Pitch the Baby

Tuesday morning of a holiday-shortened work week, which could be much worse. This past holiday weekend seriously seemed to last forever.

The Internet went out again yesterday, and as always, dealing with Cox on-line was just a joy and an overall bundle of laughs, really. The problem now is clearly not the modem, but the line itself. Of course no one can come out until Wednesday between three and five, which is when I am at work. So yay for using some more of my personal time for something it wasn’t designed for. And yes, it’s time to start looking for another Internet provider. I’ve heard horrible things about all of the others, frankly, and while I am very annoyed at Cox right now–this is insane to not have working wifi on a holiday weekend (God forbid we want to, oh, I don’t know, stream something tonight or tomorrow) and I am rather worried about how my data plan is getting burned up on my phone (which I am using as a hotspot), but why would anything work the way it’s supposed to? That apparently is too much to ask for in the United States in the year of our Lord 2023. It was enormously frustrating, to say the least (I am really not pleased about having to leave work early on Wednesday)–and that’s assuming he’ll be able to fix the problem when he gets here that afternoon/evening (odds he won’t arrive until after I would have been home from work?).

I did manage to get some work done yesterday, despite the frustration and anger. I am not as caught up as I would have like to have been this week, but dealing with these Internet issues is so fucking frustrating I could barely stand it. The cable did come back on last night–not sure when, since I switched the Apple TV to run off my phone’s hotspot; I noticed that all the lights were on just before I went to bed. Talk about frustrating!

I wonder if next weekend I can walk by the AT&T store and see if that’s workable? But if it’s indeed the line, switching providers won’t change that. The Internet didn’t even work for twenty-four hours. How fucking irritating is that? Or do I really want to switch providers simply because I’ve had a couple of problems with my carrier over the last week? After over twenty years of nothing to complain about? I don’t know.

GAH. These things that are supposed to make life easier, right? Sheesh.

At least I slept well last night. I feel rested this morning, which is a lovely change from the way I usually feel when I get up at six. I think maybe my body is finally adjusting to this schedule, after three years of it? That’s not a bad thing, I suppose, and probably the reason it took so long is because of my own stubbornness.

I did start reading Chris Clarkson’s That Summer Night on Frenchmen Street, which is quite marvelous. It’s been a while since I’ve read a young adult novel that was a romance, or romance-based thematically, and it’s nice. I always forget how helpful it is for me as a writer to read outside the genre I usually write in. And I do have an idea for a romance bouncing around in my brain. I don’t know if I’ll ever write one, but I’ve been wondering about it lately. Why not try one? That was the mentality that led to me writing a cozy, and that turned out pretty well for me. I’m never going to have the time to write everything I want to write before I die, anyway. I did start weeding out files this weekend (one benefit of the Internet being down for most of the day yesterday), and realized it was time to start making decisions. There’s something about hoarding ideas for books and stories that I can’t ever seem to quite let go of; but the truth is I have so many interests and so many ideas I know I’ll never get around to writing most of them. It’s weird to start thinking in that way, but it’s also a reality. I continue having more and more ideas almost every day, so it’s not like the well is ever going to run dry. I could spend the rest of the time left to me on this planet writing the ideas I already have on hand and never get to finish them all, let alone all the new ideas I get all the time.

Sigh, depressing thoughts on a Tuesday morning. And on that note perhaps I should head out into the spice mines. You have a great day, Constant Reader, and I’ll be back tomorrow.