Stricken with the Grout

[ricevermicelli]

We are grouting. We will be grouting forever.

Coincidentally, that is the same amount of time it will take me to get a working DSL connection into the office. We had one this afternoon, for about two and a half hours. And then it went *fzzt* and stopped. It can be regained by turning the DSL modem off and then on again. Every. Five. Minutes.

Forever is also the amount of time it takes to get the painter off the phone. Yes, I know the shingles are in bad shape. Yes, I know you will exceed the contracted estimate. Yes, I know the gutters need repair. Yes, I know there is a light fixture in the back yard. Yes, I know you are very sorry to have to tell me that the gutters need cleaning. But I KNEW all that, and this is why we hired someone to take care of it. Go to. It's only money.

Time is money. But time is more time than money, if that makes sense. I would pay a hell of a lot more than a dollar for a dollar's worth of time right now.

I have to go back to the grout.

Comments

[herooftheage.livejournal.com]

By "DSL modem", do you mean the router? If so, it is possible I can help (though of course, you can do the same thing yourself.) We can try to replace your router with a spare, and see if the problem goes away. If it does, then it is just flakey hardware. If it doesn't, you've lost a bit of the valuable time you're complaining of not having.

It turns out I have a spare router - or at least, I will have a spare router as of Friday morning, when I get my new one configured (he said hopefully.) The bad news is that I don't actually know the password for the old router, though I presumably could find that out. Also, I am at best a dilettante at network configuration - it might be that the most efficient thing for you would be to have me pass off the router to you, and then have you get danceboy to set up for you.

[ricevermicelli.livejournal.com]

Darling, you are too kind, but I am not recruiting either you or danceboy for stuff for work. They have money, they can use it. Besides, we tried that router replacement thing. We've tried lots of things. Professionals will come deal.

And in all fairness, danceboy has put in an unbelievable amount of time on the DSL project. I appreciate it, but it seems terribly unfair to try and recruit him for more.

If we don't have it running to spec by Friday, I am quitting the damn job as a means of preventing myself from committing harikiri on the mailroom floor, and it will cease to be my problem.

[herooftheage.livejournal.com]

Yeah, well I was actually thinking that if someone you know solved your problem before TPC got around to it, your company with a lot of money could pry some loose for them.

DSL problems can be tricky. I got mine solved this week, but it turned out to be a set of three distince things that had to get unmasked one at a time.

BTW, if you are looking for a new DSL/internet provider, I highly recommend Speakeasy, who subcontract with Covad around here to get techies on the ground. Their support for my problems was top-notch, and other folks/companies I know of who have used them have had very similar experiences.

[sunspiral.livejournal.com]

Maybe the DSL hardware is jealous because nobody gave it any grout. ::ducks thrown objects::

[danceboy.livejournal.com]

So let me get this straight; you think that the router needs a grouter?...

[sunspiral.livejournal.com]

Actually, it sounds like the whole situation has you guys in a rout. Did that %$#@! stuff ever fully cure?

[danceboy.livejournal.com]

not yet. But then, it's only been five days...

I'm getting the feeling that this stuff (the stuff we used when I was a kid either dryed _much_ faster, or I was sufficiently young to forget about it between layers) takes 3 or 4 days for it to set as adhesive (at least enough to grout), and then two days for it to set as grout, then probably a day after doing touch up, then about two weeks to fully cure.

It's annoying, but I think if we'd known that it took this sort of time going into it, we could have scheduled better. Maybe we would have decided that the price/sq. foot of the other stuff wasn't all that bad...