Classic Rant #404 (December 14, 2010): Internet, Sminternet

This morning, as I often do, after eating breakfast, walking the dog twice and reading the morning paper before I left for work, I turned on my computer and clicked my Internet icon to get onto the World Wide Web.

To my dismay, I could not get on. I noticed that my router wasn't lit properly--the Web icon was not lit at all--so I immediately called my service provider.

All of this at slightly after 5 a.m. in the morning.

After being on with a technician named Carl (or is it Karl with a K?) and even a call back, we discovered that the router was dead.

I need a new router.

Not to worry, Carl/Karl said. One would be shipped to me immediately, and he said I should have it tomorrow.

What do I do with the old router? I have to ship it back to the service provider. If I don't, I get charged $129 for it.

That's all fine and dandy, but now, at least for a day, my house is not wired to the Internet.

When I was a kid and through my 30s, who knew of such things?

But as businesses began to go online, and more and more homes followed suit, having Internet service became almost a mandatory part of modern life.

Sure, I can hook up a phone line to the computer, but honestly, who wants to bother doing that?

I had Internet service that way for a few years, and boy, was it slow!

As they say, once you are off the phone connection, you can never, ever go back, even in times of need like right now.

So how am I typing this out and putting it on Ranting and Raving, you say?

Well, I am using a totally different Internet connection outside of my home, that's how.

The whole situation stinks, but what can I do? I hope to be house-connected again real soon.

Until then, I have to go back to my pre-Internet life; watching TV, which I do with or without the Internet, and staying away from the computer.

Sorry, no Facebook, no email, no nothing at home.

In a funny way, I welcome the respite, but I guess I will miss at least the availability of these things while I wait for my router.

So it's like a vacation from the Internet, at least at home.

At work, it's still my best friend.