Internet up. Yesterday afternoon, when I fired up the computer for the day (after spending the morning teaching), I couldn't get my e-mail to flood in. I checked the cable modem and noticed that two green lights were out. It's unusual for the cable service to go out, so I turned the television set on. There was a gray screen. Then I realized that my neighbor is in the process of installing a fence between our houses. I went into the back yard and saw that the cable had been cut. The worker explained sheepishly that he had cut it by accident. He told me in broken English that he would splice it. I said no and told him that I would call the cable company (Charter).
Luckily for me, the Charter representative was able to get someone out here today. A few minutes ago, a man laid a new cable from the side of my house to the box in the neighbor's yard. Everything works fine, if not better than before. The old cable was frayed in at least one place.
All's well that ends well, they say. I'm back on the Internets. The worker cost me an evening's worth of Internet surfing and a Texas Rangers baseball game (which I listened to on the radio in my study). I did more reading than usual and watched a movie (Fargo) with Kat. Ya?
Addendum: Three or four years ago, another neighbor was installing a fence. That time, the workers cut the telephone cable. It took several days to get the telephone working again. I have bad luck with fences (or neighbors, or neighbors installing fences).
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 