Please restart your online backup --> stuff that works

This morning I woke up to discover that I had no internet connection. I learned this courtesy of the computer-side software for my online backup, which placed an informative bubble on my desktop asking me to restart my backup because I had files that were unbacked up and therefore at risk. Of course, I hadn't stopped the backup. The lost internet connection had.

This was not entirely unexpected, although the timing was. We're shifting to a higher-speed connection. We've been on 640K DSL since the technology first became available in our area. Last week I thought, "Maybe we can do better than this now." We could; our connection was so ancient that increasing the speed x ten won't even cost more than we were paying.

However, the phone company apparently threw the switch earlier than they said they would. The new service was supposed to go live mid-afternoon today, after the delivery of the required new modem. Last night, one of the uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) was powering on and off repeatedly, taking the (old P3) e-mail computer with it. . . . I wonder if that was at the time the phone company changed our service, or if it was a totally unrelated glitch. The new  computer, on its separate UPS, seemed fine.

And then I got up this morning and discovered I couldn't connect to the net anywhere. (Our newspaper wasn't delivered, either, but I do think that's a separate issue.) After two and a half hours of troubleshooting that involved the entire house and many wires, I think we are connected again. We lost the phones, too, for a while, even with all the appropriate filters in place. I got cut off after "hello" on the phone company's support system, one of whose technicians was later patched into the call by the tech support person at our ISP . . . there is a reason I have complete loyalty to this ISP.

The house wireless system (to which only my laptop connects) has been dismantled, although I learned from the phone company tech support person that I can put it in place again.

Later.

Responses to comments from yesterday

1. Thanks for the dinner idea, Donna. I accept.

2. Tycho: I'll look further into this Mac stuff you mention. It might be feasible to transition if I didn't have to invest immediately in all new design/layout software and a bunch of new type (the OpenType crosses over, but the PS1 type does not; I'm running about 50/50 of the two varieties).

There's supposed to be a Mac dealer/service place opening in the city were we live, uh, twelve days ago (8/18). It's not open yet. Ah, here's an update: "After many delays, construction is in the final stretch . . . and we will open on Tuesday September 2, 2008." Current closest Mac source is an hour away. Or online. Online is not feeling very convenient right now.

3. Dina: You'll put in a good word for me with my distributor, eh?

4. LynnH: So I'm giving a good imitation of being sane?

Stuff that works

Speaking of sanity, my personal mental-health-sort-of-preserving exercise for this morning is, before getting down to actual work, collecting appreciative images of Stuff That Works.

My bicycle, shown this morning parked at the public library, works just fine. I've even had it since August 2006, having acquired it about the same time I started this blog, and it still works. That link is to the early days of my blog and I didn't know much about blogging, especially about images. I didn't show the bike. So it's time for a photo of my wonderful bike, WHICH WORKS:

Here's my laptop. It works.

The wireless connection at the library also works, although I can't remember my password for Gootodo.com, which would get me to my focused to-do list.

The backpack also works, although it's the newly arrived second replacement version (lifetime warranty). I'm glad to have it (or, rather, its substitute) back.

This works:

Tea. It brews. Although in the mess this morning I forgot to put my re-usable cup in the backpack.

The two people I am meeting here with, Kit and Judy, point out that ALL THREE OF US work, but I'm not going to interrupt our work to figure out how to get a photo. And I am truly just goofing off right now, but I will be working soon.

And, finally, this works:

There's even an MMORPG in this volume of the Stephanie Plum series. I only know what an MMORPG is because I have a daughter. She doesn't play MMORPGs. I don't, either, although I definitely see the appeal of escaping from this reality into a parallel imaginary one.

But you need a working computer with reliable internet connection to make that particular escape.

For a good book, you need no internet connection at all. Knitting, too. Knitting doesn't need computers or internet. Although I can't find my 2.75-mm needles, which are the ones I need to knit the next row. Maybe that was the cable I plugged into the wall that got the electronic system running again. . . . There are a lot of cables behind the filing cabinet and under the bookshelves, which is where I was working. . . . And knitting needles are some of the most versatile tools I've ever encountered. . . .

And now it's time to return to the primary computer in the office, see if I can open the book file, and replace the illustrations I put in yesterday because they did need some minor corrections that I have learned (via web mail, here at the library) have been completed.

Moving from plan B back to plan A. Fingers crossed for luck.

Comments

[Ann]

For all online backup, file sharing and storage related info, I recommend this website:

http://www.BackupReview.info

[Deborah Robson]

Looks like a great site, Ann. Thanks. And it also looks like I've got at least one of the right systems in place: my online backup.

[Lynn]

Aren't all these modern contraptions supposed to make our lives easier?

[bibliotecaria]

Easier? Well, maybe, but we humans then turn around and make them complex! My own computer is suffering from age -- just yesterday it rebooted up after a sudden power cutoff and suddenly would not show anything on the monitor. It worked during boot up; it worked in safe mode, but there was only black screen in regular mode. It came back, but, well, it just confirms me in the thought that I need a new computer fairly soon.

[Brian]

Hello Deb - Mom (Kris) asked me to touch base with you on the computer issues. If you still need/want some help, send me an email and I'll do my best to work through the issues.

Best wishes,
Brian