Do You See A Green Light?

No, I don't.  That's why I'm spending 6 cents a minute talking to you.


On the 9th of January right after our Christmas holidays, I was happily taking photos of the snow when I noticed that the light which indicates that the Internet is working wasn't on, and, of course, I couldn't get any page to come up.  I did a thorough check of the connections, disconnected and reconnected things, asked my neighbours upstairs if they had internet (which they did).  Then I telephoned my internet provider only to talk to three different people who made me do the same tests but none of the three told me the cheap router they'd sold me wasn't working.  No, I had to call a computer technician for that - the same person I called later to bring me a new router because the 1D10TS refused to send me a new router unless I tested the old router, which was still under guarantee, yet again.  End of problems?  No!  The computer guy had to ask to speak to a technician because the person he was speaking to first said that I had a static connection and then said it was dynamic and then static and had no idea what the Gateway was plus some of the other information was also incorrect - information that a normal computer user would accept as accurate!  Anyway, my new router has a 5-year warranty and I can connect more computers.  Changing providers isn't the solution as they're all the same, but I am going to ask that they reimburse me for all those calls I had to make.

I can't believe how much I missed the time that I wasn't on here.  I did connect to leave a note about my woes using some unsecured WIFI connection and once to update my anti-virus.  Other than that I was internetless as I don't like using public computers - paranoid you know.  I missed seeing what you guys were up to and I missed Post Secret.  Wouldn't you know today the visitor counter isn't working!  The secret sent in by the soldier deployed in Iraq is heart-wrenching.

Today we've got rain and it's a bit windy though not as much as it has been the past few days.  Madrid, however, hasn't been hit by such high winds as the North.  In Barcelona alone 5 people have died - one woman who was walking past a building site when the protective wall gave way and 4 children who were at a baseball game.  How strange because baseball isn't popular here.  At the moment it's probably colder in Lexington, KY, but in general our winters in Madrid are colder even without snow.  We've been lucky to have snow in the mountains for the ski resorts this winter.  Last year it was a really poor season in the mountains of Madrid.  Luckily, I didn't call the computer technician the day we had so much snow as he was, like thousands of others, stuck in traffic.  He said he didn't work any that day.

Hope everybody has a great week.  With luck, this rant and rave will last me for a while.