We get by with a little help from our friends

I started sending multiple emails during Sunday morning church services. Granted, Sunday ought to be a day of rest, and I understand and appreciate those who abide by such.

As it were, I arrived at the newspaper office on this most recent Sunday only to find that our Linksys ethernet hub was fried – most likely during a Friday power outage.

Finding a 16-port local area network hub in Hillsboro on a Sunday morning is the ultimate scavenger hunt – or close to it.

In other words, similar to Johnny Cash, I got to work on Sunday morning with no way to hold my head that didn't hurt.

The only two local stores that were open on Sunday morning that came to mind were Radio Shack and Walmart. The gentleman at the former suggested I call the latter – and vice versa.

I then called and emailed Tim Hamilton at Greystone Systems near Marshall. More on that in a moment.

Meanwhile, I was emailing anyone and everyone who may have had a cell phone number for Greystone Systems.

Knowing that the county government uses Greystone, I contacted Commissioners Shane Wilkin and Tom Horst and Auditor Bill Fawley. All three were quick to respond, for which I thank them. Shane was able to provide a cell number.

In between communications with the county officials, I'd also contacted Terry Mikkelsen, a local IT professional. In addition, I called, emailed or faxed Staples, Best Buy, Micro Center Computer Hubs R Us (OK, I made up that last one) and anyone else who might have a multi-port hub.

Then, for some reason, I called my friend Pat Hays, the general manager of WVNU Radio.

"Good morning, Rory," Pat said upon answering my call.

"Who takes care of your IT issues?" I asked, and explained my dilemma about a dead hub.

"You mean a switch?" Pat asked.

(I thought we might be entering into some sort of "Sling Blade" conversation; i.e., "Some folks call it a Sling Blade, I call it a Kaiser Blade.")

Switch. Hub. Any Port in a storm, I thought.

Then, Pat said three magic words. "I have one."

Sure enough, while our old Linksys hub is called a hub, the Netgear switch is called a switch.

Regardless, after a quick trip to Greenfield, when I pulled all the ethernet cables from the old hub and inserted them into the new switch, we were quickly back in business.

With an early press time due to New Year's Day, Pat's generosity is appreciated more than words can say. Thank you, Pat. Thank you. Thank you.

Also, my thanks to Tim Hamilton for returning a Sunday email and offering his assistance. Shane, Tom, Bill, Terry and the gentleman at the Beechmont Avenue Staples store also were kind enough to return a Sunday call. Thank you.

Lastly, my daughter, Meghan, gets a note of appreciation for going to Staples to pick up a new hub er ... switch, for us.

Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press.