No Internet
The other day (Wednesday, January 6, 2010) there was an accident up the street from where we live.
It was at the intersection of Routes 65 and 5&20. We live on 65.
It apparently occurred just before I pulled into our driveway from the Canandaigua YMCA, as I could see flashing red lights up at the intersection as I returned from the north.
I use a roundabout route from Canandaigua to avoid Bloomfield.
I immediately turned on this computer after I got home, and fired up my Internet browser FireFox®.
Uh-ohhh......... “Unable to connect” on every tab. “Looks like the Internet tanked.”
I pulled the plug on our router, and rebooted it. Still nothing!
I looked at our cable-modem; no flashing lights. Deader than a doornail.
I rebooted the cable-modem; Still nothing!
“Looks like that accident took out the Internet.”
Our Internet-Service-Provider (ISP) is Time Warner RoadRunner.
When this house was built, 20 years ago, there was no cable out front.
But I figured it wouldn’t be long, so we threaded an underground cable through the buried pipe for our phone lines.
Who was to know those phonelines would eventually become moribund with cellphones.
When TV cable was being strung out front, a few months later, I had the cable-guys hook me up immediately — saved putting up a TV antenna.
A few years later Time Warner added Internet to its cable feed; and we switched to that.
No more dial-up; no more AOL.
Over the years, my underground cable degraded, so a few years ago Time Warner came out to replace it.
They tried to thread a new cable through my pipe, but it broke.
They eventually dug a shallow trench across my yard, and buried their new cable in that.
Essentially our cable is just Internet.
It’s also TV, but we hardly watch anything.
All it is is basic service; just a few channels.
I took our dog for a walk up the street toward Michael Prouty Park, and lights were still angrily flashing at the intersection.
But the red lights seemed to be gone. It was now flashing yellow lights.
A fire truck went silently down 5&20; I guess back to Lima.
When I got back, I turned on the TV; and nothing.
“Looks like they got everything,” I said.
No news during supper.
It became dark.
Still nothing at 8 p.m.
Time Warner called to tell us that as longtime cable customers, we qualified for discounted cable telephone.
“Ironic,” my wife observed.
“You’re telling us that when your cable is out; for which we don’t get credit.”
Later I called a sister-in-law in Florida.
“The reason you’re not getting Scrabulous e-mails from my wife, is no Internet,” I said.
“There was an accident up the street, and I guess it took out the cable. No TV either.”
“But you have power and heat and telephone.”
(I was calling from my cellphone.)
“Yes, we have all that; but no Internet.”
“It’s amazing how dependent we’ve become to all this stuff,” she said.
Well, sorta.
I had other ‘pyooter functions I could do without Internet, and I could watch DVDs in place of news.
“What about Facebook?” she asked.
“Can’t do it. That’s Internet.”
“What about your blog?”
“Actually I posted the blog this morning, well before this outage.
So the stuff is flown, but I can’t send the notifying e-mail.”
We went to bed around 9:30; perhaps an hour before usual.
I got up around midnight, and tried the TV.
“MUTE!” Blasted me outta my bathrobe.
Only two lights on the cable-modem — not dead as a doornail.
But no flashing data light.
Well of course not. The router isn’t plugged in.
• “5&20” is the main east-west road (a two-lane highway) through our area; State Route 5 and U.S. Route 20, both on the same road. 5&20 is just south of where we live.
• I work out in the Canandaigua YMCA exercise-gym.
• “Bloomfield” is the nearest village on 5&20 east of where we live, maybe four-five miles away. I avoid it to avoid a speed trap. Canandaigua is due east on 5&20 from Bloomfield.
• “AOL” is America-Online.
• Our current dog is “Scarlett;” a rescue Irish-Setter. She’s four, and is our sixth Irish-Setter. (A “rescue Irish Setter” is an Irish Setter rescued from a bad home; e.g. a puppy-mill. By getting a rescue-dog, we avoid puppydom, but the dog is often messed up.)
• “Michael Prouty Park” is a town park near where we live. The land for it was donated by the Prouty family in honor of their deceased son (“Michael”) who used to play in that area. —It is mostly athletic fields, but has an open picnic pavilion. It’s maintained by the town. I walk our dog to and around it.
• “Lima,” NY (pronounced “LYE-muh,” not “LEE-muh”) is the nearest town on 5&20 to the west; maybe four-five miles away. It’s a fairly large village.
• “Scrabulous” is an Internet Scrabble game.
