patndoris TechnoGeek

I woke this morning to the not entirely unfamiliar sound of a far off thump in the distance. It almost sounds like the sound when one of the big garbage trucks empties a small dumpster then deposits the vessel back on the concrete with a dull metallic bang. But in my sleepy haze I didn’t fully comprehend the sound. It happened again…and again…

...

After the third time I looked at the laptop and thought what’s making that sound? It’s not the sound of an email…or an IM. I wonder who has that odd sound for a sign in sound on WLM. Wait…I’m marked as busy so no contact sign in sounds should be coming through. So I hit the handy dandy "sound off" button. Then I heard the click of the cable TV box and the pleasant automated voice on the answering machine. Uh oh! Power flickered on and off. Suddenly, I knew what that sound had been! It was the sound the power sub-station makes when power has gone out and it’s trying to be restored. But the power is on. Hmmm…must have been an accident…someone must have hit a pole. This theory was confirmed shortly thereafter by the sound of sirens. So, I decide to crawl out of bed, reset clocks and the answering machine and grudgingly start my day earlier than I’d have liked.

None of this would be that big of a deal usually. I mean, the power is back on. What’s the problem? Uh…well…there are three of them. The TV’s in the house are nicely telling me "One moment please - This channel should be available shortly." Really? How shortly is shortly? The DVR won’t even play anything I have recorded as the service is unavailable and I should call my cable operator. And worse! My modem has only two wee little lights instead of the eight or so it should have. That means no internet and no phone. (VOIP you know…no cable…no phone…)

I did in fact call the cable company to report the outage. Not that I really expected they didn’t already know, but it was something I could do. Yes, yes, "we apologize for the inconvenience - there is an outage reported in your area." Glad to hear they agree on that one. OK, job done - now what? No TV, no internet…just what the heck am I supposed to do on a lazy Sunday? Yup you guessed it - Windows Live Writer lets me compose offline and upload when I’m done - so I blog. As I write, I’ve heard that damnable thump four more times. And yes, the power has flickered each time (bringing with it the faint hope that internet will be miraculously restored). Guess I’ll eventually reset the clocks again…I’m getting tired of the friendly voice on the answering machine.

I have plenty I could be doing. Should be doing. Certainly not everything in life revolves around the computer. Did I just say that?! I could do chores, cook, read…I suppose I should really call this lackadaisical post done and get to something a bit more worthwhile. I’d have written a post of value, except in those I like to include links and research, and I can’t very well do that at the moment can I? Oh well, there’s always later, or tomorrow or the next day. The beauty of a blog is I can write when I want to. Unlike many bloggers I don’t feel compelled to post multiple short posts a day…I’d rather write a weekly short novel (as you well know by now!) Oh well…I’m off…to return later when the internet is once again my umbilical cord like lifeline. (Remind again me why I got rid of my cell phone that had a modem in it..)

Edit: 36 hours later it’s all fine and dandy again…life resumes…