Updates
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Originally published, March 17, 2021, at 11:54 pm.
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March 18, 2021, 10:37 am:
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(March 19, 2021, 12:14 pm.) The text formerly here has been reworked into a new blog post entitled, “(c)Rap and Hip Hop are hate speech.”
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March 18, 2021, 6:25 pm:
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So the Verizon technician showed up, did a few trips to and fro, then I heard the whirring sound of an electric screwdriver. I seem to have a new gadget in my closet. And my home Internet is back up.
I had some catching up to do on stuff I couldn’t do while the home network was down, even with the MiFi, which, by the way, seems to have a very short WiFi coverage area, but this is done now.
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March 19, 2021, 12:14 pm:
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The text making up a previous update (March 18, 2021, 10:37 am) has been reworked into a new blog post entitled, “(c)Rap and Hip Hop are hate speech.”
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So it’s a good thing there wasn’t actually any news today. See these two red lights in my closet (figure 2)?
Fig. 2. Verizon FiOS gadget—they call it an ONT—in my closet. Photograph by author, March 17, 2021.
They’re supposed to be green and not just because it’s Saint Patrick’s Day. They aren’t. My home Internet is down.
I grabbed a MiFi unit from my car but, for some reason, my desktop system, a Mac, won’t really connect to it. It says it does, but it doesn’t.
So I’ve got my PixelBook out. It connects just fine. Which is good because me and my fat fingers just ain’t so hot on that phone.
Hopefully, the Verizon guy comes tomorrow. It appears the unit pictured in figure 1 has died.
Basically, Verizon FiOS has been pretty solid for the nearly two years I’ve been here. This is the first significant outage.
My car passed inspection today. This time the surprise bill was only $400. Last year, it was $1,800. But the $400 this time doesn’t count the $1,900 worth of work I had done early in February. Then, of course, there’s the $80 I spent on Uber and Lyft rides while today’s work was being done.
I also got my taxes sent off to be done and served as a participant in three research projects.