Ah, this technical age. Ain't it Wonderful? We have all been led down this merry path about how wonderful this New Technological Age is today. Why with cell phones, computers, the internet; what else could you want or need? All these new gadgets are supposed to bring us closer together, save us time, and expand our opportunities to learn from and interact with each other. Hey, all this is fine and good, as long as it is all working. Last week I was having a variety of problems with my computer and the internet. The computer kept "crashing" by shutting down and rebooting with that little message that I could restart in "safe mode" and find and fix this problem. Easier said than done. No I don't have an IT or programming degree. I must muddle through the process the best I can with the Help screens provided along with the computer and the software and most of them are now internet based. They want to go off onto the internet for connection to some server where all that information is conveniontly stored for instant access. Yeh right, as long as your internet connection is working properly! That is when I began to notice that the internet didn't seem to be working properly. Now I am not only trying to figure out the problem with the computer, but I have to check my wireless router and the cable modem as well. I know what happens when you call the Internet Service Provider, they go through this whole set of questions about whether you have rebooted your computer, if you have reset your wireless router, and if you have checked your power supply to your modem. Heaven forbid that I insinuate the problem may be at their end. Well I go through the "safe mode" scenario and restore a previous setting for the computer and all seems well. Next I unplug the wireless router, and then the modem. I wait a few mintes and plug them back in according to previous instructions given when I went through this process in the past. Still no go! I repeat this process again and while I have everything unplugged I go back and check my computer. I also turned on another computer which I sometimes use which has a direct wired connection to the router. After reconnecting all the cables and power supplies I get the computer connection to the wireless router established and all seems well. Whoa, not too fast. There is still no internet connection. Now it's time to call the ISP. Well you probably now how this works. You listen to one of those recorded messages, you make your selections and after a number of overlapping menus you finally get told "your call will be answered by the service technicians in the order in which it is received". I always get ideas of banks of telephone switchboards with a number of operators sitting and waiting to switch your call to the proper technician to handle your own particular problem. When I was a kid my mother worked as a telephone operator for Bell Telephone and later for a large retail store, Montgomery Wards, and after that she worked for a large insurance and service provider in Texas. I remember seeing pictures of her sitting at one of those switchboards with a half dozen or so other operators answering and switching calls to their proper destination. I know it doesn't work that way any more, but I still get that picture in my mind when I call a large company with some problem, a complaint, or even to just get some information about their products or services. Well anyway I finally spoke with someone who seemed knowledgable, pleasant and most helpful. I explained my problem and the steps I had taken to solve it. He politely explained that a number of other people in my area have been having similar problems because of a recent series of thunderstoms we had been having. Before returning the modem for replacement he suggested that I do as I had done previously except that I wait approximately 30 mintes before replugging power supplies to each part of my system. I thought 'sure, like the modem and the router can tell the difference between 2 or 3 minutes and 30 minutes'. I am skeptical but I try it as he has suggested. Success! The internet is restored and the computer seems to be working for now. Now I can finally do that Blog which I wanted to get posted for this weekend. Now, what was I going to write about? I can't remember! One of the principals I have worked with called this "Old Timers Disease" but that is another topic for another day. I find that sometimes I have to get away from something for a while and then I will remember what I was doing before I started working on that other ISProblem.
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P. S. I can't find that picture of my mother at the switchboard. If I can find it I will post it for all to see. Perhaps my brother has that picture in his photo album. He regularly posts old family photos. See his Blog, Horst Household Happeninmgs.
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