When I’m traveling with dad, Myria and I keep in touch via e-mail. All ships have internet connections these days, though it can cost quite a bit to access them. E-mail prices are ridiculous but not extortionary :)
Anyway, I got to the ship, set up the e-mail account and wrote about making it there safely, the stoopnagle at the airport who nearly broke my wooden needles, how good the food is, etc. And the next day I had a note back from Myria talking about how cold it’s gotten and that there’s a possibility that her sister may be announcing a new little niece or nephew in a few months! And I wrote back the day after that…
....and waited and waited for a response. As I went to dinner that night (formal night - ewww!) I figured she’d gotten involved in a game and probably had no idea what time it was :) So I went down to the computer lab after supper and discovered that a note from Myria’s sister had just come in. Myria had called her and given her my shipboard e-mail and asked her to write me because the internet connection at home wasn’t working and she didn’t want me to worry.
Okay :) I shrugged and smiled to myself. These things happen, nothing to fret about. So I waited, figuring Myria would suss out whatever the problem was and write the next day. Only after dinner the next day I got another note from Myria’s sister talking about the stupid company that handles our internet connect. Myria had called them to report the problem and had been told that there was no such account number and no account under our name. Moreover, the MAC number on our modem (a MAC number is a unique number assigned to any network device) was the number of a modem belonging to someone else - and had been for over two years!
Since Myria doesn’t drive and the cable internet company was unwilling to do anything (because it didn’t seem to them that anything needed to be done) that was pretty much that until I got home.
Thanks to Myria’s pack-rat tendencies, we still had the original work order from when the cable modem was installed 2½ years ago with the MAC number scrawled across the front. We took this and our most recent bill down to the cable company and showed them that we were indeed the owners of that modem and there really, truly was an account with our name on it…
...at least there had been until our neighbors-across-the-hall had cable TV installed! By some fluke, the cable company decided that our neighbors were the only people in the building with cable and so “corrected” the name on the account. And, since our neighbors didn’t want internet access, that would just be turned off.
Oy!
Anyway, they were very good about things once they had seen our paperwork. In fact, the woman I spoke to called everyone else in the office over. “Come here guys and take a look at this!” she called and everyone came over to look at the papers vs the information in the computer. Everybody had a good laugh over the mistake (though it was never resolved exactly how it had all happened in the first place) and she promised that the internet connection would be turned back on and that we wouldn’t be charged for the week it had been shut down. She was as good as her word; we were back online that afternoon.
We got our Christmas tree yesterday, after a brief search, and he’s quite a striking character!
Set up and ready to go!
Got his lights on :)
In his full glory
We haven’t quite arrived at a name for him yet. I’m kinda liking “Stringfellow” but Myria’s suggestion was “O”.
“O?” I said.
“Yes, O. As in ‘O Christmas Tree’.”
I laughed at that but then a thought struck me. “What about the inevitable association with ‘The Story of O’?”
“Well,” she explained, “Being a Christmas tree is only seasonal work and he has to so something else for the rest of the year to keep body and soul together.”
Oy!
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Golly, what a situation! Are these the same neighbors who were using your electricity?
O is gorgeous. That corner looks so festive. I love the lace and the doorway and window. Such beautiful details.
Welcome back! When I read your entry’s title I thought you had started a new cable project! Utilities can be such a pain. Missed your blog greatly you are so informative. Happy holidays!
‘o’ so pretty- i love the traditional look- festive and cozy at the same time-
we will not discuss the decorations (or the lack thereof) around here- i am always that idiot you see running around on the evening of the 24th looking for wrapping paper and another string of lights- ‘nuff said about that little achilles heel!
umm, baby knitting soon- hooray, and what fun for all-
stay happy-
Aarlene - As a matter of fact, yes - they were the same neighbors :) The tree is glittering in the corner as I type and thank goodness the cats don’t seem to be the slightest bit interested :)
Lisa - Well thanks and blushes and all that :) A new cable project could be in the offing but I’m still playing with ideas. Swatching cables is fun though :)
Barb - Well, it may be the only thing I’m a traditionalist about but yeah. I do like the old-fashioned, country kind of Christmas decorations. In fact I bought a fat little ceramic cow this afternoon, complete with milk pail. She was promptly named ‘Marigold’ and will go on the tree as soon as I find the perfect spot :)
It never ceases to amaze how screwed up the cable company can get! Bless Myria & her organized saving of stuff, eh?
Story of O…hehehehe Beautiful tree. :)
Bron - Actually it was your tree in the lovely pictures of you in your new sweater that got me motivated. I had been thinking it was still too early, but when I saw your tree, I said to myself “Go for it!”
I think there’s an upper limit on IQ points for cable employees. If the IQ exceeds 85 points, you can’t work there. Likr politicians, only the limit’s lower for them :)
Beautiful tree, and “O” is the perfect name. I loved the reasoning behind it.
Wow, lucky thing you had your paperwork - I doubt if they would have ever muddled through without seeing that at sometime in their company’s history your account had been alive and well and signaling the internet with said modem.
One time we had a cable box go out. The company promptly came the next day to correct it. Cable guy goes out to the van and brings in a “new” cable box. It didn’t work. He makes another trip out to the van for another “new” cable box. It didn’t work either. By now he was trying to convince me the problem was my TV, which I knew was incorrect. Besides, one of those “new” cable boxes was all scratched up.
Long story short…trial after trial, he made a call to the office and discovered that “perhaps someone had put the non-working cable boxes with new ones instead of putting them wherever they were supposed put dead cable boxes. He had loaded his van with the non-working ones.” Wonder why the dust and scratches weren’t a clue that perhaps these were NOT NEW?!?! Must be that IQ thing you mentioned…Ya think?
Bliss - Oh, what a riot! I suppose it’s lucky that as annoying and frustrating as these things are when you’re right in the middle of them, with a little distance and perspective, they become hilarious. Durned good thing too as, otherwise, we’d probably be shooting at utility persons left and right :)
