Stranger to Friend

I was introduced to the Tech Cadre by a stranger visiting my school at the beginning of the school year.  I didn't sign up with this cadre until the Fall Break that D.O.E. schools just came off of. Since then, my school email has been receiving so much mail, I almost regretted joining this cadre.

That was how I felt, until today...

I was having problems with a wireless router up in one of our buildings. The laptops detected it, it had a strong signal to it, but the laptops couldn't connect to it. I tried all that I knew how to do. Then, I thought...I'll post my problem to the Tech Cadre! Boy, did I get a response.  And, immediately, I might add. My next thought was...are people just sitting at their computers waiting to respond? I mean, I got lengthy emails from others giving me suggestions on what to check and I even got one that scolded me for using that type of router. The best was that the help I was getting was beyond me. I told a friend out of frustration, "Why can't someone just offer to come and help me."

I finally went back to my classroom. I checked my email, and I couldn't believe what I read. A somewhat stranger (after all, he is a teacher) wrote, "If you stay till after 3:30, I can come and help you tomorrow." I looked at the sender; the tech person was from Wheeler. You see, my school is in Kaneohe and Wheeler is in Wahiawa. I quickly responded, "I would gladly wait for you. Do you live in Kaneohe? I wouldn't want you to come out of your way, but I appreciate the gesture." It was late, so I left work right after that.

The thought lingered in my mind. I thought, do I know this person, is this person just being nice, is this for real? When my friend came over to exercise, I told her about this. She teased me, "Is he a forgotten, long, lost boyfriend?" I laughed, "No way; my memory is not that bad!" We got so curious; we googled him. I saw what he looked like (Wheeler had their teacher's pictures posted). I came to the conclusion that I didn't know this person. I figured, if he really comes to help me, I better have something to thank him. I worked my crafty magic, created a pencil out of Rolo and a Hersey Kiss (idea from Pinterest), and attached a tag that read, "Mahalo for your kindess!"

When I returned to school this morning, I got another email from him. He responded that he did indeed live in Kaneohe, his niece and nephew attended my school in the early 2000s, and this would give him an excuse to leave his school early. Well, what would you guess? At 3:30, he arrived at my school.

We introduced ourselves, and I did remember having his niece as a student but not his nephew. I quickly learned that this guy was not only kind, he was so into this stuff.  He showed me an app that detects wireless systems. In the short time he was there, I was learning a whole lot. I took him up to the building where the wireless router was. The app showed the wireless router. He worked his magic and 'tada', the laptops connected to router. I now know what the "magic trick"is so I can perform it the next time I have the same problem. I also now have the app on my smart phone.

So I am thankful that I did join this Tech Cadre and now I don't regret joining. It worked for me...there's wireless in D building and I made a friend today.