Never, Ever Push the Reset Button (a good general rule to live by)

Photo courtesy the web. Caption added.

This has been a busy week.   As I mentioned, my internet was down for a few days.  This dilemma and major inconvenience led to late night blog postings in the library parking lot.  I hope y’all appreciated my posts this week because hanging out in the dark parking lot by my lonesome self was a bit creepy.  Sure, I could have forgone the blog this week but I know me.  Once I’m out of the habit I tend to forget to get back into it.  (Squirrel!)  That’s why I sat in the parking lot and posted.  I have no delusions it was for your benefit, I know it was for mine. 

Not only did I have late night library visits but I also had the opportunity to speak with Century Link representatives.  I wish I could remember their names because they deserve a little shout out.  Even if it is only to my faithful 5. 

 During my Monday night conversation I explained the problem I experienced with the internet.  The service tech listened and asked what steps I had already taken to solve the problem. 

“I turned off the modem.  Unplugged all the cords and wires,” I hesitated.  Should I confess everything?  Might as well.  “And I pushed the reset button.”

“Oh,” he said surprised at the disclosure.  “We generally don’t recommend pushing the reset button as that returns the modem to its factory setting.”

Oh, dangme.

Apparently there is some sort of Century Link training in remaining optimistic and positive with the customer.  He said in his next breath, “But way to go in trying every measure you could think of to restore the internet.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“No, that’s good.  We now know you have tried almost everything.”  He reassured me then he had me plug the modem into another phone jack.  Still no success.  “Okay, I am going to have to schedule a technician to come to your house.  The next available time is Wednesday morning.” But what will I do in that 24 hour block called Tuesday? No internet.  No Facebook.  The horror!

Tyler, the Century Link Technician visited on Wednesday morning.  He checked every room in the house (so glad my bed was made and no feminine articles of clothing were left out).  “How old is the house?” he asked.  Yes, we know our wiring is old.  Then he went outside and discovered the problem.  Late this summer we hired someone to come trim our tree.  He had to unhook our wires and didn’t hook them up quite right when he finished.

We had internet again.  Well, we would have if I hadn’t pushed the reset button.  When I got home from work I had to call Century Link again.  Another technician walked me through restoring the internet.  I told him I have learned my lesson to never, ever push the reset button again. 

Again, the Century Link positivity training came through.  “That’s okay,” he said and laughed. “Sometimes it is helpful.”

In any case, I plan on making a note to tape to the back of the modem.  It will read simply, “NEVER, EVER PUSH THIS TINY BUTTON RIGHT HERE.  BAD THINGS HAPPEN.”  Although I’m pretty sure I will remember from now on.

Internet Woes

Change of plans for today’s blog.  I’ve been internetless for a couple of days.  Again.  Mr. Internet Man (or Ms. Woman) will be here sometime this morning to fix it and make it better.  I hope.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s been fun driving around in the dark looking for public wifi hotspots to borrow.   Just for the record the library is a great spot.  However, sitting in a parked car in an empty parking lot on a dark night with only my monitor illuminating my face probably looked a bit suspicious.  I’m not going to lie; I got a bit of a rush and pretended I was doing something much more exciting like saving the world instead of posting my daily blog for my faithful 5 readers. 

All this forced time away from the internet led me to one question:  what did we do before we could connect with the world at our fingertips?  I’d like to say I did something productive with my downtime like pick up a book.  But that would be a lie.  I watched the Hulk on FX.  The one with Edward Norton and Liv Tyler.  And that led to another question, does Ty Burrell ever get the girl in a movie?   He got the shaft in the Hulk and National Treasure 2.  I kind of feel sorry for the guy.  I’d look up the answer myself but I have no internet.

(sigh) Fingers crossed Mr. Internet Man (or Ms. Internet Woman) can fix my problem.  I’m so tired of living in the primitive 20th century again.