In the spirit of the Washington City Paper's "Conspiracy Theory" feature (mentioned this morning at Chataway), and further inspired by one of &realityspeaks 's top posts...I would like to invent a new superstition. I think this one can be useful to all of us Bubblers because, whether there's anything to it or not, it will definitely improve the Bubbling experience.
Here's the superstition: "When the Internet keeps running slowly and/or going down, and/or the site you are using or visiting does, finding something worthwhile to do at the computer center will signal the Cybergremlins that they can't get to you, and motivate them to leave you alone."
Proof? I waited for a rainy day to come to the computer center. (When I got out of the car, the rain stopped. Now it's sunny and warm outside with a delectable cool breeze, and I wish I were at home.) Did e-mail. Did Chataway, during which the Internet blinked out for two minutes. Opened Bubblews...and the Internet immediately went down. The breeze was blowing, the air was tempting, and there I was, stuck at the computer center until 8 p.m. unless I felt inclined to walk thirty miles. So after refreshing the screen ten or fifteen times, but before saying unprintable words out loud, I remembered that I'm in a college library. And hadn't I seen Margaret Atwood's Maddadam in here? I walked over to the Literature shelf and found The Year of the Flood. Turned away from the computer, set the book on a table, took out some food, started eating and reading. The Internet immediately came back up and behaved itself and I've been reading and reacting to e-friends' Bubblews ever since.
Now I wonder if they'll let me take The Year of the Flood home? Cybergremlins? What's that?
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