Internet Woes

     When I came home from Scotland in early July, I had no internet. When at last the technicians came out, they looked around and fiddled with their computers and finally told me they could no longer bring me service. I live too far up the mountain. 

    Now what? My son googled the problem (I had no internet, remember) and discovered that Starlink was the only company that would service my little spot on the planet. So I made an appointment for a Starlink installation.

    By the time the installer got here, I had been without connection to the cybersphere for a month.

    It was an interesting hiatus. 

    I quickly learned that it's not necessary to look online for the weather every day. Sometimes an idle thought would suggest a google search before I remembered I couldn't do that. The thought slipped by, easily enough. And I found out that I could, after all, overcome my daily obsession with New York Times games. 

    But I couldn't access Google Drive to work on documents for a book I'm co-writing. I couldn't check email, so I got behind on important work (book editing, board meetings, Applegater). Consequently, I spent a lot of time at the Applegate library, indoors when it was open, sitting on its front-porch bench to use its internet when it wasn't open or going all the way to the Medford library—if it was open. At the beginning of August, inundated with Applegater articles to edit by deadline, I spent three whole days at the Good Bean cafe, where, for the price of coffee and lunch, I could do my work in a pleasant, quietly bustling atmosphere. 

    What I discovered in that month of disconnectedness is that internet at home is, if not absolutely necessary, pretty close to it. The inconvenience was hefty. I don't like Elon Musk and I hate the satellites that cross the sky one after another after another. Nonetheless, I am grateful for Starlink, and, I have to say, the customer service was excellent.

    And now, not only am I back online, but the internet connection is superior to the old system. No more lag while I'm on Zoom. No more computer black-out while I'm doing an online yoga class. And, the biggest bonus of all, for the first time ever I can watch movies. Starting with Ted Lasso tonight.