February 16, 2002 - 2:04 pm

So. I signed up for Earthlink DSL on January 30th. Decent deal, $21.95 per month for the first three, then $49.95 per after, 1 year contract, no activation or installation costs. The website said shipping on the self install kit would be $10-$12, but when I called customer support a few days ago, the girl said it would only be $6.50. Dunno yet, as it has not been charged to my account. Haven't gotten it yet either. The guy who took my order for the DSL got what I wanted my email to be wrong, he typed it helwtich instead of helwitch. I discovered this on Feb 1st I think it was, when I got the order confirmation email. But I called Earthlink, and they got it straightened out nicely. So, The original order said I would be activated on Feb 14th. Then when I called Earthlink on the 7th or 8th, Customer service said I was already activated, and there would be a tracking number for my hardware, the Self Install kit, on the 11th. I called back on the 11th, and was told that I was NOT activated. Didn't matter anyway, cos it turned out Verizon had to come out to the house and upgrade the lines, which they could not do until the 15th, Friday. But it was free, so I wasn't gonna argue. So, I got my Network Interface Card (NIC), and tried to wait patiently.

Yesterday was the 15th. I don't actually know if I was activated with Earthlink on the 14th or not, cos I haven't gotten my hardware yet. But Customer Service said I shouldn't start being charged until I actually have access, and if I do get charged for access before I actually have access, to just call the billing center and it will be cleared up. So, anyway, Verizon was supposed to come on the 15th and upgrade the lines. They were too old for the DSL to work correctly or something. When I made the appointment for the 15th, I was told someone needed to be home, because the phone person would need to get inside. And it was one of those between 8 am and 5 pm appointments. So, I dragged my ass out of bed at 8 am, even tho it had been 2 am before I fell asleep. More about that later. So, I get up at 8. Sign online, check my email, chat and all, since I wouldn't be able to do those things while the phone lines were being worked on. Around 12:30, I was REALLY tired, and the phone person had not showed up yet. So, I went upstairs, plugged in the reciever for the doorbell (it's this neat electronic thing that just plugs in), and lay down. I figured, I didn't put in my ear plugs like I usually do, and the doorbell chime was right next to the bed, there was no way I could fail to wake up when the phone company person showed. I kept drifting in and out of sleep, cos I was kinda listening for the doorbell. Around 4:30, I got back up, a bit annoyed that the phone person hadn't showed. Around 5:15, I called the number I had been given for making the appointment, and around 5:35, I finally got through to a person after being on hold. Turns out, the phone company person had been and gone, done what they needed to do, never needed to come inside. So I did NOT need to get up at 8 am, or stay home all day. I'm a bit annoyed.

So, I decided since supposedly I am activated, and the lines have been upgraded, I would install the NIC. I was kinda stressed about it, cos my father bought it for me, and he got some cheapo one. I can't even tell what brand it is, the box doesn't really say. And the floppy that came with it with the drivers on it, didn't have drivers for Windows XP, which is my OS. It had 95/98 drivers, and NT/2000 drivers. So, I was hoping the 2000 drivers would work, which they often do, and 2000 and XP are similar. I was really hoping something would work, cos without knowing what company made it, I had no way to go online and get more drivers if the ones it came with didn't work. So, I open up my computer (Yes, I turned it off and unplugged it first, I'm not stupid), plug in the card, and turn it back on. It starts to boot, but doesn't get past the boot screen. I get, "Operating system not found". I'm actually quite happy, I didn't flip, didn't break anything, I just went, ok, what cable did I not plug back into the board. Checked, they all were plugged in. Tried to boot again, same thing. This time, I actually checked to make sure they were all plugged in all the way, and what do you know, the HDD cable wasn't all the way into the board. So, I plug it in all the way, comp boots fine. Big Surprise, I didn't need to install any drivers for the NIC. XP already had them. It didn't even do the, New Hardware Detected thing, it just booted and the card was there, all set up and ready to go. So, YAY. I turned the computer off, put the cover back on, and went to turn it back on. "Operating system not found" AAAAHHHHHHH!!!! Took the damn cover BACK off. The cable had come loose from the hard drive. Plugged the damn thing back in, booted the comp again, it was fine. This time, I left the computer turned on while I put the cover back on. If that damn cable came loose, I wanted to know right away. Yeah, I know, if the cable had come out again, it could have messed up the HDD. But I didn't care. I was annoyed. But, it all went fine this time, cover went back on, computer kept working, and I sat down and relaxed. So, now I am just waiting on the hardware, and I will have High Speed Internet! I can't wait. Ok, that's all for now. I got a couple things I wanna get done. I'll write about Valentine's Day in a bit. For the first time in a LONG time, I had a good V Day. And the last good Valentine's I had, was when I was a kid. So this was the first good adult Valentine's I had. (not that kind of adult. yeesh, dirty mind much? ;) Anyway, all about that later.