Yes, it’s been “one of those weeks” – and not only on the political level (see Monday).
On Tuesday I had a dental appointment, with the outcome that I had to book another one for Thursday, for a bigger job… (Just as with the election, I had pretty much expected that to happen, though.)
On Tuesday evening, my TV screen froze. It happened rather late and I assumed it was some temporary transmission problem, so I just turned it off.
Wednesday was Laundry day. One of my projects for this month has been to wash curtains – something I don’t do very often, but after the extremely dry and dusty summer with the windows ajar most of the time, I thought it seemed like a good idea. This week, the turn had come to my blackout curtains from the bedroom. That turned out not to be a good idea. Let’s just say that I’ll be buying new blackout curtains before next spring…! In winter I don’t really need those, though. So for now I have put up a pair of old lace ones. (Not ancient, but definitely the very opposite of blackout.)
The TV, on the other hand, was still on blackout (now literally showing a black screen). I tried the classic “turn it off and turn it on again” trick with both the receiver and the TV itself, but all I got was the error message above: “Error 2: Could not get an IP address. Please check that your set-top box is correctly connected to the network. If the problem persists, please contact support.” Eh? The internet, also on the fibre cable, was working. So how could there not be an IP-address? My smart-TV was also working with the internet “play” apps; just not with the streaming channels. And “set-top box” – what’s that? What I call the “TV box” was obviously connected to the TV, as its name also came up wíth that cryptic error message. Checking the other end of the cable, there seemed to be nothing wrong there either. So what did they mean with not being “connected to the network”… What network? …
Okay. Problem obviously persisting, time to call support. But… What support?? … I read through various papers and websites again, and arrived at the conclusion that most logically it should be the company I’m paying to provide my TV channels. So I called them, and after the usual round of button-pressing and waiting and so on, at last I got through to a human being. But of course they denied this had anything to do with them; they said I had to call different company, whose role in the chain of technology I have to admit I still don’t get. However, this was about four minutes to six p.m., and that support closed at six… So I had to give up for the day.
On Thursday I had my second dental appointment – preparations for getting a crown on a tooth at the very back of my jaw; and having a rather small jaw + chronic neck problems, that’s a rather exhausting procedure. Almost had a “blackout” when I got back up on my feet (well – felt a bit dizzy, anyway)…
Back home, it took a few hours before I could speak properly again (half my tongue anesthesized along with my jaw). Again it wasn’t until the late afternoon that I felt up for another attempt to deal with the TV problem. But while rummaging through various old instruction papers and brochures, I found a “TV emergency support” phone number to the housing corporation I’m renting my flat from. I thought that had probably just been a temporary thing in connection with the installation of the new cable, but decided to give it a try. To my surprise, it was still working, and I got immediate help: Besides restarting the TV-box, I should try restarting the main fibre cable box on the wall as well. This hadn’t occurred to me, as the internet (coming out of the same box) was working… The whys and hows are still beyond me, but the main thing is that it did work to follow the local tech guy’s step-by-step instructions: Unplug TV-box. Unplug wall-box. Wait a bit. Plug in wall-box. Plug in TV-box. And voilá!
It’s more for my own benefit than anyone else’s that I’m writing this down… Hoping that if it happens again, I will remember what to do!
As for the national Post-Election situation, that too is still as complicated as that Error message: What? Who?? How??? Re-count of votes still going on but even a slight adjustment of the numbers won’t really make a difference. It’s still a deadlock situation as to who will support whom, or just continue to blame everyone else.
So do you have a temporary crown now? And return for the permanent one? You must have felt just awful, I am so sorry! I had been wondering where you were, and hoping everything was alright. SO glad the T.V. is working now! It is a great distraction when we are not feeling well. I like your pretty bottle and little bowl. So is there a deadline for when this entire election mess has to be settled?
ReplyDeleteYes Ginny, a temporary one for a couple of weeks, and orders to chew carefully in the meantime :) I'm lucky though to have had the same dentist for many years, and I trust him not to suggest unnecessary treatments.
DeleteAs for the election mess, no there is no specific deadline but there are certain procedures to be followed; and if they don't solve it according to those, it will eventually come to a re-election. They'll probably try other compromises first though, as it's rather unlikely that a re-election would solve anything either.
Phew, what a week! I hope next will be less crazy, although the political situation may take longer to resolve.
ReplyDeleteLast year I would not have got the significance of back-out curtains. Having now been to midsummer in Sweden I DO! :o). I used a combination of pegs and a blanket when staying out in the country.
Yes Kate, the very short summer nights can be quite problematic for those among us who insist that we still need our eight hours sleep at least. In spring/summer, the sun peeks through my bedroom window far too early in the morning, and even manages to find its way through the string-holes in the Venetian blinds, so as to hit me right in the eyes... ;) For a long-term solution, blackout curtains far exceed the pegs-and-blanket method!
DeleteYes I was going to suggest that one lol we have a smart tv too, not so smart I don't think in reality. We had the same problem recently and the other half who is a bit more technology minded than I am turned the internet off and on again - problem solved.
ReplyDeleteAmy, hopefully I'll remember it next time... But technology changes so quickly nowadays! and while it is very helpful when it works, it also causes a lot of trouble when it doesn't... ;)
DeleteThe wonders of technology! My TV is still an old "dumb" one, and I think it will stay that way until the end of its natural life.
ReplyDeleteThe lace curtains are pretty, but I am sure you will find beautiful new curtains for your bedroom.
I have not been getting much news during our hiking holiday in the Bavarian Forest, so I don't know what happened with the elections in your country.
Meike, should you want to catch up on the Swedish election, there is a link to a BBC article in my Monday post. I still find that safer than trying to explain it myself :) But it's probably similar the German election last year. No party or pre-existing coalition having reached a majority of their own, some kind of re-grouping will be necessary - but is made difficult by various statements and promises already made...
Deletesorry you lost your TV when you needed it most, to lay around and feel miserable while watching TV... we have just found we NEED a set to box, and having received the letter, I did what you did and called the number, at least I had a number, frustration to the max working through to a live person. ordered the box and we shall see. now I know it will have problmes to in the future
ReplyDeleteI hope your installation of the new box will go smoothly, Sandra! As the internet was still on for me, the "smart" part of my TV was still working as well, so I was actually able to watch some of usual programs anyway. So didn't have to feel "too" sorry for myself. It's just so annoying when one can't figure out what it is that has gone wrong, or how to fix it!
DeleteWell I hope that by the time I'm writing this things will be settling down for you. I am pretty tech savvy but I have to admit that there are so many things reliant upon this box and that box and the other box that I've had a frustrating week too when it's come to technology. All sorted (almost all) but the time 'wasted' could have been put to much better use.
ReplyDeleteGraham, as much as I love the advantages of the internet etc, sometimes I wonder if the time we are supposed to "save" by modern technology isn't in fact eaten up by the same technology... ;)
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