Reset Forty-Two, Days Eighteen and Nineteen

Tuesday morning I got to sleep pretty late, and didn't wake up until after two that afternoon. I poured a glass of orange juice, booted up the computer and settle down for an afternoon of Idernet. But the Idernet wasn't there. The world's Id had gone back to concealing itself. Little fragments of it appeared at first, but the computer kept rejecting it, dropping the connection before the pages were properly loaded. The email wouldn't load at all. Was it my computer? Was it T-Mobile's system? Was it my phone which I use as a hotspot? I had no clue, and the computer gave me none. At last, the connection failed completely, and try what I might I couldn't get it back. I can normally access the Idernet directly on the phone itself, but that too had failed.

Back when I had AT&T's DSL, I used to have to replace the router every three years or so, and my phone/hotspot is now over three years old, so it seemed the most likely culprit. I called my niece to see if the phone itself was still working, and if she might be able to take me to a store to buy a new phone the next day, but it turned out that she is out of town for the week, so if it did turn out to be the phone at fault I'd have to find another way to get one or wait until she got back from her trip.

So Tuesday night turned out to be a reading night, as in words printed on paper reading. This (or perhaps the absence of the stimulus of a lighted screen) ended with me going to sleep earlier than usual, so I was awake pretty early Wednesday and trying to get online, still to no avail. After a couple of hours putzing around I got tired again and went back to bed, actually sleeping pretty well, and getting up again fairly late, about half past five. Although I was mostly getting no signals at all, now and then the computer's desk icons would tell me I had a connection, but it would quickly fail. I spent some time going through photos I've accumulated on the hard drive, checking for a connection every hours or so, and finally around eleven o'clock I started getting some partial pages loaded.

Bit by bit the connection started working again, but it wasn't until about one o'clock in the morning that I got anything I'd consider full functionality. So far I haven't tried loading any videos, but I intend to do that next. I can't believe how badly I've missed having music to listen to. But the worst part was being stuck in my own head. Damn, I'm one crazy dude! When did that happen? I mean I've always been a bit eccentric, but what went on in my brain while I was without Idernet has convinced me I'm now certifiably batshit. I didn't realize how dependent I've gotten on this fragile conglomeration of sketchy machinery to maintain a semblance (or illusion) of sanity.

So it must have been T-Mobile's fault. I'm sure the phone wouldn't have fixed itself. Sure it's a smartphone, but it couldn't be that smart. So thanks to whoever was out there ironing the kinks out of the series of tubes that brings me Idernet. I'm so happy it's back! I'm also more worried than ever about what will become of me if I ever loose it permanently. Virtually my entire life is virtual. Except the food. And the beer. And the bills I have to pay. And the aches and pains of age. That shit's all actual. But the fun parts? Ghosts in a machine. I'm doomed.