Okay, the Fiber Internet is down…

No worries, it’s just very unusual.

Switched over to the hotspot in my phone and voilà I’m connected again.

I knew something was up when I had no new email…

I get hundreds of spam emails a day and while it was refreshing to not have any spam in my inbox, it was also disconcerting.

It’s not unusual for me to have only one or two actually important emails every other day. Without spam I could easily go for days not realizing that something was amiss.

Since the WiFi was up, none of my devices had anything new on them. They were being good little machines and asking if there was anything new, the WiFi said, “nope,” and the  devices said, “Okay”

When I disconnected my phone from WiFi, forcing it to go to the cellular data plan exclusively… Then the machine got really busy for a while. Text messages, emails, and all the usual spam came rushing in.

After resetting everything including the fiber access point, still no joy.

Sigh… This is why I have a backup plan. 

It’s interesting that while I notice the difference in downloads and web page loading, It’s not excessively annoying. I suppose if I were to try watching video it would be. But for my purposes today I probably won’t notice the difference.

Job searching doesn’t take that much bandwidth. But this could seriously impair my ability to veg in front of the TV. Don’t even ask about the porn!

No calls this morning either, that’s nice. 

I spent the majority of yesterday on the phone trying to sort out whatever issue the insurance company was having with repairing my car.

Yep, a month almost since my car was dropped off at the repair facility and State Farm is still screwing around on repairing it.  If I’m lucky I may get it back before Christmas, but I’m not holding my breath.

Yes, I called them out by name. I’d strongly suggest if you’re looking for an insurance provider, you keep looking. This is especially true if you’re in the Riverside area of Southern California.

State Farm’s local estimator seems to like to lowball any repairs and makes the client have to call repeatedly to get reasonable service. The estimator may be fine with anything below a Lexus, but with higher end cars he may be simply out of his depth.

I’ve decided it’s time for me to start shopping for a new insurance provider. Between the house, the supplementary coverage, the bike and the car I should be an attractive client, but that’s for another day.

The interesting thing about the internet being down, is that it’s somehow quieter. I’m sure that is simply me. It’s like there’s a buzz that’s missing but there’s no way I could be aware of the ebb & flow of data traveling at the speed of light. 

When the power goes out up here, it gets really quiet. I like those times. No sounds other than nature.

We don’t really notice it going about our busy lives, but all the electrical motors add a lot to the background noise. Heaters, AC systems, water pumps, washers, dryers, refrigerators, all add just a little noise, and if you’re in a community of people, there’s always a drone of machinery. 

When the power is out, you can literally hear a car coming from a mile or more away.

I guess that’s why I like being well away from cities. 

Even here, when I’m hiking up on the mountain I can still hear the drone of modern life. It’s just not as obvious.

It makes me wonder what earth sounded like in the pre-industrial age. What does that kind of silence, sound like? Does it make you feel isolated and afraid, or do you completely unwind? 

One of these days I’m going to have to find a place where there is literally nothing, just to see how I feel.

I do get a sense of that silence when I’m diving. Even then, there’s the sound of my dive gear and an amazing variety of sound coming from the creatures in the water with me.

Aside from the dive gear and occasional boat motor, the sounds are all naturally occurring. This makes me wonder if I was someplace miles from anything else, would my hearing simply shift over to the sounds being made by animals going about their day or would I not hear them at all. I suspect I’d start hearing the animals, then be curious about their sounds.

It looks like it’s going to be a quiet day.

I hope your’s is as pleasant.