Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Decamping to use computer
Today I'm not writing this on my patio overlooking the sea.
Neither am I in a bar chilling out over a cappuccino and brioche.
And I'm not even in the comfort of my own home office.
Instead I've decamped to a friend's house to borrow her computer and internet access for a couple of hours because ours is down for a week.
It's all due to changing ISP from Telecom Italia to Tiscali.
We applied for the switch over to take place in September and hadn't heard anything since. The first I knew anything was up was when I suddenly lost my broadband internet connection in the middle of sending a mass of important work documents via email.
I tried everything from disconnecting, changing leads, and turning off the computer and starting it back up. But nothing.
As a last resort, I phoned Tiscali who casually told me that yes, we'd been disconnected from Telecom and would be connected to Tiscali the following week.
Had this happened when I first arrived in Italy, it would have infuriated me. But now I'm in Sardinia, I've got used to the leisurely pace of life.
I now know that students will turn up late for lessons because they just had to smoke that cigarette or meet the friend for a coffee and a gossip.
And I know to wait patiently if the room at the B&B we've booked isn't quite ready when we arrive.
But these quirks are what makes Sardinia so charming.
Maybe I should have that cappuccino after all.
Emma Bird is the founder of www.howtoitaly.com
Neither am I in a bar chilling out over a cappuccino and brioche.
And I'm not even in the comfort of my own home office.
Instead I've decamped to a friend's house to borrow her computer and internet access for a couple of hours because ours is down for a week.
It's all due to changing ISP from Telecom Italia to Tiscali.
We applied for the switch over to take place in September and hadn't heard anything since. The first I knew anything was up was when I suddenly lost my broadband internet connection in the middle of sending a mass of important work documents via email.
I tried everything from disconnecting, changing leads, and turning off the computer and starting it back up. But nothing.
As a last resort, I phoned Tiscali who casually told me that yes, we'd been disconnected from Telecom and would be connected to Tiscali the following week.
Had this happened when I first arrived in Italy, it would have infuriated me. But now I'm in Sardinia, I've got used to the leisurely pace of life.
I now know that students will turn up late for lessons because they just had to smoke that cigarette or meet the friend for a coffee and a gossip.
And I know to wait patiently if the room at the B&B we've booked isn't quite ready when we arrive.
But these quirks are what makes Sardinia so charming.
Maybe I should have that cappuccino after all.
Emma Bird is the founder of www.howtoitaly.com
