Stood Up By the Geek Squad

Seriously?!

What kind of nerd does one have to be to be stood up by the Geek Squad??

As you all know, I moved last Sunday (a week ago today). The move went very smoothly (cute movers!!) and I've had a very busy week settling in and going to an inservice for the district Arts Resource teachers.

I did most of this without Internet access, which drove me bonkers.

On Wednesday, my phone and DSL connection were finally hooked up...only I had no dial tone. AT&T told me this was the apartment complex's fault. The apartment complex blamed AT&T. I just wanted it fixed. I've been wearing my new cell phone out, and [insert whiny tone of voice here] I want Internet!!!

Fortunately, the guy came out to fix it in a timely manner. Yay! A dial tone. As soon as he left, I got down to business getting my Internet set up.

Here's the thing. When I moved in, I realized there is no phone jack in the 2nd bedroom or the living room--both the only places I might put my computer. I figured, "What the heck, I'll go wireless." So I bought a wireless router and an adapter at Best Buy (home of the Geek Squad) and heeded their stern advice to follow each step to a T. No problem!

The box said, "Get up and running in minutes," and, "No technical jargon used or technical expertise required." Great! Let's get started.

Big problem.

I followed each and every instruction but I kept hitting wierd error messages and a general unwillingness, on the part of my computer, to cooperate.

I tried everything I had in my limited knowledge of the inner workings of a Dell. I got nowhere. So I called AT&T. A very nice young man walked me step-by-step through the deep, mysterious underground passages of my computer and the World Wide Web. He had me doing stuff I never would have figured out on my own. After thirty minutes, I had Internet access--it wasn't wireless, but I was able to read the 50+ new messages in my inbox.

"I can get it from here," I confidentely told this nice young man. He even believed me. We hung up, and I rolled up my sleeves and got down to the business of making my Internet connection wireless.

Within 20 minutes, I was on the phone again, this time to Linksys, the company that made the router and adapter.

Look, I have nothing against accents. I really don't. But I couldn't understand half of what this lady was telling me over the phone. My cell phone kept slipping down my ear as I typed and I couldn't understand her rapid-fire speaking. I must have sounded like a complete moron. "Huh? What? Could you repeat that?" It was frustrating, but finally, FINALLY, she told me to unhook a little cable and voila! I was wireless.

Woohoo!!!

So I confidently set about unhooking and rehooking and...

Kaput. No wireless connection.

Exhausted and Internetless, I called the Geek Squad. "We can be there tomorrow!"

"Great! I really, really, need you!"

They didn't show. I called and we rescheduled for this morning, between 8:00 and 12:00. Sucks to have to get up before 8:00 on a Sunday, but I'm willing to sacrifice for Internet.

In the mean time, you might be wondering how I'm able to update the LPB. Well, it's simple. My old modem is sitting on the living room floor, with a long cord connecting it to the phone jack in the kitchen. The modem, in turn is hooked to the wireless router, sitting by my feet, and that in turn, is plugged into the hard drive. I have cords everywhere, stretched from one wall to the wall opposite. It's unsightly and a tripping hazard...but I have Internet!

Next step? Cable TV.