Nothing gets a geek off the computer like losing connection to the Web

...well, actually, I was able to tap a neighbor's wifi, so thanks mr. "default."

But let me tell this story.

Someone wrote in to the site complaining that that JibJab "this land" flash thing gave him some kind of pop-up ad virus. Saturday night I had a nightmare that my laptop caught that virus and I couldn't connect to the Web. I woke up Sunday to find that my Web wouldn't work. So a little ISP ESP there.

Time Warner Cable told me I had to have a guy come to the apartment. Naturally they book me for 8-Noon Monday and the guy shows up at 11:30. That's to be expected and the guy was cool, so I won't complain. He checks the modem, no signal. Checks the living room, no signal, the closet hub, no signal, the floor, no signal, the building, no signal. So it looks like a different kind of tech has to be notified to figure out why the building doesn't have Roadrunner.

Then he's plugging my modem back in and he asks about a bell I keep on my wardrobe. It's Tibetan and it's ringing it is meant to frighten away bad spirits, I explain to the guy. I got it as a gift, what could it hurt. So the guy takes the bell and rings it over the modem.

Wouldn't you know, the "connected" light comes back on. sunuvabitch.

So then it's noon and time for him to go to lunch, which is fine with me because mr. default is a little too far away for me to get a reliable connection and I have work to do. An hour later Time Warner guy comes back. He forgot a tool. He tells me that he was just as 10 West Street and they had the same thing happen: mystery Internet outage followed by inexplicable restored service.

So if any of my fellow way-downtowners were having any trouble, there ya go.