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I'd tell you all about how the hours without internet and TV brought us closer together as a family, and how the time without the technological intrusions made us re-discover each other, and helped us to really connect again. But that's not what happened, and I find it hard to believe that it really does happen to anyone. Sure, it makes for a good story, but... the truth, I think, is always better. Stupid magazines are ruining society, anyway (more on that later, when we discuss Hypochondria and the book I just read).
So anyway, here's the story. It's 10:30 am on a Sunday and I'm sitting at my computer, watching TV and aimlessly surfing the net. Suddenly - static. With dread I click on a link and, as I feared, no internet. Okay, stay calm, it's been out before. And recently, our service has been getting rather spotty. But it usually comes back in a few hours. Sure, the internet has been down for up to 6 hours before, but the cable? Deep breaths, still 4 hours to the football game (I mean, it's the playoffs). And even if it's something horrible because of the cold weather and you miss the first game, it doesn't really matter. Really, to be honest you don't care about any of the teams anyway, right? Right. Besides, now I can be productive. I could... play my computer game! No, wait, I'm stuck and I need a hint. I could look it up on li... right. I could... clean. Okay, I'll do some cleaning.
Noon rolls around and nothing. So I finally call the cable company. They maintain there are no outages in our area, and it must be just us. They'll send someone out Wednesday to fix it. Okay, two problems with this. Wednesday is three days away, and why the hell should I have to take a day off work so you can fix a problem? I get testy, and tell them I will expect a refund for the four days we went without service. She says, sure, no problem, just call back after you get service back and they'll do that. Of course they're not going to make it easy on me. After 30 minutes on hold and 20 minutes of talking to both the cable people and the internet people, I've gotten nowhere. It looks like we'll be out until Wednesday (at which time you bet I'd demand $20 off my bill!). I stew. I read. I even craft a little while listening to the game on the radio (and I found there was, indeed, something worse than the sports announcers on TV...). Hubby was down in the basement, I was upstairs. Pretty much the same configuration with cable and internet, so not any additional bonding going on there. You may argue that I did clean and craft and read, so maybe not having the services made me more productive. But I would point to Thursday evening, when I had full service and managed to accomplish more in three hours than I do on some weekends. If you're in the mood or it has to be done, you'll do it. If I don't feel like doing anything and there's no TV, there's always a DVD or staring blankly at a wall. Yup, been there, done that. Mostly at work, I admit.
Anyway, at 4 we head out to walk the dog, and, lo and behold, there is a cable truck parked on the street. We head that way and I ask what's going on, and he tell me that the whole side of the street is out, and he's repaired one chunk of cable, but some are still out. So he's still working on it. I wish him luck and we continue on our merry way.
Not too long after we get home with the dog the cable comes back on. Life is good again. The moral of this story is: if you cable or internet is out, please call the cable company ASAP. They don't know it's a widespread problem until enough people call to show a cluster. I know I will not be waiting patiently anymore - no more benefit of the doubt for me! And I assume they no longer have to show up on Wednesday, so no more worries about that.
Other things crappulant yesterday (besides the Vista thing): our stove decided to act up again. The thing is ancient and needs to be replaced. We almost (seriously, almost) considered not buying the bookshelves for the basement and replacing the stove, instead. But those shelves were his birthday present, and I'd really like to get the boxes of books unpacked from the garage and out from under the pool table. So if the stove keeps being a complete pain, I guess I'll empty the savings account and buy a new one. Unless anyone knows a quick and easy way to make $2,500 that doesn't include illegal activities or medical research? *sigh* Didn't think so.
Also, I've noticed a big upswing in spam lately. Which, I guess makes SpamArt easier, but it's also really annoying. And my TV is making a high-pitched squeal and my monitor is buzzing... ARGH.
So anyway, here's the story. It's 10:30 am on a Sunday and I'm sitting at my computer, watching TV and aimlessly surfing the net. Suddenly - static. With dread I click on a link and, as I feared, no internet. Okay, stay calm, it's been out before. And recently, our service has been getting rather spotty. But it usually comes back in a few hours. Sure, the internet has been down for up to 6 hours before, but the cable? Deep breaths, still 4 hours to the football game (I mean, it's the playoffs). And even if it's something horrible because of the cold weather and you miss the first game, it doesn't really matter. Really, to be honest you don't care about any of the teams anyway, right? Right. Besides, now I can be productive. I could... play my computer game! No, wait, I'm stuck and I need a hint. I could look it up on li... right. I could... clean. Okay, I'll do some cleaning.
Noon rolls around and nothing. So I finally call the cable company. They maintain there are no outages in our area, and it must be just us. They'll send someone out Wednesday to fix it. Okay, two problems with this. Wednesday is three days away, and why the hell should I have to take a day off work so you can fix a problem? I get testy, and tell them I will expect a refund for the four days we went without service. She says, sure, no problem, just call back after you get service back and they'll do that. Of course they're not going to make it easy on me. After 30 minutes on hold and 20 minutes of talking to both the cable people and the internet people, I've gotten nowhere. It looks like we'll be out until Wednesday (at which time you bet I'd demand $20 off my bill!). I stew. I read. I even craft a little while listening to the game on the radio (and I found there was, indeed, something worse than the sports announcers on TV...). Hubby was down in the basement, I was upstairs. Pretty much the same configuration with cable and internet, so not any additional bonding going on there. You may argue that I did clean and craft and read, so maybe not having the services made me more productive. But I would point to Thursday evening, when I had full service and managed to accomplish more in three hours than I do on some weekends. If you're in the mood or it has to be done, you'll do it. If I don't feel like doing anything and there's no TV, there's always a DVD or staring blankly at a wall. Yup, been there, done that. Mostly at work, I admit.
Anyway, at 4 we head out to walk the dog, and, lo and behold, there is a cable truck parked on the street. We head that way and I ask what's going on, and he tell me that the whole side of the street is out, and he's repaired one chunk of cable, but some are still out. So he's still working on it. I wish him luck and we continue on our merry way.
Not too long after we get home with the dog the cable comes back on. Life is good again. The moral of this story is: if you cable or internet is out, please call the cable company ASAP. They don't know it's a widespread problem until enough people call to show a cluster. I know I will not be waiting patiently anymore - no more benefit of the doubt for me! And I assume they no longer have to show up on Wednesday, so no more worries about that.
Other things crappulant yesterday (besides the Vista thing): our stove decided to act up again. The thing is ancient and needs to be replaced. We almost (seriously, almost) considered not buying the bookshelves for the basement and replacing the stove, instead. But those shelves were his birthday present, and I'd really like to get the boxes of books unpacked from the garage and out from under the pool table. So if the stove keeps being a complete pain, I guess I'll empty the savings account and buy a new one. Unless anyone knows a quick and easy way to make $2,500 that doesn't include illegal activities or medical research? *sigh* Didn't think so.
Also, I've noticed a big upswing in spam lately. Which, I guess makes SpamArt easier, but it's also really annoying. And my TV is making a high-pitched squeal and my monitor is buzzing... ARGH.