Wasted day

What a pain! Went to check email yesterday morning about 8:30 and it wouldn't connect - couldn't get on to web either. So, I thought the exchange must be down, phoned broadband support - 'no, no reports of problems at that exchange.' So why's it not working? Tried all the usual, resetting the modem, had a look at the settings, etc, then he suggested trying the usb connection rather than the ethernet one (very embarrassing - me: 'I can't remember which I'm using'! Tech: blue or yellow cable?'). Now feeling like a complete idiot, but the computer keeps freezing and having to be restarted - (thank goodness the charges for that support had gone down from 75 cent per minute to 33!). Ok, sounds like a problem with the computer, not the connection. Phone AppleCare - spend well over an hour with them, trying all kinds of twiddles and twitches. No, sounds like it's the broadband, not the computer. Phone back to tech support at Eircom - guy says you could have phoned a cheaper line (nice of the first guy to tell me!), says the exchange had been down, but briefly, now fixed, tells me it might be a problem with the filter at the entry point. Even though I know that's not it, hang up, unplug filter, replug modem line, reset modem, nothing. Various runnings-around over, came back in the afternoon and started again. Phoned Eircom support, was told to phone the cheaper line, did so, told this tech what the last one had said to do, was told that wasn't a possibility. Me: 'so why did he say to do it?' Tech: 'probably just an Apple phobia!' High point of the day. ;) 'Nother 45 minutes or so on the phone to this guy 'testing in the Darwin window' (Me: ???) though I learned a lot more than I ever really wanted to know about Ping! (Not the book of the same name.) Tech: "System preferences is just not taking the TCP/IP settings - but I'm not sure enough about Apples to mess with that." Back to Applecare - get someone with a beautiful French-sounding, but not exactly, wish I'd had the courage to ask where he was from! - accent. Took me a little while to figure out 'ze heyecon' and 'ze hay-jan' (still not too sure about that last, 'agent' possibly another term for 'user'?), and then was told the problem was very difficult, so I'd be put on to an expert. Always makes you feel great! 30 minutes or so later, it's definitely the line - and one last test to prove it to Eircom so they'll send a technician out to test the line. Check something with Eircom, back to Apple, but Yvonne is busy, hey, whatever, this guy can talk me through this one last test. Which he's doing when he realises something's wrong (I even reminded him of something, vindicating my stupidity to a tiny extent!), we change another setting and it's working again! Except we've to dial up each time we restart the computer or log out, which we didn't have to do. Me: 'so why do we have to dial up now, and never before?' Tech: 'I can't understand why you didn't before!' Not entirely satisfactory, and I may twiddle when I can bear to look at the phone again, but having internet and email back again is so wonderful, I may not dare! (And the lengthy and excrutiatingly boring nature of this rant will show the bad effects of its deprivation to any who've actually read so far!)

At least yesterday, I did manage to finish The Mary-Sue Extrusion, though I was unable to write a journal entry (obviously). (Will link it when I do manage). Very enjoyable indeed - now that I've seen generalblossom's entry about the cat, I may have to type up a bit for her enjoyment: Dave Stone is clearly not a cat lover either! Also read about half of The Tale of Despereaux, which is sweet and charming and all, as everyone said, but is giving me a big hmmm reaction, which I haven't entirely placed yet.

Older daughter read The Great Ghost Rescue the other day, chuckling away as I was trying to wade through the Iliad! She loved it, and now younger daughter is reading it. I'll get my turn soon. ;)