Happenstance

Note: This article was recovered after the power interruption. Power is now restored. This was written a few hours ago via desktop. You may read first, Happenstance 2, written via phone. Just saying. :-)

I used the title as I happen to remember my virtual friend from abroad when we were chatting way back. She often used that word and last night, I was reminded of it.

What happened was not exactly anchored on the word’s meaning but it was close to it.

It was last Friday when we decided to use our television again. My husband preferred that our children watch television instead of using their phones for long periods of time in a day.

Even if I try hard to discipline them regarding their phone use, I still can’t monitor them enough especially when I get so busy with my work.

So hubby decided to use our TV again.

We have to buy a new set-top box (STB). We are using CIGNAL. Our old STB does not work any longer and instead of bringing it to the shop where we bought it for repair, we simply decided to buy a new one.

Hubby gave me the money to obtain a new STB. I went to town not knowing where to go and so I just went to my fave place, ate my fave food, and I went home. I didn’t make an effort to find one. I don’t know why.

At the corner of my mind, I was, maybe, thinking of what my sister-in-law told me before. I mentioned to her that our STB was not working anymore and so she suggested that we get their extra. It will not be used anymore anyway so it would be a waste not to let anyone use it.

Evening came and I was still indulgently sitting at my neighbor’s front yard. Such a very lazy day. Hubby came home, quite annoyed, maybe, of what I was doing. He came to see me and he carried my little girl who was playing. He was sending the message that I should hurry home.

My son came and I sent him to get the STB of my sister-in-law. He went and came again to tell me. I finally went home to figure out what to do.

First, I would need to look for the account number of the smart card inserted in the STB. Well, I don’t get the point of asking directly my sister-in-law when I can just figure out what to do on my own. I am usually like that.

So I recalled what the installation crew did when they installed our CIGNAL satellite dish and looked for the account number. I pressed the menu, searched for the Diagnostics, and pressed it. I saw the SC ID which was needed to retrieve the account number.

My mistake was, instead of using that SC ID, I still used the SC ID I saw on the sticker that was inside the STB box where it was housed by my sister-in-law. I knew then that it could be different from that of the STB itself. I even did not verify if they are the same. So careless of me.

So it was the SC ID I saw on the sticker that I used to retrieve the account number. Once I received the account number, I loaded it immediately with 300. Another mistake. I waited for 5 minutes to see if we already have channels. Then 10 minutes. 30 minutes, an hour. I was starting to get impatient so I messaged CIGNAL via chat. I waited for the troubleshooting to be successful but it was unsuccessful.

Then it was now time to confirm my mistake.

This morning, I sent a message to my sister-in-law.

“I think I might have loaded the wrong account number.”

“Let me check our television.”

A few minutes later, she came back with a video chat and on her background is their TV airing the cartoon channel.

Indeed, the sticker that was put on the same box as the STB was the sticker of the newer STB of my sister-in-law. She may just have put it there by mistake. I was the one who told her all my carelessness and so they now have channels while we do not have.

I repeated the same process but this time I was more careful. I went to the diagnostics screen again and typed in the correct SC ID in order to retrieve the account number. Actually…! It was easier to just pull out the smart card and check the SC ID but then my stupidity got the better of me. I was able to retrieve the account number and loaded it with the minimum I could load it. It was successful. My children are now watching television and so the children of my sister-in-law.

I still couldn’t believe my stupidity was that GREAT! Not only my stupidity but my impatience to get things done very quickly.

At least, hubby didn’t scold me even if he was annoyed for my indulgence yesterday.

That was the happenstance of yesterday.

I hope I learned yet again the lesson of carefulness, prudence, and patience. And many more!

I believe I am able to perform things technically but arrogance is a bane. Yesterday, I was arrogant I could do it on my own and I was impatient just to show off I could do things on my own and it cost me 300 plus pesos.