It's so nice to be able to get online again! For the last day or so I've been battling my cablemodem and it's been winning. Annoying to say the least!

Today I finally had a visit from the Comcast guy who set about trying to right the wrongs my modem has done me. As you can see, he's successfully gotten me back online but it wasn't smooth sailing to get here. I had to suffer a few embarassments along the way.

"Mr. Comcast", (who looked to be about 12) came in, set up his equipment, and within 10 minutes informed me that his modem had nothing to do with my connection issues! He wandered around checking the wires outside, the splitter inside and then smugly proclaimed that my router was the problem. Then he started packing up to leave and I panicked. Mr. Comcast was planning to leave me in the same computerless condition he'd found me in AND I was to be charged for the visit!

Thinking fast (hey, it occasionally happens!) I went into my best "flustered female" routine. Yes my 12 year old technician rolled his eyes (he needs practice.. my kids do it better), and yes he mentioned in passing that "his mother knew nothing about computers either" BUT HE FIXED THE PROBLEM! I can live with being compared to his mother (an ego bruiser!) as long as it comes with the ability to surf the net! After all, if I've learned anything it's that everything in life is a trade-off...

So, what caused my router to add to my growing collection of gray hairs? Me!! I've always been told that dust was the archenemy of electronics so I've been hell bent on removing as much of it as possible from my work space. I should've realized that I didn't have to be quite as picky as I've been from looking at my husband's workspace. There's enough dust, dirt and cookie crumbs on it to keep an entire archaeological dig happy for a month and his computer hums merrily along!

Anyway, it appears in my zeal I popped a vital connection by lifting the router too high up (when did companies start making cords so short??) while trying to dust under it. Being charged $15.99 for having a dust free workspace doesn't seem very fair at all but I suppose it's cheaper than having to buy a new router - especially since there's nothing wrong with this one.

One thing I can guarentee is that there will be a bit of a dust buildup under my router from now on! I couldn't live with my husband's idea of a "clean" space, but it looks as though I'll have to compromise just a bit.

It's cheaper to be a little bit of a slob...