Take Cover

For nearly 24 hours now we've had warnings and sirens and clouds and wind. It hasn't been as bad as it looks on TV. We're in some sort of weather hole, I think. In the spring and summer when we need rain, it will be raining north, south, east, and west of us, and our area will be the only place on the weather map with no precipitation. The sirens have gone off at least 6 times since yesterday afternoon, and each time, I'll check the computer weather, check the TV weather channel hysterics, and look outside. We had thunder a couple of times, a gust or 2 of wind, and lots and lots of rain. Not that I'm complaining. I like storms until they start getting serious; then I regret wishing for one.

I was talking to Emily yesterday standing in front of the TV, and this girl said, "There's tornado activity at AUM right now. Please take cover if you're in that vicinity." Well, I can see the AUM water tower (I think that's what it is - it has AUM on it) from the entrance to our subdivision, so I went out back and looked south, southeast, and southwest, and it looked good and clear to me. Later she said (probably after lots of phone calls) that she meant there was "rotational activity" in the clouds. I know the people in Prattville were scared to death after going through all that damage last February. This seems early for so many tornados. Didn't it used to be March and April when we would hear about them?

All this excitement plus having no internet connection for over 24 hours has made me grind my teeth. I didn't realize it, but last night I had to make myself unclench my teeth. I don't even realize I'm stressed sometimes until I get a headache and realize all the muscles in my face and neck are tight.

The internet disappearance doesn't seem like it would have the same significance as a tornado in terms of causing stress, but I think it was worse. How did we get along without being connected to the world all those years? I guess it's what we get used to. The fact that I needed to work 8 hours this weekend made it even more aggravating. Everything was working fine until about 9:30 or so Thursday when Mama said she was ready to go to the beauty shop. I went to the library while she was there, and when we got home, I decided to work a couple of hours. Nothing doing. No e-mail, no Google Home Page, no Internet Explorer. Not that I didn't try all my tricks - rebooting and checking the status - many times - like that would fix it. Sometimes these things do magically repair themselves but not this time.

If anyone but me reads this except for me and is not interested in computer failings, feel free to skip it.

I finally called my downtown computer guys and talked to Sam. He had me look at my router and modem and tell me which lights were green and which were amber and said it was probably the cable company. Strange, because Mama's TV was working. So I got a Knology representative who again had me look at all the lights and tell me what color they were and whether they were blinking and then to unplug everything and plug it back in (which I had already done, knowing from experience they would ask me to do it). He said he wasn't seeing a response, so he would send out a representative the next day - 24 hours from then. Horrors. For one thing, that is a LONG time to be without internet service, and another, it meant someone was going to be crawling under my desk. That was pretty depressing to think about, but I had been planning to take the time to organize all those 50 cords down there anyway. I had bought these little cord holders that you attach with adhesive to the back of your desk (I put mine underneath), so I popped 6 of those up there and looped cords through them, and it was amazing what a difference it makes. Lying on my back under the desk and looking up, it still looks a little messy, but I can say with almost certainty that no one is going to be doing that. Now I don't have to maneuver my foot through a nest of cords to reach the foot pedal.

There goes that siren again. I HATE that sound. Anyway, in fixing all the cords and neatening up, I happened to look at the modem and see that the cable green light was on, so I got all excited and tried everything again. Still nothing. The PC light wasn't on, and both computers were attached to the router. The Knology guy did come, right on time, and was a tall laid-back young guy who seems to love what he does. He sat down and immediately said, "Whoa, you have something missing. You need a cable to attach the router to the modem." I went to the sofa and picked up a white cable and asked if this might be it. He got all excited and plugged it in, and like magic, it all came on. I had noticed this white cable under the desk, but it didn't seem to be attached to anything, so I thought - well I'm not sure what I thought - but I didn't have another computer to plug it into, so I just put it away. Sometimes cables and cords just appear from nowhere, you know.

I knew being away from the blog for 3 days, I would have a lot of write. Too bad it's all boring. I'll wait until tomorrow to write about my library experience because I have to go once more and stare at the sky.