Several days ago I awoke very early, couldn’t go back to sleep, so arose, got a cup of coffee, checked to see if my Morning News had arrived (it hadn’t), then went to my computer.
I could read news online and check my email while waiting for the print newspaper to arrive, I thought.
No temperature icon in the lower right corner was the first clue. No Weather Channel. No new emails — there should have been at least a dozen since I subscribe to news updates from many sources. No IGoogle. No Facebook. No Twitter.
And also, no home telephone (it was a VOIP, internet phone). The computer itself worked fine.
That was turning into a bad morning. The AT&T bill is drafted from my bank account so I wasn’t worried about being disconnected for non-payment. I checked all the cables, everything else I could think of, and finally got out my cell phone and called AT&T repair service.
I got a recording, telling me to call back after 7:00. After another cup of coffee and a couple of games of computer Solitaire, I did.
The nice AT&T repairman ran diagnostics and informed me that my ancient modem was sickly and weak. It was getting the DSL signal in but didn’t have enough energy to talk to the computer. Since it was really old, he suggested a youthful, more energetic model I could get at Best Buy. So, after a bite of breakfast, that’s what I did.
It proved to be super easy to connect up and I was back online in no time. What a relief! Although it is a mite disconcerting to realize how much I have grown to depend on it over the years… I checked my emails, read a little news, then tried the phone.
It was dead. No dial tone. Re-setting that little box didn’t work, it was dead. Deader than dead.
Here I went checking all the cables again. But no matter what, the new modem just wouldn’t talk to my phone. I went to the internet (yay!), watched their You Tube video (“How-to-connect-your-internet-phone for Dummies” sort of thing), and carefully followed all their instructions. No avail.
I had to give this situation some serious thought. Rather than buy more new equipment to regain use of my land line, I decided to upgrade my AT&T cell phone (it was also old and decrepit) and use that only. Since I have an extremely cheap commercial plan (very old, too) I didn’t get a smart phone and plan that would cost double what I pay now. I got one that seems easy to use and has more bars than the old one had.
This having only one phone number will take some getting used to…
P.S. Email me if you need that number. I’ll call and tell you what it is.
