Somewhat of an Ordeal

I am not a guy who enjoys being on the phone. This is partly explained by my innate introversion and partly by my auditory woes.

So, why did I spend 2 hours on the phone?

W e l l . . . just yesterday I posted about watching tv on Sue's little laptop. It turns out that we were lucky to do even that.

Our internet had been off-kilter for a few weeks, and so had our Apple TV.

I had been waiting for the cessation of the holiday season to see if the situation would right itself, for I wondered if our problems might be due to the increased holiday load.

It seems that was not the case, so right after New Year, I began to make inquiries or perhaps enquiries.

After awhile, our SiL was able to figure out and fix the TV part. It was an in-house situation, and so we went to bed Saturday night in a good frame of mind with the situation, apparently, resolved.

But then, we woke up on Sunday morning to no internet. This has happened before, and the situation has resolved itself. So, I waited for 4 hours.

When the problem didn't resolve itself, I called my internet provider, who then hooked me up with the phone company. The phone company rep checked the line and said that the problem wasn't the line and to call the provider back.

I thought that was wrong and that I was being given the runaround, but the provider also found this to be the case. Therefore, the modem would have to be reconfigured and new firmware installed.

Somehow, we were able to accomplish this, but it took a long time as I painstakingly followed instructions to do this and then that and then the other thing, both to the computer and also to the modem.

After two hours, internet was restored, and after resolving in-house problems on the previous evening, we also were also able to stream over the tv.

How crazy that two separate problems occurred simultaneously, which made the situation harder to analyze and then resolve.

And the phone calls? The first to our internet provider was with an accented fellow who also spoke quickly. I found it very difficult.

The phone company representative also had an accent, but it was French, and she spoke English fairly well and clearly, especially after I made a special request for her to do so after some initial difficulties in understanding her.

Thank the heavens that the third person, the one with whom I spent by far the greatest amount of time, was a native English speaker who also spoke clearly and unhurriedly.

I was also helped throughout the process by the streaming device that links the phone with my hearing aids. It enabled me to hear fairly clearly (at least the last person) but also move about and change my position during the protracted process. The device was extremely handy when I had to do things to both the computer and the modem and was able still to talk with tech support while my hands were also free to follow her instructions. Phew!

So that is the story of the end to a month of internet and streaming problems and how an introverted, hearing-impaired bloke somehow managed to come through the ordeal not much more insane than he was previously. 

Although that last assertion is disputable.