Winning the battle with the internet

I don't know how I got to a place of happiness with my internet provider, but it has finally occurred, Letea Cavander writes.

Letea Cavander at Coolum Beach. Picture: John McCutcheon

I DON'T know how I got to a place of happiness with my internet provider, but it has finally occurred.

It only took a year.

It was the beginning of my maternity leave when I was really let down.

I was way into that cycle of three-hourly feeds, around the clock.

That stage where you just get into a dream cycle and the baby wakes up.

Every. Single. Time. You. Go. To. Sleep.

Netflix, Facebook and Instagram were keeping me company during those night feeds.

I tried my partner out a few times but he was not as fun at 2am.

The first time the modem went down, I thought 'I can handle this, just switch off your Wi-Fi, it'll be back soon'.

It was not back soon.

I attacked this problem with the same vigour as I would a government corruption story.

I was on the phone, out came a technician, problem solved. Except the problem was not solved.

The internet light on our modem became like one of those broken fluorescent motel signs at the start of horror movies.

Sometimes it flashed, sometimes it was on and working, sometimes nothing.

Now, I can say with some certainty the only thing more annoying than a journalist is a journalist on maternity leave who has no Netflix and a newborn who needs feeding.

I kept notes of when the web went down, I kept phone numbers I should not have and used them regularly, I considered commenting on the company's Facebook page every time we lost our connection.

Many phone calls and two technicians out to the house later, we had a break- through.

One sweet day about two months ago, the company sent me a text asking if the internet was 'fixed' or 'fault'. I never got rid of that text message.

Every time the internet light extinguishes on our modem, I text 'fault'.

I am pretty sure this was not what the initial text was for but, for some reason, after I text 'fault' our internet light sparks up within about 10 minutes.

Plus I have added overseas destinations to my bucket list after phone calls to wonderful customer service representatives who raved about their locales as we chatted about my internet woes.

Letea Cavander is a freelance journalist. Get in touch via Letea Cavander Journalist on Facebook or Instagram @leteacavander.