As you know, I've been without a high-speed Internet connection since Wednesday night. In my discussions with EarthLink technicians, I've learned that something is awry in the "line," i.e., the telephone line into my house. I'm sure it was caused by the thunderstorms we had Wednesday night and Thursday morning. As if this weren't bad enough, I'm unable to get a dial-up connection through my Dell computer. The Dell works fine; I just can't get online with it. So I had to fire up the old Compaq to use the dial-up connection. It's frustratingly slow. Sometimes I could scream. But at least I've been able to post my journal entries of twenty years ago.
I would not have thought that things could get worse, but this evening they did. When I fired up the Compaq, it went into safe mode. What the? Maybe the tinkering with the DSL modem messed it up; but it worked fine last night when I shut it off. I tried restoring the operating system (using System Restore), but none of the three restore points I created works. Damn! So now I have to work in safe mode, which means all the screen sizes and colors are screwed up. Fortunately, I'm able to get online, so perhaps I shouldn't complain too much. I'm able to check my e-mail, post my journal entries, and do other odds and ends.
I've decided that if my DSL modem isn't up and running by Monday afternoon, I'm leaving EarthLink. I can't impress upon them the urgency of my situation. I pay good money for high-speed Internet access and expect to have it continuously—especially when I've done nothing to lose it. I have cable television, so I can probably get high-speed Internet access through Charter. I wish I could tell EarthLink this. If they knew that they were about to lose a customer, they'd do something (I assume). My telling this to a technician doesn't accomplish anything. Technicians don't care whether I subscribe to EarthLink. If anything, they'd like me to go away.
If anyone has suggestions, I'd appreciate hearing them.