September 15, 2005
Internet
Well, right now I am typing from an internet cafe. They are pretty common here, but it is hard for me to find the time to come down without Rowan to type. So I haven't posted for a few days. She is asleep now and Jason is on duty. However, we should have internet at our apartment in the next few days. Let me tell you how it has gone down...
We heard it was cheap to get broadband hooked up to your pad - and Jason is still working long distance for his job and Andrew would like to do web chats with his wife and kid - so we thought it would be a good investment. We call to get a quote from 2 different companies. One thing to keep in mind is that things don't actually run by any clock that I am aware of. We keep missing the guys who are coming to give us quotes because they never actually give us a time they are coming. Or they give us a time and don't show up. Finally we get one to come, and they have to come back the next day to actually give us the quote so they can ask there boss about a deposit. We don't want to pay one and they want us to.
It goes back and forth like this for a few days. Somehow, and we don't know how, our downstairs neighbor talks to the dude on our behalf and gets us the internet without a deposit and without an instillation fee. Plus it is cheaper per month than what he originally told us. Yeah for the neighbor.
Okay, so we have an agreement to get internet and they are going to come the next day to hook it up (of course we don't know what time). They do come eventually though. There are 2 of them. They unscrew something on the wall. Talk amongst themselves. Go walk around outside. Come back in and talk amongst themselves. Walk outside again. We wait. Wait some more. Oh, it turns out they have left. Didn't say anything. Just left. Next day they drop by to tell us they will be coming on the following day at noon. We still have no idea what is going on.
By the third day we pin down the instillation guys and they tell us that they are waiting for a work order. They actually have to dig a ditch to install some wire that runs to our house. Sounds easy enough. The next day we have (and I counted them) Eleven men outside our house digging a ditch with shovels and their hands. I am not kidding. And it is not just any ditch mind you. They have to dig the ditch from half way down the street on the opposite side as our house. They are digging up people's driveways and then they just dig up the concrete street to cross the wire over to our side. Once they are done digging and laying the wire they put the dirt back on in big mounds and don't even pat it down. So people have to go over these big mounds to get in their driveways. Let me tell you how indulgent this whole internet thing is seeming right about now.
So that was yesterday. The wires been laid, but not connected to our house. We are still waiting for someone to come and do that. They were supposed to come this afternoon, but didn't show up. I am assuming that since they went through the trouble of having 11 men dig this massive ditch for us that they will eventually show. Then I will be able to sit in the comfort of my own home and write more and post pics for all you readers our there. How American is that????
Posted by Tara at September 15, 2005 12:31 PM
Comments
Namaste Tara,
It sounds as if all is going well.......... Great photos. It looks like you have found yourselves in a very nice neighborhood. Thank you for sharing.
Robert
Posted by: Robert Bourassa at September 15, 2005 10:57 PM