CST


Where's my DSL installation kit?

I'm walking around my neighborhood at night, looking for the box that didn't arrive at my door. I had signed up for the faster internet connection because I want to save time. For years I had tolerated a poky dial-up connection, a blazing 48 Kbps.

But thanks to that poky dial-up connection, I found out that the box had been delivered earlier in the day, according to the UPS tracking site. I assume it was dropped off at the wrong address. No sign of it in the neighborhood, at least in the dim lighting.

A phone call to UPS after my useless neighborhood search. I find out the package was delivered to my building but to the wrong apartment number. This pisses me off because I had the DSL service company repeat back to me on the phone my address when I placed the order.

The wrong apartment has a separate entrance way that I had assumed was always locked. The package isn't outside that entrance way. Someone might have grabbed it.

By chance I bump into the building manager in the hallway – this is around 12:30 AM, he's also a night owl – and I explain the situation to him. He tells me that the entrance way to that section isn't locked. Guess where the package has been hiding.

I get the package, carefully read the directions, and hook everything up. But unlike a simple dial-up connection, the DSL kit is a somewhat involved set-up with filters that have to be placed in the right spot. I make sure to follow the diagram, double-checking each line and filter.

This takes some time because I have two telephone outlets behind furniture. Everything seems ready to go; I try to connect via DSL. Nothing.

Eventually I locate the problem – a loose connection. Then I screw around with some other niggling tech problems.

Time saved with locating my kit and getting it up and running – five hours.

So how much time am I saving now with DSL?

Last night I tried to leave a comment at someone's Blogspot site. Suddenly the link to that site disappears. I soon discover that any site associated with Blogger.com won't open up, even though other sites will. Again and again I try to figure out the problem. I'm getting pissed; besides leaving the comment I also want to post on my Blogspot site.

After going in circles, driving myself crazy, I finally find a way to link back up with Blogspot sites. I close the DSL and hook up with poky dial-up. While slow, the dial-up works.

Computers always save me time. Like with the DVD burner I use to back up my files. It gets hung up in the middle of a burn and sits there, chugging, chugging, the message on the screen saying that the 2 GB of data will be finished in “57 hours, ten minutes...”

So in case you've been wondering why I don't post that much, it's because of all of the free time bestowed upon me by computers. I have so much free time I don't know what to do with it.

CST: the big lie.