It's a bit late given my usual blogging hours, so I'd rather be organizing an extermination campaign targetting the heads of utility companies (private, mixed and public), but that seems complicated. So here I am. Power went out twice at home, once in the morning (when I wasn't there), once just minutes ago. You'd think power cuts are not something to make a big mess of, since this Argentina, but at least EPE had an excuse back in the summer. A balmy autumn night is not a time for high electric power consumption. Unless everyone suddenly decided to turn on their split air conditioning with "HEAT" at maximum power, I suspect this was the fault of some poor rat or cockroach getting stuck inside a transformer or something like that.
Anyway, even a small blackout is an opportunity to see the city without all the usual light pollution. If there's one reason I'd like to live in the countryside, this must be it: that you can see the stars. (That's the one and only reason indeed; I'd die of boredom outside a big urban setting.) This power cut, however, was restricted to a few blocks, it seems. I managed to take a few pictures of my street, with traffic going on as usual despite the lack of visibility.
The telephone company (I have Telecom) would also deserve being targetted for extermination... I've been having a lousy Internet connection since the Great Rains. When I call my ISP, Ciudad Internet, I have to go through several minutes of corporate crap, pressing one number, then another, then being greeted by an undoubtedly well-meaning assistant-person... who's been apparently turned into a robot... and then manage to convey my problem without insults of any kind. Tests are done, notes are taken, waiting muzak is heard at intervals, and then I'm told Telecom has the complaint on file, and they'll be working on it. Telecom, of course, throws the complaint into a (virtual) trashbin. A couple of days afterwards, I'm told by a recorded voice that my Internet connection problem seems to be solved now, and that if I'm still experiencing trouble, I should let them know. Repeat.
Argentina teaches you patience, or it kills you.
14 May 2007
Disservice
Stumble it!
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Pablo –
ReplyDeleteI know that dealing with Telecom can be frustrating, having done so myself regarding a DSL connection in BsAs. I had a failing modem (they seem to distribute really crappy ones), and a failing line filter at various times.
I don’t know whether Telecom does remote diagnostics, but at least it’s technically possible. In the US when I’ve had speeds problems with my DSL connection on a couple of occasions, I’ve been able to email my ISP’s techs, who’ve been able to look at my connection remotely (as long as the modem was plugged in). On both occasions a software glitch had downgraded me to a lower speed tier, so just a simple adjustment was required.
On another occasion I started getting erratic speeds that were caused by failing line filter. If the latter is the problem in your case, you might try disconnecting all telephone extensions (and their filters), and retrying a speed test.
John