• “‘Pyooter” is computer.
It was at the intersection of Routes 65 and 5&20. We live on 65.
It apparently occurred just before I pulled into our driveway from the Canandaigua YMCA, as I could see flashing red lights up at the intersection as I returned from the north.
I use a roundabout route from Canandaigua to avoid Bloomfield.
I immediately turned on this computer after I got home, and fired up my Internet browser FireFox®.
Uh-ohhh......... “Unable to connect” on every tab. “Looks like the Internet tanked.”
I pulled the plug on our router, and rebooted it. Still nothing!
I looked at our cable-modem; no flashing lights. Deader than a doornail.
I rebooted the cable-modem; Still nothing!
“Looks like that accident took out the Internet.”
Our Internet-Service-Provider (ISP) is Time Warner RoadRunner.
When this house was built, 20 years ago, there was no cable out front.
But I figured it wouldn’t be long, so we threaded an underground cable through the buried pipe for our phone lines.
Who was to know those phonelines would eventually become moribund with cellphones.
When TV cable was being strung out front, a few months later, I had the cable-guys hook me up immediately — saved putting up a TV antenna.
A few years later Time Warner added Internet to its cable feed; and we switched to that.
No more dial-up; no more AOL.
Over the years, my underground cable degraded, so a few years ago Time Warner came out to replace it.
They tried to thread a new cable through my pipe, but it broke.
They eventually dug a shallow trench across my yard, and buried their new cable in that.
Essentially our cable is just Internet.
It’s also TV, but we hardly watch anything.
All it is is basic service; just a few channels.
I took our dog for a walk up the street toward Michael Prouty Park, and lights were still angrily flashing at the intersection.
But the red lights seemed to be gone. It was now flashing yellow lights.
A fire truck went silently down 5&20; I guess back to Lima.
When I got back, I turned on the TV; and nothing.
“Looks like they got everything,” I said.
No news during supper.
It became dark.
Still nothing at 8 p.m.
Time Warner called to tell us that as longtime cable customers, we qualified for discounted cable telephone.
“Ironic,” my wife observed.
“You’re telling us that when your cable is out; for which we don’t get credit.”
Later I called a sister-in-law in Florida.
“The reason you’re not getting Scrabulous e-mails from my wife, is no Internet,” I said.
“There was an accident up the street, and I guess it took out the cable. No TV either.”
“But you have power and heat and telephone.”
(I was calling from my cellphone.)
“Yes, we have all that; but no Internet.”
“It’s amazing how dependent we’ve become to all this stuff,” she said.
Well, sorta.
I had other ‘pyooter functions I could do without Internet, and I could watch DVDs in place of news.
“What about Facebook?” she asked.
“Can’t do it. That’s Internet.”
“What about your blog?”
“Actually I posted the blog this morning, well before this outage.
So the stuff is flown, but I can’t send the notifying e-mail.”
We went to bed around 9:30; perhaps an hour before usual.
I got up around midnight, and tried the TV.
“MUTE!” Blasted me outta my bathrobe.
Only two lights on the cable-modem — not dead as a doornail.
But no flashing data light.
Well of course not. The router isn’t plugged in.
• “5&20” is the main east-west road (a two-lane highway) through our area; State Route 5 and U.S. Route 20, both on the same road. 5&20 is just south of where we live.
• I work out in the Canandaigua YMCA exercise-gym.
• “Bloomfield” is the nearest village on 5&20 east of where we live, maybe four-five miles away. I avoid it to avoid a speed trap. Canandaigua is due east on 5&20 from Bloomfield.
• “AOL” is America-Online.
• Our current dog is “Scarlett;” a rescue Irish-Setter. She’s four, and is our sixth Irish-Setter. (A “rescue Irish Setter” is an Irish Setter rescued from a bad home; e.g. a puppy-mill. By getting a rescue-dog, we avoid puppydom, but the dog is often messed up.)
• “Michael Prouty Park” is a town park near where we live. The land for it was donated by the Prouty family in honor of their deceased son (“Michael”) who used to play in that area. —It is mostly athletic fields, but has an open picnic pavilion. It’s maintained by the town. I walk our dog to and around it.
• “Lima,” NY (pronounced “LYE-muh,” not “LEE-muh”) is the nearest town on 5&20 to the west; maybe four-five miles away. It’s a fairly large village.
• “Scrabulous” is an Internet Scrabble game.
• “‘Pyooter” is computer.
posted by BobbaLew at 5:15 PM
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