Digital Doris

I felt wretched most of the weekend -- a summer cold that continues to wear me out. I am forcing myself to eat, and pushing fruit into me. But I feel drained. And Sunday, I realized that 6 June (a deadline) falls not on Tuesday, but Monday. So it was work on Sunday. Despite feeling like a proverbial crock.
Anyway, I got it done. And I'm glad about that. I hate going over a deadline. Not that it happens much. The trick is never to send in too early or late. By return there was an email that said 'thanks!'. So that was nice.
What else? Today has been telecom day. I discovered my landline phone was dead this afternoon. It's weird, broadband is on the same line and that has continued to work just fine. I have no idea how long the home phone has been like that. Anyway, the phone man is coming tomorrow morning. I hope it is the line and not my home phone/fax. The line, he'll fix; if it is the phone/fax that will be down to me. An expense I can do without. Nothing to be done. The morning will bring an answer.
Let me count the ways, today has been telecom day. I tried ringing the government number to set up an appointment to get the new 'Smart ID card'. Voice Mail Hell. But instead of just punching in numbers, you have to interact and speak to an electronic Digital Doris. Who asks you to say your year of birth and then after you have said it, Digital Doris repeats it to confirm. The bloody thing has cloth ears. Or maybe it is my cold. Still there is a huge difference between the sound of 'eight' and 'nine'. I don't think my cold can account for Digital Doris's confusion.
Maybe there was too much background noise? I tried all this from my mobile while having coffee in a dai pai dong. [link is to a cool HK University webpage by some students who did research on said institution]
Go to Plan B. Thence, I came home to phone, which is how I discovered my home phone was dead.
Go to another Plan B. Surf over to the HK ID website -- which wouldn't work for me because it demands you use a Microsoft browser and have a printer. Printer is down, so I didn't bother to switch browser.
Go to another Plan B. Find another government number, punch the mobile, listen, punch a number, listen, punch a number... and finally, yes, through to a human. I go next Thursday afternoon to trade in my old ID for a 'Smart' one. Oh, somewhere in all that I stopped at Ally's shop for a pot of green tea and a chat... so that was nice too. Wherever you are, have a day. Ciao!