Having A Ducky Day......

So....they're geese, not ducks....(Actually, I think they're what we call around these parts "turkey ducks".......)

Not much new and exciting going on here, but wanted to check in and tell everyone "thanks" who tried to help out with the Blogger glitch.  Seems I wasn't the only one....It hasn't resolved yet, but I found a work-around of sorts.....So, if you're still having issues as well, let me know and I'll be happy to share what is (sort of) working for me.

Besides Blogger, I'm still having MAJOR internet headaches.  Some of you know....and most likely don't care to hear - but it's driving me nutty crazy!!

Because we live out in the boonies, we don't have a great deal of options when it comes to internet providers.  Dial-up never worked well, as there is some bug in our phone service out here and we, more often than not, can't even get clear phone reception, let alone internet connection. Besides, with multiple users, tying up even one phone line isn't feasible.  So, about a year and a half ago, we opted for service through our cell phone company, and even though they thought we wouldn't get service, it actually worked great!  For 32 days....that is....Yup, two days after the "trial" period expired, kerplunk, kerplooey.  So, off and on I went. For a while, it seemed to work ok - but in the last 3 or 4 months...not so much.  I would go as much as 3 or 4 days without being able to get connected.

So, a few months ago, I finally called a local company and they said they'd come out and do a site survey for $25.  Minimum standard installation would be at least $350 - but I figured, hey, if it works, it'll be worth it.  After a month of waiting, I finally called and asked exactly "when" they were thinking they might do this survey.  They didn't call back.  Another call from me saying, "if I don't hear from you within so many days, I'll assume you don't want my business," prompted an impromptu visit several days AFTER the "so many days" I gave them.  (This should have been like my THIRD clue this wasn't a company I wanted to do business with....)  The surveyor shows up as I was leaving for an appointment.  So, DH fills in.....Surveyor climbs up on our roof with some kind of meter, and climbs back down....He asks my DH if he will be around for the next 15-20 minutes because he has to "go somewhere else" to see if he can get a signal.  (Clue 4+ and counting....)  DH says yup.  That was 3 weeks ago.  Haven't seen the survey guy since.  (Thought about calling Search and Rescue...but figured we'd had reports of a missing person on the local news by now.....)

So.....I finally broke down and called HughesNet.  They have a great deal going on - no installation or equipment fees.... Yeah!  Sounds good.

The installer says he will be here the following week around 1 PM.  That day, he calls and says he'll be there more likely around 2 - 2:30.  He shows up at 3:45.  Ok....I can deal with that.  He goes about his business and I assume he knows what he's doing. 

I hear drilling and pounding and more drilling....from the outside of our house.

This makes me nervous because we just spent a LOT of money putting new siding on the house less than a year ago.

More drilling outside.

Then drilling downstairs in our basement.

This guy is spending a lot of time in my basement. 

Why my basement I'm thinking? Both computers are upstairs on our main level...

More drilling.

At 6:30-ish (while we are trying to eat), the guy says we're good to go. I ask him if there is anything I need to know should anything stop working. He says no.  I access the internet and it seems to work ok and he leaves.

After dinner, and evening tasks, I go back to the computer.  Uh oh....it isn't working. No way, no how.  I finally resort to calling HughesNet Technical Support.  (Lemme tell you - that is a TREAT in and of itself!!) I must have been transferred 6 times to 6 different foreign countries and was told (at least I think that's what they were saying because I couldn't really understand their accents that well) that I had to disconnect my tower (I have a desk pc) and carry it down in the basement and connect it all up down there to make sure it wasn't a problem with my computer...

REALLY????

Well, about 30 trips up and down the basement steps (ps - we have a spiral staircase) later, HN Tech Support tells me that it's a problem with the configuration - the guy put the modem and router too far away from the computer.  And, since the router that he installed wasn't a HN router, they couldn't do anything about it anyway.

REALLY????

Now, the lawyer in me (and the fact that it's now about 1 AM), is getting my feathers a wee bit ruffled....

But, I politely say - "YOU [meaning HN] contracted with the person who installed this system! I did not tell him where to put anything or what equipment to use!!!"

Speak to yet another foreign-speaking person....

This guy finally gives me the name of the company who they contracted with to install the system (cuz the guy who was here left me absolutely NO paperwork....) (Note:  You may not believe it, but I am sparing you many other lovely details - like having to call the wireless adapter company to find out I needed to buy a $120 extended warranty on a product that only cost $40 before they would even talk to me; and being told by the HN supervisor he would call me back in a half an hour and when he didn't and I called HN back, being told that the case notes indicated I had hung up on the supervisor, etc., etc.)

Next morning I call "The Company."  The guy at The Company tells me since it was working when the installer left, it's not HIS problem.

REALLY?????

He tells me I need to work it out with the installer! And, by the way - that's $125/hr PLUS travel time IN ADVANCE.  And, gee, I probably need a higher-powered router since my computer is now so far away from the router.  (Ummmm....what happened to "no installation or equipment fees"????)

Ok....my hands are growing weary of typing, so for those of you who are still actually reading this, I'll give you a somewhat more condensed version of the rest.....

I had the original installer back here....

He replaced my wireless adapter. It worked when he left....and for 30 minutes thereafter.....

More phone calls to HN and "the Company" - Paid another $200 to have yet another installer come out (a so-called "computer expert").  He replaced the router and did "trouble-shooting" on my pc (at the rate of $45/hr) for several hours.  It worked.....for a few hours.....

Spent many more hours on the phone with the second installer over the next several days - removed virtually every program I ever had on my computer; installed a new web browser.  Fifteen more trips up and down the (spiral) basement steps.

I was finally told he doesn't know what the problem is.  Could be HN or could be my computer.  But it's up to me to figure it out.

REALLY????

So, I made a final trip down to the basement last night and disconnected the HN router and modem and reconnected my cell company router, and am up and running again (for the time being....)

However, this is what is hanging outside (My DS loves the new view from his room....):

(BTW - I was told by installer #2 that installer #1 has been fired.  Installer #2 also said that, per "The Company's" policy, the dishes are to be mounted on the roof, and at least 3 feet away from any window.)

REALLY????

I have also been told that it isn't HN's, "The Company's," or the installer's responsibility to remove this, or put our siding back to what it was and that if we don't return their equipment, we will be charged another $345. 

REALLY???

And so, friends, I am "behinder" than usual.  All my computer time has been spent on the phone, installing and uninstalling programs, and running up and down my (spiral) basement steps. So I have been neglectful in visiting your blogs, visiting several new followers, and responding to your kind and wonderful comments (even on my wedding photos - wow - I truly was going to try to delete that post before everyone saw it, but chaos ensued before I got that far....) My house is a disaster, and I'm exasperated.  I hope to try and play catch up on some things - and for the others, I just ask your forbearance and understanding.  Princess Lizzi is also waiting for me to get back hooking as she has taken up residence in my cutter stand.....

And you wonder why this crow is CRANKY???

Sorry for venting - and at such length no less - but sometimes it's good to purge....