Saturday 18 June 2011

Has The Light Come Back On?

This is my 200th post. It feels like some kind of milestone as if I should mark the occasion in some way – but I’m all out of ideas.

The ISP said they’d sort out the internet connection problem – or should I say lack of connection problem. Phone calls were made every few days and vague promises to look into it were made. Eventually they said it would be sorted out in 48 hours. It was like seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

48 hours came and went and the problem was considerably worse – it was down more than it was up. Terribly sorry they said, but it will be sorted. They were monitoring the situation.

More phone calls, more apologies – but rest assured it has been passed to a higher level team to sort out. Was it possible to speak to these higher level people? Alas no, they are terribly busy and not answering their phones – they will ring you. It should be within 72 hours.

The goalposts were being moved it seemed. The light at the end of the tunnel had dimmed.

72 hours passed. No one called. The problem got worse. The connection would come up long enough to download emails – but perhaps not all of them if there was a backlog. Nothing more frustrating than seeing you have 4 emails downloading only for it to die before the fourth one comes down so you’re left wondering. It’s like knowing the postman has delivered a letter for you to next door by mistake, but they’re out and you don’t know when they’re coming back.

Apologies gushed forth – they’re so busy “up there” those mystical internet fixers; they’re not answering their phones.

Flash here to a room full of people wearing party hats and blowing those noisy unravelling things with feathers on the end. The music is deafening. There are sausage roll crumbs all over the desks and the bins are full of empty bottles. They’re cavorting about, playing and partying and they’re not fixing my internet.

More apologies and the news that it could be up to NINE DAYS before they get in touch. NINE DAYS? Sorry, I know that’s shouting but it’s been weeks, the goalposts are practically out of sight now and the light at the end of the tunnel went out some time ago.

They might be able to arrange a refund of part of the broadband fees in the meantime. Oh might they? How generous. Well that’s big of them isn’t it, offering to maybe not charge us for the service we aren’t getting.

In the grand scheme of things a dodgy internet connection is not of major importance, but it is bloody frustrating.

For instance, I was ordering three e-books. Simples. Yes and it took me two hours to complete the order with the connection coming and going. Well no, I wasn’t sat there waiting for two hours; I did a bit of writing while I waited – but annoying – yes it was.

I’ve left comments here and there – or thought I have, but the connection vanishes before the comment appears.

So here I am, 200th post, and having a rant. Sorry folks.

But… my new computer is ordered along with all the new-fangled gubbins to go with it which means I may be able to get on with stuff without having to restart my computer every so often because it’s gone into meltdown. In an ideal world, this time next week I’ll be using my new computer and I’ll have a broadband connection I can actually use when I want to use it.

I do want to say thanks to Jarmara for identifying the mystery plant from my last post. Salsify. Now I know. Several of us do. In cases like this the internet is wonderful.

I’d also like to direct you to Diane Fordham’s blog. I can’t comment unfortunately, Blogger says no, but if you want to see fiction restored to women’s magazines, Diane’s blog is a good place to start and she's already had some positive feedback.

And also in case you’ve missed them, check Lynne’s blog for the Yesterday posts by Josi – they are not to be missed. I promise you won't be disappointed.

I’m going to post this while I can and hope normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. Having said that, it has been running now for a few hours without cutting out. Is this a sign of things to come? Or is it a last gasp from the router before it blows up? Time will tell, but I am feeling quietly optimistic and the little light is staying on. Perhaps those people "up there" have fixed it after all.

Before I go I should just say that every cloud has a silver lining. Without the distraction of the internet I’ve been writing, seeking new horizons and for the first time in months I don’t owe anyone an email! So maybe I should stop moaning now and look on the bright side!

21 comments:

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  2. Hi Teresa,
    Glad you're back online. You've been writing more stories? Now that's music to my ears. Looking forward to reading them.

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  3. Sorry to hear about your troubles with the internet, Teresa. I know how frustrating that can be.

