Am I the only one who feels as though I am drowning beneath the waves of modern technology? I have been trying to access my accounts online, but due to trouble with doing so, have had to talk to overseas operators about problem routers and connection difficulties; all of this (while trying to work out why I could no longer get into my near-on three year old blog) has taken it’s toll. I thought these things were here to make life easier.
It is with resistance that I found myself trying to fit into a new home at WordPress; mainly due to the fact that it isn’t half as easy for me to navigate as my old pad and many standard features seem to require payment. I know my way around Blogger but for a while there, it seemed as if the locks had been changed. It continued to tell me that ‘someone has signed out from a different location’. What does that even mean?!
I have just got off of the phone. The Internet lady was pleasant but didn’t help much. She suggested plugging our computers into the wall if our wireless connection doesn’t work. Oh right, you mean like we used to before we were sent new-fangled box #2? Oldy-worldy internet? She then suggested we unplug our telephone for twenty-four hours to see if that helps. Great. No phone calls. By the time she asked me to unscrew the wall socket and mess about with the wiring, she had lost me. Thanks Orange Customer Services. The internet still isn’t working properly. I don't know what I did to make Blogger work again. I tried it [for what I told myself would be] one last time and I was able to write again. If this post ever sees the light of day, I guess I should be thankful.
I hate how the world has become. I hate that I don't get phone bills through the door anymore and that I have to check on line to see what I am paying for (if only I could remember my blessed password). My bank account is online and similarly, I have to remember some strange line of digits to check how much money I don't have.. I ended up having a fifteen minute conversation with a yoga instructor a month ago because my registration through their site wouldn't work. The darned thing wouldn't accept my house number and kept spewing my details back at me like school work with red pen scrawled over it. As much as I love keeping this blog, today's situations (which are still half-unresolved) made me want to go and sit under a tree with a pen and pencil instead. What has the world turned into? Some people even have sex online, you know!. Jeezus.
I didn't need any more complications, so I pulled out my wolves. Nothing OTT here. No Golden Dawn password required or an initiation into the dark arts needed to unravel their messages. Today's card is about new beginnings. I have only been away from the blog for a few days, but I feel different about it after the struggle of trying to punch away the pop-ups and get back in the driver's seat. I thought I may not be able to get back into it at all or have to set up elsewhere, so for today, I see this post as a new beginning. I am not sure what is at the end of that rainbow, but today marks my first step on a mission to find out.
Illustration from The Wolf Pack Tarot by Pat Morris
I had the exact same thing happen to me today. I called my ISP's customer service and they had me change all these settings in my laptop, then Whoompf! All Internet service gone! Then they transferred me to another dept. and I was told I needed to buy a package plan for $15 per month, one year up front, of course, so they could help me fix the problem! I told the lady she was crazy and hung up on her ass!
ReplyDeleteYou see, it's simple really. Now that Internet service is standard, they can dig their hands deep into our pockets. It's a shame that our world has become this greedy, but we can always say no to it all. You're right though, they tricked us by telling us everything would get easier. I'd rather go back to writing letters by hand and typing on a typewriter! However, it would really be sad to not read your blog. The advantage to it all was connecting to people with similar interests all over the world. I hope you don't leave the blogosphere, but I do empathize with your frustration. What a day!
Oh, I called back IT support an hour later, lucked out getting an intelligent person who determined my modem is !@&$ed and needs to be replaced. Should have a new one in a few days.
I can't believe they had you fooling with the wires in your wall!!!
Love to you, Ann
That is just madness! I can't believe these places. And what annoys me is that providers and sellers of just about anything expect you to have the internet. I am pretty sure that many older people do not. What do they do? If it's hard for me to grasp all of this, I wonder if older generations are having even more trouble. I know that my parents are.
DeleteI guess, we could opt out but it means we can't supply our resumes for jobs, see how we are being ripped off by the banks or buy what we like now that the shops are disappearing.
Cracking post Prince! I feel your pain. The world relies too much on computers these days and we really don't have a choice as to whether we want to move along with it.
ReplyDeleteI've been with Wordpress for a number of years and I do like it because it's simple :) though I don't have anything to compare it with.
Now let's see if this post will post.....
I know. I think it is the choice thing which is the problem. But then, I guess it is up to us to find balance. There are still things we can choose to do without relying on a computer. I'd much prefer to receive an art post card with a handwritten message on the back. Or sit and draw under a tree with a pencil. We can make the decision to do these things and restore the balance. Even though one would argue that art postcards kill trees and the postage is too high.
DeleteI think I could get used to the simplicity of Wordpress. I just know Blogger well .. it's good and bad points.
I hear ya!! I hate not getting paper bills too. The post office has nothing to deliver these days. I had my computer turned off for a day--it was quite pleasant not to have to deal with it.
ReplyDeleteJJ
It's funny, because even though the post office has nothing to deliver, they still don't manage to get here until noon every day ....
ReplyDeleteOne of this countries' soaps used to have a much loved character called Blanche. The actress who played her died not so long ago, which was very sad for viewers as she was a bit of a cult figure. Blanche had her views about postmen and post offices, which still makes me laugh. Check this out -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=catEhS8k_BU
Ah, the computer turned off. Sounds good. I like that idea .. but still remember the frustration of those days when the old PC wouldn't turn on. *Shudders*