Oh, the Technology!



See that? That's a picture of our driveway, taken by Ana this morning, in a rare overlap of her "pride" and my "goeth before a fall."

I'll explain, shall I?

Lest y'all were thinking that maybe I'd grown up, started seeing a REAL therapist and was done forever with my trademarked "Lucille Ball Develops a Twitch and a Drinking Problem Simultaneously" approach to life, dear reader, I give you today.

Well, actually, I give you last night.

At exactly eight-something in the evening, all of our linked communication devices --the satellite TV, the phones and, oh lordy, lordy, lordy, the INTERNET mysteriously went silent.

My husband, who really is a geek and is paid to be one, declared an OUTAGE. He made the requisite call to customer service, was promised a house-call on the morrow and went to bed.

I stayed up and tried to reconstruct my life. A life without Internet --it gave me pause.

But anywho, the next morning, there was still no .COM in our communication. Which left us with "unication" which means, um, NOTHING. As in, "Barb has no life without Internet! Nothing!"

So, I set about unplugging things and then holding my mouth differently and plugging them back in. And low and behold, it WORKED! First the satellite started working again and then my Internet. But the telephone? Still out.

Nevertheless, I was all cocky. I sent my husband an e-mail about how TECHNOLOGICAL I am and how impressed I was with myself.

And see? That's when the Karmic backlash became a necessity. Had I just mentioned that some services had been restored, perhaps I would not now feel like the biggest idiot on this planet.

The repair technician came in the early afternoon. He had to park in the street and hike up our hill because it's company policy that they are not allowed to park in the driveways of the clients. He was a little out of breath but perfectly, perfectly gracious about it.

So, he checked out the modem and it turns out that in all of my rebooting everything--you know, because I am SO TECHNOLOGICAL AND ALL-- I plugged the phone cable in upside down.

Took him less time to fix than it did to hike Mount Cooper.

His theory, not that he was TRYING to make me feel bad, is that there was some disturbance that resolved itself about the time I started my rebooting shtick.

I think I'll go out and steal someone's trash can and make my day complete.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Ha! That's great, my husband is always amazed with my inability to take care my computer, it's one my jobs at work... that I'm paid to do. I can't even figure out my own stuff.
So...replugging everything doesn't work? Next thing you'll tell me is that banging my mouse on the desk doesn't make the computer go faster...
Anonymous said…
Love the view.....from your friend in CO.

miss u!!!!
Anonymous said…
Would it have felt better if you had waited for the repair guy to show up and tell you that ALL of it would work perfectly well if you had only just rebooted?

We are at an impasse her over our internet. It needs rebooting several times a day. My husband is of the opinion that there is something wrong with the cable because the router keeps resetting itself - the signal is obviously intermittent. The cable company, on the other hand, insists that there is something wrong with our router because it keep resetting itself. Neither side is willing to budge, or for that matter talk to each other directly.
Lynn said…
OK, now I feel nervous about plugging in my new-to-me speakers for the computer. I think I'll just go knit a few rows, instead.

The view from Mount Cooper is lovely.
Tenna Draper said…
hmm...
Did you know that Windows put out a new service pack last night? Service Pack 3 for Windows XP.

I was still updating this morning when I had to leave for work.

But New York is well known for it's outages.

Take another picture of your driveway in about 5 weeks. It will give you a new lesson in living color.
Ann in NJ said…
My hubby, who is also a tech professional, always says, "check the connections first." Unplugging and replugging is usually his first plan of attack.

So despite the phone (why do they make it so it FITS upside down, then?) you probably DID give the systems the smack upside the head that they needed. Good job!

And Tenna's comment explains why my computer's been grinding away - thanks!
MadMad said…
Heh! I once called the oil company because our heat was "out" only to have to pay the $120 service call fee for them to turn on the emergency off-switch someone had flipped in my front hallway. That was fun.
Ei said…
I'd totally do that. :)
Stefanie said…
Rock on, Barb. Steal their recycle bin too for extra karmic completion.

By the way, the 'unication' thing was incredible clever! Hats off to you. :)
calamityjane(t) said…
oh, i think that this is your best yet!
from your other friend in CO that you didn't know you had... and i thought that i was the lone red dot on your u.s. map of readers... shoot.
DK said…
"So, I set about unplugging things and then holding my mouth differently and plugging them back in."

This line made me laugh so hard Maggie came over to make sure I wasn't having some sort of convulsion.

See, my usual technique for things that aren't working right is as follows:

1. Swear loudly
2. If it's electronic, try rebooting/replugging/begging
3. Swear some more
4. Hit the insubordinate device soundly
5. Swear again
6. Depending on the size of the object in question, either bang it furiously on the nearest hard surface and/or kick it. Alternatives, particularly for potentially fragile devices, include returning to steps 4 and/or 5 as necessary.
7. Call someone who knows what they're doing.

It amazes me just how rarely I have to resort to Step #7....
DK said…
LIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(See? You're really not that anonymous on these things...)

Sorry. Would've just included that in the previous comment, but, had already hit "post" when I read it...hope you're doing well, and haven't put the socks in the dryer yet.