    When my ISP was Tiscali, everything was fine for about three years. Then TalkTalk took over, and it all went downhill. Back with BT now. So far, so good.

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  4. It is a really frustrating problem - probably because there's nothing we can do to fix it ourselves and nothing we can use instead. If we can't see the e-mail, we don't know who sent it so can't ask them what they wanted to say. If a car breaks down we can walk, if the oven dies we can go to the chippy. If the internet crashes all we can do is rant - and then get on with some real writing.

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  5. Congratulations on your 200th post Teresa.
    Hope your computer issues get sorted soon. Nothing more annoying than an unreliable connection.

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  6. Yes - 200th post sounds good! Well done, and I hope you staywith us now for a while, Teresa!

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  7. Thanks Suzie – I’ve not exactly been writing stories, but more spreading my wings in other directions just to see where it takes me :)

    Would you believe, Martin, five minutes after I posted this the internet went down – but it was back up in a couple of minutes and has been working properly since (touch wood!).

    That is it exactly Patsy! You’ve hit the nail on the head. It is that helpless feeling.

    Thank you Carol. Once I get all this sorted out I’ve a lot of catching up to do with blogs and forums!

    Thank you, Frances.

    And this is weird – according to my dashboard this was post 201 – can I blame that on the computer do you think? Sigh. Somehow 201st post doesn't have the same ring.

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  8. Bad news, Martin. I am with bT and the connection is always going off. My theory is that option oners get knocked off when option twoers (paying a bit more) want to get on.

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  9. Welcome back, Teresa and congrats on your 200th post.
    Hope all connection probs are soon sorted.

    P.S. Diane has changed her settings so you should be able to comment as 'anonymous' on her blog now.

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  10. We used to be with BT, marian - long time ago. You could be right with your theory!

    Thanks, Pat - I've just been over to visit Diane and I was able to leave a comment :)

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  11. Congrats on your 200th post. So sorry to hear about your problems with Broadband. I know how frustrating it can be when you can't do what you want, when you want. Nevertheless, keep smiling and keep writing.

    Cheers!

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  12. Hi I'm Elizabeth. Wow 200th posting, me, this is my first!

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  13. Thanks Eileen - so far so good!

    Hi Elizabeth - I love your blog, another one for me to follow!

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  14. Congratulations on your 200th posting, Teresa. Hmm, that's made me feel rather verbose. I've only been blogging for 13 months longer than you and, having clocked up 685 posts, around 200 a year it's clear that I need to spend less time blogging and more time writing for publication! LOL

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  15. Hey Teresa - you poor thing, lol. You soooo deserved that rant. Welcome back... touching that wood... hopefully all works well for you now! Thanks for the mention in the post too, I appreciated that x

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  16. The good thing is that it's meant time for more writing. I'm always trying to achieve that, but more distractions seem to crop up every day!

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  17. Congrats on the 200 posts, Teresa!

    I can feel your frustration - last Monday I was tearing my hair out as my Internet connection was playing a 'now you have it, now you don't' game ALL DAY AND EVENING. I should have followed Joanna's advice and used it for writing!

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  18. 685 - blimey Jacula you are a prolific bloggerist!

    Hi Diane - I spoke too soon, it's been down more than up today. You probably heard me screaming all the way round there in Australia!

    Yes, I've been writing more, Joanna - and reading more!

    It's hard though, Rosemary - you can't help but keep clicking to see if it's come back can you when it's up and down like that.

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  19. I heard you screaming Teresa, and I don't blame you one little bit. What a pain in the you know what! Hopefully before you know it this internet prob will be a distant bad memory, or else I will be screaming along side you until they actually do something about it! x

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  20. You have been awarded the Stylish Bloggers award. You will need to stop my my blog and pick it up.

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  21. It is still being sorted out, Diane, but at least now something is being done.

    Thank you, Eileen :) I'm heading over to your blog now - if the internet will stay up long enough!

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