I'm praying that Earthlink is right....

About a month or so ago I received another phone call from AT&T offering us a great deal on DSL. We finally decided with the recent purchase of our laptop that we would make the switch from dial up. As they processed my order, I found out that we could also get wireless in our home for an additional one time cost of $30. I was so excited about the prospect of having a wireless, high speed internet connection. Our equipment arrived and we got it all hooked up and watched the DSL light flash repeatedly and then turn to a solid red. After troubleshooting the equipment as instructed, we called tech support because we concluded that we weren't picking up a DSL signal. The first person I talked to informed me that our order was pending and assumed that they hadn't provisioned our line yet. He gave me a reference number and had me call back the next business day. The next customer service representative that I talked to responded by telling me without a trace of sympathy that "we had been denied." How can you be denied something that was offered to you? It's not like I called and requested this service. They called me! They are still calling me! I think someone else in a different neighborhood of Carl Junction must have had our phone number at one point in time and that their area has DSL available. You can log onto the AT&T website to check to see if DSL is available in your area by entering your telephone number and when I enter mine, it shows that it is. When I enter our neighbor's phone number, it shows that DSL service is not available. After checking into high speed internet through our cable provider and determining that it was too expensive, my plan was to check my neighbor's number every so often until it appeared that we could try again. That is, until Wednesday when I received a mailing from Earthlink, our current dial up provider.

Earthlink was offering high speed internet service for $9 less than we are paying for dial up for six months. At the conclusion of six months, we would start paying the regular monthly rate, which is $8 more than what we are paying for dial up. Hmmmmm....that I could handle! I called the number on the ad and asked, "I assume that if we can't get DSL through AT&T, we probably cannot get it through Earthlink, correct?". She checked our number AND our address and responded that the system showed we do have DSL available. I explained to her what I've just explained to you, my readers, and she gave me a logical explanation as to why they could provide us with DSL when AT&T couldn't. While still a bit skeptical, I was assured that there would be no harm in trying. Earthlink, unlike AT&T, doesn't send any equipment out until they've provisioned the line. This, I was informed, would take 3-10 days. Once the line is provisioned, they would send out the equipment. Although I've been trying not to get my hopes up, I'm praying that Earthlink is right.

I've encountered several frustrations with my dial up connection in recent days. Have you all ever noticed how I never post any pictures on my blog? That is because I can't! Even after compressing my pictures, something goes wrong between the time I click upload and the time it tells me my pictures have been uploaded. I suspect this has to do with my internet connection.

My family has been pressuring me all week to upload the pictures I took in Arizona to Kodak Gallery. "It's so easy", they say. I would agree that the software is very user friendly, but I was stupid enough to think that I could upload all 122 pictures with the click of a button. Wrong! In about 15 minutes, I successfully updated one picture! Steve warned me about this, but I confess that I ignored him. I'm so sorry, Steve! You are so much smarter than me. I decided to quit uploading after my dad suggested I take my laptop to Hardee's or Panera Bread to use their free wireless internet connection. I also realized that I don't have to add all pictures that I want in an album at the same time. That's part of what led my to ignore Steve's warning. My albums had to be nicely organized! So, Greg, Emily, Mom, Dad, Kim, you are going to have to be patient with me. As dad used to say, "Patience is a virtue."

If my Sparkpeople friends are reading, I must take this opportunity to explain why I can't post alot from home. It takes several minutes to load our discussion thread!

Oh, how I long for high speed internet! I know it's a selfish prayer, but "Please, Jesus, give me high speed internet! I would be forever grateful and use the internet to be a witness to your awesome power over the smallest details of our lives."