Technical Support

It's certainly easier to troubleshoot technical problems in the US. We still have our problems. Sometimes they are easy to fix and other times, one fix leads to another breakage, a small chain reaction of technical stress.

It all started yesterday. At least that's when we first knew we had a problem. The problem started several weeks ago, created by a visit from the security system technician.

During the period of extreme jet lag after arriving from Paris, I set off the alarm in our house. The security system called and noted that we had a problem because when the alarm went off the phone in our house didn't work. A guy came out to fix it.

I wasn't home but Terry reported that the guy wired the security system to the phone system in a complicated maneuver, stringing the phone wire under the carpet in the room. We tested the alarm system, the only thing that we thought was broken. We were living in a fantasy world for several weeks, unknowing that this fix had disconnected our fax. Christmas came and went along with family visits, we didn't use the fax.

Then, I was expecting an important fax that didn't come. Luckily I didn't yell at the sender, since we were at fault. I checked the fax machine, no dial tone. ICK. After a call to our phone company, it was determined that the fax machine was not even connected to the phone line. A technician was dispatched.

This morning George came. He seemed thorough and determined that yes, the fax was not plugged in. He re-worked the phone cables and everything, including the phones, the fax, the TV, internet and wifi work.

But, the story won't be finished until this afternoon. In the cascade of fixes, we still have to have the security system checked to make sure that it will call the police if we have a break-in. Because, as we all know, one guy fixes one thing, only to cause another thing not to work.

In France, everyone agrees that it is better to never touch any electronic thing that works, even if it doesn't work very well. In the US, we're more brave, I wonder if we should be.

George also confirmed one thing that we worried about. Our internet line is split or shared with several other households. He wouldn't or couldn't tell us who we share with. But, if one person on the line is doing something illegal over the internet, it is as if we all are doing it. They have no way to know who is responsible. I've heard about this in France, too, where internet piracy is so illegal that if you're caught, you're permanently cut off from using the internet. I don't know how they do it, but I have to hope that whichever neighbors share our line, they're honest.

Right now, it all works, but we'll see what happens when the security system guy tinkers with it all.