Modem Arrives - Doesn't Work

At the school today I seemed to do little other than help the youngest write their numbers over and over again. I suppose this allowed the teacher to focus on the more able kids - getting them up to an equal standard she said - but I have to say this part of the work is becoming repetitive. The spectrum of ability in this bottom group makes it tricky to set work that challenges them all. I will just have to try to be a bit more inventive I suppose...

The modem arrived today, Monday. I found it connected when I got home, though I'm not convinced it wasn't the boy next door who'd undone the box and wired it up. The packaging lay strewn around the place. Needless to say the connection didn't work and customer support seemed to comprise a guy reading from a fault-finding flow chart. After getting me to try the web address of the modem, which worked but reported no connection, he then asked if the modem was powered up! Of course it bloody well was - the web address had worked, hadn't it?! I'm getting a bit impatient with all this - it seems to have taken ages to get the Internet connection, and every job takes several people. On the other hand, I was impressed that the help line told me where I was in the queue and how long each complaint was taking to process. However, if processing a job consists of forwarding a fault to another person rather than fixing it, then who know how long a fix takes? In my case I was told it must be a cable fault and someone would look into it.

Much as there was evidence that someone had ripped the modem's packaging open, there were signs that someone had been fiddling with wires and insulation tape for the fan. I later found that the electrician had visited and confirmed the fan's demise. The neighbours had returned it to the shop for a replacement after the original was proven dead in the shop. So much for Quality Control! It was later attached to the ceiling, wired up, and thankfully it worked. I felt a bit guilty about all this - a lot of effort for something that's just for my comfort. Still, it's nice to work in a cooler kitchen.