Day 2357

I'm convinced that calling tech support is a modern form of torture. I called AT&T today to ask then how to return the new router they sent me. I don't think I need it now, because everything has been working great for the past three days. "You can't send the new router back because we have already reconfigured your account to use it," the tech guy said. "When did you do this," I asked? "About three days ago," said the technician. "I think you solved my problem, I said. "I don't need the new router." "But aren't you already using it," the guy said. "No, I haven't even taken it out of the box yet," I replied. There was a moment of silence. The technician seemed confused and said he needed to run some tests. I knew what was going on. When they had reconfigured my service, they had inadvertently cleared my routing path, which is all I wanted them to do in the first place.

The tech guy still seemed confused that the old router was still running fine with the new settings that were designed for the replacement equipment. "I want you to reboot the router and I'll see if it still shows up in my system with the same serial number." What? Why would I want to do that? I would have thought that the serial number was permanently linked to the equipment. "Oh, no," said the technician, "we can change that." "But if the serial number changes, nothing on my network will recognize it anymore and I'll have to reconnect everything," I said. "There's a 50/50 chance of that," said the technician. Then he added, "You'll have to reboot the router sooner or later anyway, so why not just do it now." I hate these guys.

The conversation continued for quite a while and it was eventually determined that I could keep the old router if I wanted, since it was still working for some unexplained reason. I could also keep the new router as a spare, if I paid AT&T a $150 penalty fee. I think they should have been paying me $150 since I had to spend my entire morning dealing with this ridiculous problem.

I think I've found a dog walker to help with Dot while Janet is away on vacation. This is a relief, since I had no idea how I was going to get Dot out of the house. Walking Dot is a team effort now. She will only walk if she is following Dash, but one person can't walk Dot and Dash together anymore, since he wants to walk so much faster than she does. Typically, I walk Dash, stopping every twenty or thirty feet so Dot can catch up. Janet follows behind with Dot, holding up her rear legs with the Help 'Em Up Harness. It's a slow process, but it works. The walks are an essential part of Dot's therapy. Without them, she would probably be bedridden by now.

It didn't rain today, even though the humidity hovered near 100%. There was a mist in the air when we walked the dogs before breakfast, but by afternoon the mist had turned to steam. It's still incredibly muggy. I've emptied the bucket in the dehumidifier two times already today. Dot can't handle the heat anymore, so we have to cut her walks even shorter on hot, humid days like today. I'm not looking forward to dealing with this situation in July. It may have seemed hot today, but this was nothing. Texas Summers can be brutal.

I'm not sure if I accomplished anything today or not. The Internet is up and running, but I'm not sure why. The refrigerator and pantry are full again, but the house is still dirty and there is lots of water on the roof. I'm glad I found somebody to help with Dot next month. Maybe everything will be OK.

Sam is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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