Internet addiction

I have long feared what would happen when the complicated network of wires, printers and computers at our house went on the blink. It happened last Thursday afternoon. No internet. I girded my loins and called tech support. I talked at length with a very nice female computer voice who seemed very sympathetic to my problem, but was of no help. I was afraid to talk to a live person because I knew I would be unable to answer even the most basic questions i.e. Where is your modem? or Do you have a router? I cried tears of frustration and anger and sadness. This was Ken's area of expertise. This was Ken's pride.

I called Ken's friend from Apple who tried to diagnose the problem over the phone while he waited for a table for dinner. Still no luck, though he was onto something when he said everything needed to be shut down and brought back one by one.

The next day I decided to be brave and talked to a live person at tech support. I warned him that he needed to be very patient with me and he was. However, he finally admitted the set up at my house was beyond his capabilities.

(The kids came home from school and were like drug addicts looking for their fix. They NEEDED the internet.)

In the end, my friend's husband came over and he and Mark sorted out the problem. Everything needed to be turned off and turned back on in a certain order. I think my friend's husband was as surprised as anyone that he was able to fix it.

So what have I learned? I have successfully navigated another crisis without Ken. And there's a certain amount of pride in that as well as sadness.