear to be very large odds. I could have thrown it out but instead persisted. Let persistence relating to this device I recovered and rehabilitated be a metaphor for any parent being alienated from their children. Don't give up - be determined! Your children are your legacy and worth every ounce of love and resolve you can give. What else is there in life more important than your progeny and family. Family is the basic building block of our civilization and is, therefore, fundamental to all that flows outward whether it be your part of the street, the neighbourhood, the community... Mike Murphy