Duskrider's Blog

I found out first had a couple of days ago just how much I rely on technology to do what I take for granted. The saying goes, "You never know what you have until it's taken away." I'll have to second whoever said that little gem.

I came home the other day and found that my wireless router had just decided to stop working. I suppose it was probably due... it's about 2 years old and has served me fairly well since I purchased it. I did, however, decide to go with a different brand as a replacement. I'm not sure if that's because I wasn't as happy with the old one as I felt I should've been, or if I just wanted to try something else. Oh well, whatever the case may be I should have the replacement in about two days.

Now, of course, I'm here writing in my blog so I obviously have access to the Internet. I have two computers at my place, the one I do my work on and the one I use when that one doesn't work. :) Both of these computers are fed the Internet wirelessly through my wireless router (when it's working of course) so I don't have to worry about where I plug them in at. My main computer is a desktop, and my backup is a laptop. It's nice to be able to take the laptop anywhere and be able to surf with no wires at all, but I almost never use it. ALL of my programs for doing... well... anything are on my desktop. When my router went out, I was suddenly cut off from the Internet.

The router was plugged into my cable modem, which has an Ethernet connection, so I should just be able to plug that into my computer and run that way until I get a replacement. That much is true, and I actually have an Ethernet cable at home that will reach all the way from where my entertainment center is (where my cable comes in at) to my computer. The problem, as I found out the other day, was that my network card on my desktop has stopped working sometime between when I first got my wireless router and now. Hmmmph. So, connecting the computer directly was out.

It really is no big deal, to be honest. I can still go on the 'net with my laptop, but I can't really DO anything until I get my main computer back online. At least I have access to my e-mail, and I can always edit my site with the control panel offered through my host if need be. (I hope not though, web based editors are not my favorite way of building websites). It's only a couple of days anyway.

I did try to get my main online THROUGH my laptop, but that effort resulted in my main computer taking a nosedive when I tried to change the network settings. In this case, nosedive = rebooting over and over as soon as Windows starts. That might have something to do with the broken card, I'm not sure since I don't use it. That was a quick fix though, I just found the naughty entry in my startup script and disabled it. I'll have to remember to delete it next time I'm in there. I think it's trying to alter my network settings on reboot since I tried to reconfigure the network. There's something about that it doesn't like, apparently.

Have I ever said I love technology?

I couldn't imagine what would happen if I couldn't get to the 'net. I rely on it so much anymore it's scary. All of my major purchases are on the Internet, I get far more e-mail than regular mail, all my bills are paid online, all my paycheck stubs are e-mailed to me, I check my account balances online (I haven't been inside my bank in about three months), and I almost never write any checks - everything is done online or through a card. ALL of that is technology... scary how 'plugged-in' I am and don't even realize it. I left my cell phone somewhere today and felt disconnected while I didn't have it, it was unnerving.

I look around and all I see are computers, speakers, phones, monitors, little blinking lights... heaven forbid if the machines ever decided to take over.

Perhaps there's an image in there somewhere... I'll have to think about that.

-Ed