Something unexpected happened recently. I got on the computer, fully expecting to dial in and surf. However, this was not to be; the line was "busy". How could this be? It's an internet line, not something that dials out under normal conditions, nor is it something that has a limit of one caller. The other message I get says that I've been disconnected from the computer I dialed in to. A call to the ISP gives me the possibility that my modem was burned out. I am taken to the local Wal-Mart to scope out the modems to see what sort of information I need. (Grand total of three to choose from there.) Instead of purchasing a modem that day, I go home with said information. I check that information with my computer. Then, come Monday, I took my Lucent Win Modem in to compare the part that goes into the slot, and purchased a new modem. (This is the one I'm using now.) So, I call the ISP/phone company to notify them, and find out that there might be a routing problem out there, and that I should call their repair line. Upon doing so, I find that I need to give the number for the line I'm connecting on. This is not one I know, or generally need to know. So, I need to contact Customer Service to find that out. No easy task; instead of directing me there... well... directly, I have to navigate (DUN DUN DUN) a menu. I do so, perhaps incorrectly. It turns out, after all that... it was a billing problem. Billing was given the wrong address, so I never got my part of the bill. Which means I didn't pay it. Which means I got disconnected. Which means that, for months, somebody's been sending back my bill, and nobody bothered to ask WHY these bills were coming back unpaid.

I shudder to think of people having to deal with that sort of thing on a regular basis.

Anyway... I'm back!