My broadband internet connection has been down since Sunday.
This really sucks, since I've since been feeling extremely agitated, disconnected, and generally morose about the situation since then. See, typically, I get home from work, get changed, surf for a while (there is a set of sites I visit every day), and then gradually start work on dinner. Not having the internet disrupts my ordered day.
In addition, MSN Messenger has become my main method of keeping in touch with people (well, that and email), and I can't check my email, and I no longer have easy access to endless news feeds, and...
Now, it is true to say that I'm not completely lost. I do have the option of using a dial-up connection for the time being. But it's not the same. Instead of instant response, I have to wait 5 minutes for a site to load. Plus, it costs money (yes, that's the Moore blood talking!).
Alternatively, I can do some surfing from work, outside of work hours. However, I don't have my bookmarks file at work, and anyway, I don't really want to spend a lot of extra time there - work is for working, not for internet access.
It's also worth noting that dial-up does give me access to my email (thank goodness), but only in receive-only mode. I can't access Hotmail from work (it's blocked, and rightly so), and it just will not load on dial-up. Which is a nuisance, since it's via Hotmail that my ISP are meant to be keeping me up to date on when the connection is coming back, and what I'll need to do to reactivate it.
(Which is an important aside - if you're developing a web-based email site, don't fill it with lots of unnecessary graphics and adverts. I want to use your site because I need some specific information. Don't screw that up for me.)
However, the absolute worst part of all of this is that no-one understands quite the impact it has had. I've had suggestions that I should do something else, questions about whether it's a big deal, and even gentle chiding that perhaps I'm too reliant on the internet. All of which really misses the point - I don't spend all of my time online under normal circumstances, but I really don't like the disruption to my normal routines of life. And I really don't want to have to face one more small annoyance in my life at this time - I just want to get on with things.
(For the record, my ISP are e7even.com, about whom I have had nothing but praise, until now. This is the first significant problem they've faced me with, and how they resolve it will go a long way towards cementing my opinion of them in future. To their credit, they have offered any customer who wishes to walk away the option of ending their contract and receiving a full refund.)
