Broadband - on a wing and a prayer

from w, Did a mouse kick the bucket and lie on a cable inside the wall? Did someone object to my writing about Fiji politics and creep inside the computer and stop the traffic? Did the error about daylight saving NOT starting today cause some error? It certainly did with mobile phones and our other computers were demanding that we change the time, though it’s not until next week that we get up an hour later.

These questions were in my mind this morning when the third light on the modem would not light up. Was it that Peceli touched something he ought not, after listening to the Fiji Radio news this morning? By midday nothing seemed to be able to fix the connection, pulling things out, typing words in. I phone iprimus and talked for about with a patient man in the technical department who said, just do this simple thing… . this simple thing was about 30 things to do. Hmm. Not so simple. Still wouldn’t work. He rang back two hours later and asked for a mobile phone so we could pull out all the plugs on our ordinary phone etc. etc. Another 15 minutes of his patient instructions. No, still not working.

Peceli put everything back into place and the modem lit up like a battleship! But I had fiddled with the connections and lost Broadband by then! Hmmm.

I went off to a book club meeting still frowning, and returned after 4 p.m. and Peceli was happily working in the back garden and said, ‘Go and check the computer. It’s working again!’

How did he do it, I do not know and he won’t tell. Maybe a prayer?

(twenty minutes later): I went out to the letterbox to pick up today's mail and there was a letter from iPrimus. 'We are making changes etc. etc. You may notice a brief interruption to your internet service..... On the morning of 31/3/2008.' Which is today!!!! The letter was dated 26th and arrived rather late, don't you think! Also, why wasn't the technic guy informed before he patiently, very patiently, took me through the steps to fix up the 'perceived' problem?