queerbychoice: (Default)
queerbychoice ([personal profile] queerbychoice) wrote2002-07-12 10:17 am

The Absolute Most Boring Play Ever

hsdiufdsujfkdrsuhgkhfdskghskjfgsj@#@$$%^%&^*&^*!!!!!

Getting sent home from work early doesn't do me any good when I haven't got any internet access.

Scene I

[Setting: yesterday afternoon, Gayle's apartment.]
GAYLE: [Comes home. Tries to dial internet. Password rejected, AGAIN. Makes face. Dials NYCT.net Customer Support (the ISP which provides its ISP service to BowieNet).]
CUSTOMER SUPPORT: [Insert unhelpful series of suggestions here.] How about you hang up and try it again now that we've changed those settings?
GAYLE: [in doubtful tone] Okay . . . [Hangs up. Tries again. No luck. Calls back.] Hi, it's me again. It didn't work.
CUSTOMER SUPPORT: Did you say it did work, or it didn't work?
GAYLE: It did not work.
CUSTOMER SUPPORT: Hmm.
GAYLE: Yes.
CUSTOMER SUPPORT: Let me try. I'll dial your local dialup and try to login with your password. Hold on. [long pause] Hmm, it doesn't work.
GAYLE: Yes.
CUSTOMER SUPPORT: Well, the problem doesn't seem to be on our side. You need to contact BowieNet instead. Call them.
GAYLE: Okay. What's their number?
CUSTOMER SUPPORT: Hmm. [Insert much fumbling around.] [Insert number here.]
GAYLE: Thanks. Bye. [Hangs up. Dials BowieNet number.]
RECORDED MESSAGE: Hello, you've reached the offices of BowieNet! Our hours are from 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time to 10:03 a.m. Eastern Time. [Playwright's Note: Okay, so that was a small amount of artistic license. But it's not far off. The NYCT.net Customer Support hours are also some miniscule amount of hours given in Eastern Time, but the BowieNet Customer Support hours somehow managed to be even SMALLER.]
GAYLE: hsdiufdsujfkdrsuhgkhfdskghskjfgsj@#@$$%^%&^*&^*!!!!! [Hangs up.]

Scene II

[Setting: this morning, Gayle's apartment.]
GAYLE: [Wakes up at 5:00 a.m. thanks to having gone to sleep early last night thanks to having been terminally bored by lack of internet access. Waits around until 7:00 a.m., which equals 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, which is still nearly an hour earlier than Gayle would normally have to be awake. Unsuccessfully tries internet connection several times for lack of anything better to do. Looks at watch. Dials BowieNet.]
RECORDED MESSAGE: Hello, you've reached the offices of BowieNet! Please press one for questions about billing, two for technical support issues, three for something or other, and four for dialup issues. Thanks for calling, bye bye! [*click* *dial tone*]
GAYLE: [Stares at phone receiver incredulously, wondering when recorded messages got rude enough to actually hang up on callers. Redials irritatedly.]
RECORDED MESSAGE: Hello, you've reached the offices of BowieNet! Please press one for questions about billing, two for technical support issues, three for something or other, and four for dialup—
GAYLE: [Hurriedly pushes four before the message ends and hangs up again]
RECORDED MESSAGE: For dialup issues, you should call NYCT.net instead of us. Their number is [insert number already called yesterday afternoon which referred me to BowieNet instead]. [*click* *dial tone*]
GAYLE: [Redials yet again.]
RECORDED MESSAGE: Hello, you've reached the offices of BowieNet! Please press one for questions about billing, two for technical support issues—
GAYLE: [Pushes two.]
RECORDED MESSAGE: Please stand by while I attempt to transfer your call. . . . All our operators are busy right now. Please leave a message after the tone.
GAYLE: [Insert message with thorough description of problem and solutions already tried.] [Hangs up. Drives to work.]

Scene III

[Setting: this morning, Gayle's office.]
GAYLE: [Emails BowieNet Customer Support to repeat thorough description of problem for good measure. Clicks "send." Page does not load. Clicks "back." Message has been erased. Retypes message. Clicks "send" again.]
GAYLE'S COMPUTER SCREEN: Your message has been sent.

I sure hope so.

I don't think David Bowie at all appreciates what I put up with just for the sake of being able to donate more money to him. I don't think this is a healthy relationship at all.

[identity profile] inkstained.livejournal.com 2002-07-12 10:57 am (UTC)(link)
Sounds a bit one-sided to me. I'd ditch him if I were you. David Bowie doesn't *need* any more money...any more than the other big ISP companies, but they might actually treat you better. He's exploiting your love.

-ink

[identity profile] queerbychoice.livejournal.com 2002-07-12 11:09 am (UTC)(link)
I know he is! But I can't bear to leave him because I love him so much! I'm in an abusive relationship and I haven't got half the sense of dignity and self-protectiveness I thought I did! It's horrible! ::cries::

[identity profile] sinboy.livejournal.com 2002-07-12 11:50 am (UTC)(link)
Think he'd mind if you started a polyISP relationship?

[identity profile] jodawi.livejournal.com 2002-07-12 11:59 am (UTC)(link)
i gave her free hosting at queerbychoice.gaean.net and tried to give her email, but she has eyes only for david bowie.

of course, my tech support will be down for a month while i'm on vacation, but what could possibly go wrong in a month?

[identity profile] jodawi.livejournal.com 2002-07-12 12:47 pm (UTC)(link)
of course web and email hosting has nothing to do with ISPness, therefore i need mroe sleep. more sleep. yes.

[identity profile] queerbychoice.livejournal.com 2002-07-12 12:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, I did start a poly ISP relationship with a free ISP, but the free ISP soon went bankrupt and when I tried again, the next free ISP went bankrupt too. And poly ISP relationships with non-free ISPs are a bit unreasonably expensive.

Re:

[identity profile] sinboy.livejournal.com 2002-07-12 12:24 pm (UTC)(link)
They are expensive, but I still have one. When my cablemodem fritzes, having a backup dialup is essential.

Re:

[identity profile] inkstained.livejournal.com 2002-07-13 10:10 am (UTC)(link)
I'll remind you of that next time you lecture me about my lifestyle choices :p

-ink

[identity profile] u-tenjou.livejournal.com 2002-07-12 04:20 pm (UTC)(link)
CUSTOMER SUPPORT: Did you say it did work, or it didn't work?
What you should have said: Why yes, yes it did. I called you back to tell you all about it...

[identity profile] richardevanslee.livejournal.com 2002-07-13 03:09 pm (UTC)(link)
I've gone through a bunch of ISPs but never had bad luck like that even back in the days when I accessed the internet through a shell account on a local unix box.

My my recent choices have been merely pragmatic. Home is the local cable company. Work is the local phone company. Before that I was with MCI, AT&T and a local ISP. Never lost service that took more than rebooting the PC and modem or waiting an hour at most.

Hope it clears up for you.

Best of luck,
Richard