Peter Tries to Ignite for Betty

This week’s column will be brief, as my unlimited Internet is down and I am using my smartphone data plan.

As you may know, my dear Betty has moved in with me and we are working on getting Chez Montreuil functioning to her liking a). Progress is being made, slow and steady, but Progress nonetheless

Adjustments are necessary in a number of ways. For example, to my surprise, Betty does not find powerdrinking beer and watching episodes of “Hornblower ” to be the natural source of entertainment which I have found them to be in the past. So it was that she called Rogers and set up a cable installation appointment.

But wait, there’s more! We are getting “Ignite” internet. I have lived here for over seven years and my Internet has been a good and loyal commodity. And don’t forget that we are in the middle of COVID.

So it was that this morning a Rogers technician put a shopping bag on my building porch and bade me “Good Luck “. I sat down and began to read the instructions b). We had received both a WiFi Gateway and a TV box, both laughingly described as easy to install.

Sadly, there is a dearth of 8 year olds at Chez Montreuil, so it was up to me and my salty language to carry the day. First step was to register for MyRogers. (Quick, think of a password, Peter!) Password successfully input, now I had to download the Ignite WiFi app. ( It never looks this hard on the commercials!) Now, log on…………wait…….wait…….wait! There’s a message. Apparently there is a problem at their end. Please try again….later.

Several more attempts are equally unsuccessful. However, I had shot myself in the foot, as I disconnected the “old” modem and the new one was ready to serve us. I got ready to “make the magic happen ” and input a command to the system. Our electronic servant responded with the impossible to ignore message that the Internet was not available.

The presence of my lovely Betty took most of the lustre out of my ensuing comment. I then went through the labourious process of disconnecting the new one and reconnecting the old one, to no avail as absolutely nothing happened when I tried to get back on the system. I therefore swallowed my pride and phoned Rogers.

I spoke to a nice young man in Moncton who did his best to help me, but to no avail. After quite some time of banging my head against the wall figuratively, he admitted defeat and has scheduled a technician to come to Chez Montreuil tomorrow morning and get us back on line.

So here I sit, saved by the data plan on my phone and looking forward to writing much more for you next week, Loyal Reader, including my aunt Louise’s beautiful poem. It is funny, if I had run into that trouble two months ago, before I knew Betty, my reaction to this reversal would have been not quite as restrained as it was this morning.

See you soon.

1. a) You must remember that Chez Montreuil has been a bachelor’s ” bolt hole” for the past seven years and it shows.
2. b) As we say in plastic aircraft modeLling, ” When in doubt, read the instructions.”

=PJM=

A confirmed Cat person, Peter dabbled with being a water boy, a paper boy and an altar boy before finally settling on a career with the Canadian federal government.  Once, in his youth, he ate a Dutch  oven full of mashed potatoes to win a 5 cent bet with his beloved sister Mary’s boyfriend. (Of course he was much younger and a nickel went a lot farther!) He has retired to palatial “Chez Montreuil”, which he shares with his little buddy CoCo the Fashionable. He is blessed to have the beautiful Betty in his life. He is not only a plastic aircraft modeller, but a proud “rivet counter”. Military aviation and live music are among other interests of his, and he tries to get out to as many shows as he can. He will be here for your enlightenment whenever the stars align. Profile photo courtesy of Pat Blythe, caricature courtesy of Peter Mossman.