just a few thoughts...

I left my rings, including my wedding ring, at home this morning. I took them off to put some anti-frizz gunk in my hair and I forgot to put them back on again. So they are sitting on the bathroom counter lonely, without the friendship of my loving hand by their side. I somehow did not realize this until I was half-way to work. So I am wearing a ring that my aunt gave me that for some reason I keep in my change purse. Helps me not feel so naked being without my normal rings. I must have been a real dope this morning. Can you forgive me huggy bear?

It is SO cold in here today, more so than usual I think. I am in long pants and I have a sweater on and I still feel cold. I mean, it is summertime for the Sunshine State, and would otherwise qualify for shorts and skirts, but noooo...I'd die from hypothermia if I dressed like that here. Maybe it is colder inside because it is a little cooler and overcast outside. It looks like rain will be in our future today. Anyways, so I fessed up and got a cappuccino from the store in our building. Amaretto...mmm. Warm...mmm.

Well, I had a nice night last night, window shopping with shyystarr and kiddies (while Chas was being all genius-like at a Mac user group meeting). I love those kids!! Not saying I want any of my own or anything here, but I'll admit that I do enjoy spending time with them...especially since I can put them back when I am done playing with them. :) Anyhoo, they love me too! It was so nice to see Mackenna and Cameron's faces light up when they saw me. They gave me great big hugs and kisses. Haley smiled, but she is usually a bit more shy anyways. Mom picked up a few things for them in Hot Topic...a necklace with a cute bunny that says something like "cute but psycho" for Haley who just loved it, a black rubber bracelet with red spikes for Cameron who wouldn't leave the store without it, and a pink cloth snap bracelet with metal star studs for Mackenna who insisted on wearing it above her elbow. There was a matching black cloth bracelet and Cam took that one too. Somehow, Cameron is just too cute when he tries to look tough with the punk rock/gothic bracelets and his little baggy cargo pants. We went to Auntie Annie's for some pretzels and then the mall closed so we left. It was a nice time, but short.

The client is here today so we all have to be on our worst...er, best behaviour. There is someone going down the aisles with a video camera. How nice. But why?

Lunch is too far away, but I guess I will be ok for now. Guess I will just check my mail and read my book for now.

Oh, and congats to phishtails on being a cool cat and other stuff as well!

I just don't get it.

So, more work antics. I just spent a helluva long time fixing this old woman's connection. And I had to call her back at one point to continue, I might add. She was nice and all, but more than a bit irritated at not being able to connect on her new service. The problem? Intermittent sync. The closest definition I could find online for it:

Asynchronous: Not synchronized; that is, not occurring at predetermined or regular intervals. The term asynchronous is usually used to describe in which can be transmitted intermittently rather than in a steady stream.

With that in mind, intermittent sync (for those non techies out there), is more or less when the dsl signal on the telephone line is intermittent or irregular, and not synchronising with the dsl modem consistently. As a result, data can be lost in the line and this can cause problems connecting. Anyhow, we have a swell tool that lets us see the sync of the customers. Normally it should say 5/5. When it is intermittent, it fluctuates in various patterns between 0/5-5/5. It can be 5/5 one moment, 2/5 another, and 4/5 the next, and so on. So, this was her problem.

How to fix you ask? Powercycle the modem (turn off and unplug and let it sit a few minutes, plug in and turn on again) and check for interference. Cordless telephone bases and bad splitters and filters can often be the culprit. An escalation might be necessary and a field tech may need to go out and check it out. In this case it was a bad splitter/filter. The splitter is a device that plugs into the wall and separates the dsl to one jack and the voice to the other side for telephone use...this side also has a filter built in to filter out the dsl noise from the line on the ones we send out. Every phone that shares the dsl line needs to be filtered. Got it? So, after removing the splitter/filter, the signal stabilized and she was able to connect and browse the internet, etc. We offered to replace the bad splitter/filter and she goes crazy on what to do without a phone in that room as the dsl occupies her only available jack in that room. I asked other questions to see if we can come up with a suitable solution...all of which she poo-poos. So, in the end, she resolves to plug the bad splitter filter in again so she can have her phone in that room. I reminded her that it was the splitter/filter that was causing the problem in the first place, and by putting it back in the wall was reversing the work we had done to fix her problem. She decided to anyways. Well then, what do ya make of that? Spending a ton of time to fix the problem and then undoing it again.