On having many baskets for the communication eggs

Yesterday afternoon, I sat down at my computer to check the afternoon's goings-on. The little ticker spun and spun but finally put up its triangle and exclamation point that it couldn't connect for my email. It's unusual, but not unheard of, for this to happen, to I skipped on over to Safari, which proceeded to have similar issues.

Not good, but not panic time either. The control panel told me I was connected to the internet via wireless. That isn't to say that the wireless is connected to the internet, though, so I went to check on the modem and router. All looked good. I decided to reroute the power, which means shutting down everything, and putting it all back together in a certain order. (Or, at least, that's what some tech told me years ago and I've always done it with good results, so I'm not rocking the boat now.)

But, alas, rerouting the power did not get me back online. It was time to call Verizon, but all I got was a series of short beeps. Tried another Verizon number. Same thing. Placed a local call. It went through. Called another 800 number unrelated to V. Short beeps. At this point, I realized the trouble was not mine and I went to make a tea bread.

Bread in oven, and internet still down, I finally put two and two together to realize that I wasn't tethered to Verizon. My iPhone is AT&T. I'd give that a shot. Called the 800 V number. Got through. Found out, after plugging in all the appropriate choices, that service was down for my area. I was reminded I would need to restart both the modem and my computer when all was well.

Unusual and not welcome. But not my fault. Found out on the local news several hours later that a highway department crew had cut a fiber-optic line. It was repaired and I was happily back in business after rerouting the power and my computer once again.

Then, I realized that while I'm mainly dependent on V for my communications, my subscriptions to unrelated services is for the best. With V out, AT&T still works, as does my cable TV. Had I all with the same carrier yesterday, I'd have been left to reading or working outside or talking with the neighbors...

Whew! I'll not complain about three separate bills again!