Due to tropical storms this month, I have been without
my internet connection a couple of times this month. You may think that it is
an easy thing to hook up again, it certainly is but apparently in a developing
country there is a lot of red tape for that to take place.
It took the company over a week to finally come by and
visit. First there was the hassle of calling them up, dialing different numbers
until finally you got some to talk to. You tell them that the problem is that
the modem has burned out due to the storm and them ask you nicely to please
disconnect it and then reconnect it, assuming that thought had never crossed
you mind. You inform them that you have already done it and they kindly ask you
to do it again while they wait on line. You go and do it and still nothing, not
even a blink of the modem light. Then finally they check their availability and
you check yours and the visit has been scheduled for the following Friday
afternoon, of course for that to take place you are the one who needs to cancel
all your appointment and be there for them from noon to six.
At first being without the internet was not so bad.
Day one I read a book and watched some TV. But the fact that my friends on
Facebook were not going to receive a birthday wish or an answer to a message
started getting to me.
On the second day, I decided to use my cell phone just
to take a peek if there were any messages and birthdays. The cell phone is not
the best option in my case for I do not have a phone plan that gives me the
benefits of using the 3G. However, the agony of not knowing what was going on
was starting to eat me up inside, so the cell phone was the only way to go.
On the third day, I started writing on my Facebook
wall that the internet was down at home and as a result I started receiving
kind messages and that was driving me up a wall because I couldn’t thank my
friends for their support.
On day four, that was madness. Once again I posted
that the internet was down and this time the messages were like “still”,
“haven’t you called the company yet”. These remarks kind of ticked me off, but
I guess that the people who wrote them have never had this problem. Or I´d
rather just think that to keep the peace.
Finally day five has arrived and it is the day of the
visit. I think I have never been so relieved to receive this visit in my home.
I do everything I need to do in the morning to make sure that I would be home
by noon. On this particular day I waited at the doctor´s office for half an
hour before she was ready to see me. I started to get excited about the fact
that finally I was going to be reconnected to the world. It is funny how some
years ago we did not even have the internet and lived perfectly well without
it. And nowadays when we do not have us it drives us mad. Lucky for me the
appointment had been scheduled for 10:30 and the visit was quick. I walk in the
door and the phone rings.
- Could I speak to so and so?
- It is I.
- Could I speak to so and so?
- It is I.
- The
technician is at the door of your apartment and the doorman says there is no
one home.
- Well,
why doesn’t he come up? I am here.
- The
doorman said there was no one. I´ll let him know. Thank you.
By now the blood starts boiling. Didn´t they say it
was from noon onward? It´s 11:45. You try to calm yourself down, after all you
notice that there is lack of communication in the company and what matters is
that you are going to be hooked up again to the world.
Twenty minutes has gone by and nothing. I call the
doorman and he informs me that no one has come for me. Strange! Did he leave?
Did he decide to go to another house and then come to mine later on during the
day? While you brain is fighting with your heart, the doorman rings. Yahoo the
solution to all my problems is here.
A young technician walks in and asks for a glass of
water. It is a hot day in this tropical country and he is going to help out, so
I gladly and quickly hand him a glass of cold water. I lead him to the office
and tell him that the modem burned out during Monday´s storm, five days ago. He
notices that I am desperate for the service to get done. He looks at the modem.
Disconnects it and reconnects and then turns to me and says “I have to go down
to the car and get a modem because your modem has burned out.” I immediately
try to get a hold over the bitch that lives in me and hates to be taken as an
imbecile and keep her under control, for isn´t that what I had told the woman
who attended me in the first place, and simply say, “Oh OK.”
After a few minutes, which seem like an eternity, he
comes back with a modem. Yahoo! He quickly hooks it up and I am thrilled to see
the lights blinking at full speed. He tests a website and voila we are
connected.
I spend the whole afternoon catching up with the news
and working on the PC. Two days go by and we are hit by another tropical storm
and yes the modem burned out once again. Here we go again.
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