In the time since the last entry, I have discovered the extent of my broadband-dependence: after a two-hour power cut a couple of weeks ago, I restarted the PC to find no connection. The stress of the next few days stripped away the veneer of civilisation, Polyanna and all, and revealed my inner Neanderthal - though we are told that the latter were peaceable creatures so I am being unfair to them.
My line was BT; my ISP, Pipex; my router, Belkin; my online life, therefore, effectively over. Each blamed the other - the power cut being blamed the most, so that brought Powergen into the equation as well. A new router lay there, helpless and inert, its little green light refusing steadfastly to come on. A nice IT man pocketed his cheque and went on his way, head shaking. Then came back twice more, feeling too guilty to cash it before doing everything in his power short of sacrificing a Pipex director (only because none was to hand).
Oh yes, nothing wrong with the line, we have had BT check it. Our server is champing at the bit, ready and willing to send and receive if you can raise your game to make a connection.
So much hand-washing went on that it made Pontius Pilate and Lady Macbeth look like a couple of crusties. My enormous subscription for so called 'business service' level Pipex support was found to be insufficient to persuade them to even call me on the phone. Instead they would text my mobile and require me to ring them, which almost invariably involved being played irritating music for an average of twenty minutes atime. After three days I calculated I had spent at least seven hours on the phone, mostly grinding my teeth whilst on hold. Given the shortage of NHS dentists, this could not go on.
In then end I admitted defeat and signed up to BT - at least them there would be just the one culprit. I still had no connection but that would be their problem. Explaining this to a sales adviser, I was told that as I was now their customer they would check the line themselves.
The next morning, a little light appeared on the router. What a coincidence - the line was now working. That wouldn't be anything to do with the fact that I was now going to be a BT customer, would it?
Then followed the nightmare of getting the BT Home Hub - which meant waiting in for a whole day only to discover - after three calls to BT - that someone had neglected to process my order, despite sending me two text messages instructing me to be in to sign for it, and two letters. A series of calls ensured before any further progress, including one bizarre conversation with someone in an Indian call centre who was operating on a different calendar to everyone else. Eventually it arrived, was installed, worked perfectly - but now I am involved in the process of shifting my old 'narrowband' BT email address to my broadband connection (despite being blithely assured at the start that this would be automatic).
What the hell. It's not like it really matters, I have better things to do that look at a screen all day (oops! that's another centimetre on the nose again!).
