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15 January 2011

Broke "THE Rule"

     Ever set out to solve a problem, and before long, you begin to decide that maybe that problem really wasn't so much of a problem as it was an opportunity for "improvement?"   Now, your problem has become two or more problems, and you find yourself wishing you had your original problem back.
     This happens to me less frequently than it used to, but I still occasionally find myself breaking one of the few rules I have for living: "If it works, don't fix it."
     Thursday after work, I decided I'd do what I'd been thinking of doing for a while.  I didn't like the internet modem and wireless router in the northwest corner of the living room with a bunch of other electronic stuff and The Great Tangle of Cords.  There was nothing really wrong with where the internet stuff was, I just thought I could improve upon this "problem."
     Uh-huh.  After splicing cables and drilling holes through the outside and inside walls of the house, my modem fell 18" from where I had placed it on a chair and instantly became a worthless plastic box with a useless circuit board inside it.  In a word: trash.
     First thing the next morning I was spending 60+ dollars for a new modem.  Brought it home, connected it, ran the set-up assistant, and failed to establish an internet connection.  Called the cable company, spent an hour on the phone trying various troubleshooting techniques.  No internet connection.  The phone rep scheduled a repair person to come to the house the following afternoon.
     Did I mention that I like things that work?  As if that wasn't enough, I just noticed that an ember from that fire I'm learning so many lessons from has landed on my keyboard and burned a hole the size of a pencil eraser, half of the hole burned away the top of the Backspace key and half of the hole burned away the bottom of the Pause key.  Lovely.
     Am I the only one that has a love/hate relationship with all things technical?  I'd love to hear your thoughts...

4 comments:

  1. Priceless, Pops! If this posting was printed out and lying in the street covered in tread marks, I could read it and know exactly who its author was. Classic.

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  2. The ember is saying it's time for a MacBook and a fireplace screen.

    I played modem games for years, although they mostly worked fine until I decided I needed a faster one. Finally we got FIOS (fiber optic) from Verizon and it has been the best thing ever. I pay more but everything works and I never have to buy another modem.

    But I think you got it fixed since you were able to blog!!

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  3. Funny you should mention that... I'd been talking to my neighbor about how fed I up I've been lately with PC's and he mentioned that he hasn't had a problem in the four years he's had his Mac. Belinda and I started with a Mac back in the mid-90's, but succumbed to the pressure of the PC lemmings, where I've stayed incarcerated ever since. So Jeannie and I wandered into the Apple store at the Biltmore and I was closer than ever to using my PC's for boat anchors and buying a MacBook. But I decided to sleep on it, and as fate would have it, my PC troubles resolved, at least for the time being. Yeah, I was chatting with a Cox Cable tech while at work this week and he said fiber optic is the way to go. Sigh.

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  4. Thanks, Kel. I'm thinking of you every few minutes in these last hours before you go. Barring any unforeseen events, I'll see ya there in less than two months! I'm really gonna miss our Tuesdays/Fridays...

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