Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Technical Difficulties

Saturday night we did the Earth Hour thing. Most people just turn out their lights for an hour. We go around the house and turn off everything that could possibly be using electricity. Computers, lights, TV, stereo, etc. We don't just acknowledge Earth Hour, we salute it.

Slauting it wasn't such a good idea, apparently. When DH switched the thingy for our satellite Internet back on, it killed a piece on our satellite that has previously been replaced three times already. (And we've only had this Internet service for a little over three years!) The first time the ISP paid for it. The second time we had to pay for the labour. The last time we had to pay for both the part and the labour... over 500$. This time, if they try to make us pay for it again, we're canceling. *sigh* It's not as fast as high-speed, but it's certainly better than dial-up, which is what I'm using right now. *double sigh* Dial-up on my old old iBook. *triple sigh* This computer can't even keep up with my typing. I type a sentence and then wait for it to appear on the screen.

Why am I not using the new computer I got before Christmas? Because it doesn't have a modem. Apparently people don't use modems during these modern times. It seems that the computer making company doesn't realize that some people still live in places where you actually need to dial in to access the Internet.

Rumour has it that Rogers is bringing high-speed our way by the fall. We've seen some trucks stringing up new wire along our road, so hopefully that's what is in the works. If DH can't convince the nice people at Xplornet to cover the cost of fixing this faulty part, you may not be hearing much from me for a while. :(

2 comments:

Independent Chick said...

I dumped Xplornet on their ass. Total and complete garbage. I can't say I totally have it made today but I went with Eastern Wireless and for $100 for the install and equipment and $50/month with no contract...works for me.

cuddles said...

I'll have to mention the Eastern Wireless option to DH. The no contract part is appealing. Chances are he's already investigated it and found some reason why it wouldn't work for him, but I'll definitely mention it just in case. Thanks for the mentioning it! :)