Big Pond

After a two week ordeal, rumor has it that we now have DSL in our very own home. The end result was never in question, but there were a few bumps in the road:

First, we were informed that our self-installation kit would be delivered within "5-7 days". By "delivered", we assumed that we would recieve the kit personally. After 5-7 days elapsed, Uta called Telstra to inquire after our kit. She was told to just go by the local branch of the post office, where a box was eventually unearthed. It'd been sitting in the dead letter office for a week. Prior to this, we received no information whatsoever regarding the existence of said box or any attempt at delivery.

Second, I proceeded with the "self-installation" processes. I assumed this meant I would be able to do it myself. With Macs, installing internet usually means inserting a cable into the computer. Various variations on this theme did not result in an acceptable outcome. Eventually, a call was placed to Big Pond technical support, who informed us that the unpublished step #1 in the self-installation process was to call Big Pond and make sure they've enabled your line.

Third, after the helpful technical support people enabled our line, our line still wasn't enabled. This necessitated another call to the happy technical support people who eventually (two days later) sent out a technician who "did something on the side of the house". Problem solved. We're good to go. Yet, I have decided that the "self-installation" process is somewhat of a misnomer that is only valid under a given set of antecedent conditions of unknown likelihood.

In any case, home internet access is good, as I'm finding it increasingly hard to find time for such fun & games at work. In addition, it will hopefully enable Uta to take over some of the burden of attempting to be clever on this page.