Update
Didn't really know what to call this entry, since I've been without a proper internet connection so long, I've been a little out of touch, and I was going to talk about a bunch of stuff.
Ok: so defining about 5 days as "so long" is a bit of a stretch, but in this day and age, connectivity withdrawal can be quite severe. The real frustration was that I have a perfectly functional broadband router in the house, and two computers. My personal computer is still fried (more on that later) and the company laptop has this super duper firewall that has a "gateway enforcement policy" which means that if you want to connect to the internet, you have to log into the company VPN. To log into the VPN requires a specialized software, a secret IP address, group ID, a group password, a personal login, a personal password, a PIN number and a special SecureID key fob that has a number on it that changes every 90 seconds, which counts as an additional password. Clearly, this is a process designed to fail, and I was lacking some element of the witchs' brew (the key fob), and so I had a fully functional laptop, quite capable of connecting to the internet, but wouldn't let me use the internet to connect to anything. Just to be safe. 4 passwords, I ask you...
So I complained bitterly to the local administration (which is outsourced), and they referred me to IT (which is outsourced), who referred me to second line support (which is outsourced to Ireland). The Irish, being a friendly and sympathetic people, even at 7:30am on a Tuesday morning, immediately understood my plight, and uploaded a different profile to my firewall, which allows me to totally circumvent the gateway restriction, because it now thinks I'm an engineer. Unfortunately, it took 2 days to upload, and arrived at about the same time as the key fob with the changing pseudo-random number password, so I didn't need it by then, but I was grateful for their sympathy and their willingness to help.
In other drama, I was simultaneously trying to get a new power supply for my IBM thinkpad. While I was getting that, I also asked for another keyboard, since they have a tendency to get sticky when the user has a tendency to type and eat at the same time. [ there's this great saying that almost all the problems with computers nowadays are caused by the same faulty piece of hardware, and it's easy to find, because it's always between the keyboard and the chair ]. IBM are lovely, especially since I mortgaged my house to buy their full on-site bend-over-backwards-for-you warranty, and it's still valid. So they sent me the keyboard and power supply. Unfortunately, the courier was a bit slow, so Thursday of last week became Wednesday of this week, and when I got home, I found a note saying that my packages had been left in the cupboard outside the door.
That would be the cupboard that doesn't lock, is open to the public and empty.
Anyway (long story short), I eventually found the 2 packages, and I have to admit that I've been anxious to get them. You see, when the computer packed in, I restarted it immediately on battery power and it worked fine, but the power supply no longer seemed to work. But how can I be sure if it's the power supply itself or the bit inside the computer that the power supply connects to that's being so politically correct it doesn't function? So I was excited to finally find out if my computer still works. I unwrapped the power supply to find that they'd sent me the transformer, with the long cable that plugs into the computer, but not the power cable that plugs into the mains. That's OK, because I have lots of those. Only none of them seem to be moulded quite right to fit into the socket in the power supply that they've sent me. So I'm barely a millimetre away from having power to my own laptop, but it's still a bridge too far.
And damn that's frustrating.
In other news, I'm reading through the Philip Pullman trilogy (The Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass) at tremendous pace. In 4 days, I'm halfway through the third book. Admittedly, it's the second time I read them, but it's been long enough that I can be forgiven for revisiting them. I've had this great idea about a second hand book website that's no doubt been done a hundred times before, but I've chosen to enjoy the temporary enthusiasm and misguided belief that I've discovered an innovative and category-killing new paradigm for the 3 days that it will undoubtedly last. Maybe it'll become a website one day, I'll let you know.
I'm looking for good books to read - and I don't necessarily mean fantasy or scifi - I'm a fan of Paolo Cohelo, Dickens and Nick Hornby, so anything that's well written will do. But before you go there, I can't read Zadie - I found White Teeth terribly boring, even though everyone keeps raving about it. But if you have suggestions, please let me know - I seem to have a strong literary appetite these days.
Time to pour another Whisky. Ahh... Internet... It's good to be back.
Posted by nlvp at January 12, 2005 10:41 PM