Day 172: Internet withdrawal ...

I don't know if you noticed?

There was no blog yesterday.

Blogs for 171 days straight and then ...

AT&T stopped my momentum.

I had been reading about how we ....

are spending too much of our time connected?

And then, the ancient modem, Apple airport 

and new router decided to go on strike.

No internet access. 

Yesterday I just went with it. 

I "slothed", read the paper, napped, did laundry,

and watched the dresses at the Golden Globes. 

(I don't care who wins, I just like to look at the dresses)

I didn't panic yesterday, but today ...

is a workday and I want my internet!

I did all the normal fixes, unplugged, rebooted etc.

No internet connection, no matter what. 

So, when I got home from day class I got serious.

I called AT&T tech support!

You have to be desperate to make that call.

First I was told that I am indeed a lucky girl ...

I had just won a trip for two to Barbados ...

all I had to do was pay a $59.00 handling fee 

which would be collected if ...

I pressed any touchtone key. No escape. 

Then she repeated that to take advantage, press any key. 

I could hang up, right? But then start all over again?

I waited for other options. 

The recorded voice hung up on me!

@#$%^&*  *(&^%$%#  (*&^$$@

I called back. No trip this time, but a series of options.

I jumped through every prompt (hoop), until ...

the voice promised to connect me with a technician.

All were busy so I had to wait.

Finally, Mike introduced himself and ...

made the mistake of asking how I was doing.

He promised to take care of everything.

He had questions about my modem. 

I described it, name and model and soon realized that ...

a 15+ year old modem is a dinosaur in tech-world.

He said he could have one sent out in a couple of days.

Anyone who knows me, would say I am mild-mannered,

but ..."No, no, no, I need this up and running NOW!"

I must have sounded determined. 

Mike gave me the option of going to ...

the local AT&T store and getting a Netgear 7550 ...

to solve all my problems.

I agreed, but said I would need help installing.

Mike agreed to call me back in 90 minutes.

Meanwhile, I unpacked the 7550, cords etc.

I moved everything to get to the back of my Mac tower.

I had cord spaghetti and a lot of dust. No call.

 I am a college graduate, I should be able to do this.

I think about calling Brandon, but I know he is busy.

So I start. I start tracing cords.

I have the modem, airport and router unplugged.

Then I wonder if I inadvertently can blow up my Mac?

I call AT&T ... again.

After ten minutes of "hoops", I get Caroline.

Caroline had less patience than Mike.

I tell her what I have hooked up, she hangs up.

@#$%^&*  *(&^%$%#  (*&^$$@

Last ditch effort, I reboot the new 7550 modem ...

 and restart the Mac, and an AT&T page on screen!

I've done it!

But not so fast, they want my old password. What?

After three tries, I'm in and downloading an AT&T installer.

And now I have internet.