Pulling My Hair Out

     I was pulling my hair out all day today because I couldn’t get my internet to work.  It went out sometime after two o’clock yesterday and everything I tried wouldn’t get it working again.  This morning I must have unplugged the modem thirty times before 8 o’clock am which is when I could finally call Hughes Net. 

     I spent forty minutes on the telephone with a woman who "diagnosed" the problem for me.  She asked me a bunch of questions and then had me run the same test over and over again until I finally asked, "How many times do we have to do this and get the same response, failed?"  She replied, "Ten."  I chuckled and asked if she was kidding me, but she obviously wasn’t.  Then I asked her, "Have you ever done this test 9 times and then on the 10th time gotten a different response?"  She was silent for awhile before saying, "No." 

     After the 10th time she explained what the process for repairing the system would be.  It would take 1-2 days for the work ticket to be assigned to a repair tech and then it would be 3-5 days before someone would be out to fix it.  I had already talked to a tech who could come out that day but she said I couldn’t request that tech and most likely I wouldn’t get him.  I asked if I could talk to customer service and she started to give me an address.  I said I didn’t want to write them a letter and asked for a telephone number.  She told me she couldn’t give me their number.  Half of my hair was laying on the floor by this point.

     I proceeded to pull more hair out as she informed me what the cost would be.  I hung up just a wee bit frustrated and immediately phoned the tech.  They would send the tech from Grand Rapids, MN immediately and that was fine with me.  I pulled any remaining hair out while I waited 6 long hours for his arrival.

     I was so happy to see him walk through the door.  He made his way up to the roof and the dish, checked things out voila, INTERNET! 198 email messages later and everything was back to normal, except for my hair…