Erik

5 augusti 2010 11:57

Hi Sven,

You are wasting your time. Why get angry? Think of your blood pressure and also, three years from now you will tell this story with a smile on your face.

But I know what you are talking about. Our house was hit by lightning some eight weeks ago. It killed the mother board in my computer, external drive, the modem, the UPS (which the salesman told would protect me against this, my fax, my telephones and the motor that operates the garage door, my fridge/freezer, it cooked my telephone cable and a few more things.

After that my broad band was extremely unreliable. I could be on for two minutes and off for fifteen. I called the broad band operator SAPO, which is a subdivision of Portugal Telecommunication (PT). They told me that I had a problem with the line. I called PT and they told me that I had a problem with my modem for which SAPO is responsible. We have had a eight week table tennis match where I acted as the ball and the players were SAPO and PT.

Then a friend of mine gave me a tip. Order a new telephone line to your house and you will be all right. The law in Portugal is that every telephone line now installed must also be a broad band.

Yesterday I got my new telephone line, and we are talking about a mile and a half or thereabout to the nearest telephone station. They also brought a new modem and a new telephone. They installed the software, tested it and that was it. I am all right now for a cost of €15.00.
And what did I do during the last eight weeks when my broadband connection, or lack of the same, started to irritate me? I took a glass of red and a chunk of cheese, and seated myself on the decking under the grapes that, not only gives me shade, but also this time of the year allows me to stretch out my hand for a bunch of lovely grapes. Who cares if the Email goes now or in an hour. Even if it took two hours to send it it was a darn lot faster than we relied on, what we today call snail mail.

Which reminds me that it is time for my midday bite. And a drop or two of the red.