Dada's Tech Support.

Short note on a long 24 hours. Yesterday evening during a storm (I didn't think particularly threatening) we experienced a surge. It caused the kitchen stove to lose it's clock setting. While I didn't notice anything with the computers, I soon realized they were offline. The TV signal was gone as well (satellite). But perhaps most aggravating was the loss of the phone which is by Vonage (through the computer).

These are the times I curse technology. The loss of so many conveniences all at once can be aggravating as well as depressing because of the helplessness I feel. In short, the problem turned out to be the Vonage phone adapter. That gave me fits all day long. Ignoring the definition of insanity, I repeatedly disconnected then reconnected the modem, router, adapter, always expecting a different outcome but getting the same one as the last time.

Finally, I did something different. I must have because the outcome was different. Suddenly the phone adapter's light turned green and stayed green! The phone was back!

And now for the very best part. Several months ago when networking our PC with our Mac we lost our e-mail program. I spent over three hours on a tech support call with a fellow in India who left me with the same problem I'd had three hours earlier. But something I did in fixing today's problem also fixed my networking problem that tech support on the other side of the Earth couldn't three months ago.

And walking around the house with a cockiness in my gait, I sought out Mrs. Dada to show her how our old mail program that had been gone all these months was suddenly back and working just fine. After surprising her with it, she turned excitedly to me and said, "I don't know how you do it. To me, it's like a miracle!"

Lowering my voice so no one else would overhear (because that's who was present--no one else) I confessed, "I feel the same way. It's a miracle!"

It's good to be back online. I also have new appreciation for a telephone.