Monday, July 4, 2011

Come Monday...Next Friday

“Come Monday…” is a weekly series that will involve a review of, or commentary about,  websites, movies, documentaries, television shows, sports, music, and whatever else may tickle my fancy at the time.  Be assured that these reviews will be generally positive, as in accordance to the Jimmy Buffett song “Come Monday.”  This is subject to change, however.  In fact, I would be most derelict in my duties to neglect going on a rant every once in a while.  For rants promote change, and change can be good—right?  Therefore, since good is generally considered as being a positive force in 99.3% of the parallel universes that I am aware of, even a rant could be considered as being something positive, and a genuine hissy-fit would be even better (so I’m told).



Please forgive me, but I must be the bearer of bad news. For I am not dead yet, which I know will be most disappointing to many, including myself.

Yes, it is rather ridiculous. For with there still being thousands living in tents and other forms of temporary housing around [Joplin], being upset about my cable television/internet provider is nothing to wish for death over.

Ah, but you might feel otherwise if you had to spend some time in my head. For I am naturally the kind of person who does not suffer frauds gladly, and when I find myself trapped in a situation where there is nothing I can do but endure until the end, I can get a little dramatical.

This latest instance of [Mediacom] failing to deliver on the promise to provide the best service available anywhere started for certain at 2:00 AM CDST yesterday morning (July 4). For that is when I went to go online, but since I had noticed a few hours earlier that our [On Demand] service was unavailable, our internet access may have also been down much earlier. For when one is out, so is the other, much of the time.

Anyway, when I saw that our internet access was down, I unplugged the power cords to our modem and router for the standard one minute or so to allow them to recycle when plugged back in.

When that did not do anything, I disconnected and reconnected the cable itself, which sometimes works to restore access. Nope, not this time.

So, I called the service center, which may be answered by someone in a number of exotic foreign locations around the world. That is, after you fight your way through all of the automated defense systems, of course.

As it turned out, I did not need to actually speak with anyone at first. For there was a recorded message that said that my area was experiencing service outages, which were being taken care of as quickly as possible.

Yes, as a matter of fact, that did appease me. So, I went to watch some television, which was working just fine, except for the On Demand service, until I could finally get online and make all of your lives better.

A couple of hours later, I went to see if I was back in business, and found that I was not. So, I called the service center again, and found that I might be looking at a much longer wait than expected. For the recorded message now said that there were no known service outages in my area.

After finally getting my eyes to uncross and wiping the spittle off of the phone, I endeavored to persevere by attempting to talk to a real person at a service center in a exotic foreign location somewhere in this world, which is usually an adventure even without what always gets lost in translation. For our cable service is actually in my mother-in-law’s name due to a mix-up when we first moved in here, and the first order of business when calling for help is always to convince them that I am authorized to receive it.

It was after jumping through all of their hoops that the title of this piece came to be. For I was told that it would not be until next Friday (July 8) before a repairman could be dispatched to our location.

Looking back at it now, I can see where a miracle took place. No, I am not just talking about our Heavenly Father having a hand in it. For He had to have had both of His hands busy doing what He does to get me to calmly thank the lady on the other end of the line before hanging up.

Oh, but He wasn’t done. For I didn’t fly into a tirade, nor punch holes in any walls.

In fact, what I did do was patiently wait for my hard-working (and long-suffering) wife to wake up around noon, and then I calmly (almost matter-of-factly) told her that it might not be a bad idea to get her help desk at work to working on getting Mediacom to fix our internet access. For she works from home, and after it being down for several hours last Friday, she might have to go into the office to work if it was still down by the time she was supposed to be back online Tuesday morning (July 5).

Evidently, having a business internet account (through her work) takes precedence over a regular family account. For we had internet access again at a little past 7 PM yesterday evening (July 4). Hopefully, this modem will last longer than the 2-3 months the last one did.

Yes, I know that the trials and tribulations that we must endure in this world are all part of the plan that our Heavenly Father set into motion long before He created Adam and Eve, and that having to deal with evil entities like cable companies is nothing in comparison to no longer having a home to watch television in. Nonetheless, it is not easy being me.

 
UPDATE: Approximately 16 hours after our internet access was restored, it went down again for around 3 hours while my wife was supposed to be working.  Evidently, the repairman did not feel like checking on why some things were still not quite right after he replaced the modem Monday evening.  For this was indicated in their records.  Could it be that I am woefully mistaken about what promise Mediacom is delivering upon?


Please Also Visit:
and

6 comments:

  1. oh yes internet modems burn out. I get mine from cisco. they have a deal if you trade one in. also go to their site and get one cheap. glad to see you got your bandwidth back in the corral. how is madame ? tell her HELLLLLLURRRRRRRRRR !!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear BadGal!!! Our modem is provided for by Mediacom, and don't get me started on bandwidths. For they advertise one thing, and then give you far, far less.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I hate having to deal with things like that. It's so frustrating. Lucky for you your wife can pull some strings and get things moving.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think I'll apply for a business account! Evil doers come in many guises internet providers, school sports day organisers and even some English politicians.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear Ann!!! I was about to add an update to this. For 16 hours after we could get back online, it went down again for around 3 hours.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear Ryan!!! Well, we have a bunch of politicians over here who certainly qualify for inclusion on that list, and I wouldn't be shocked to find that they all have stock in a cable company!

    ReplyDelete

Since the Blogger spam filter has been found sorely lacking lately, I will start moderating comments. Be assured that I am only interested in deleting spam. So, if you feel a need to take me to task over something—even anonymously, go ahead and let 'er rip, and I will publish it as soon as I can.