What! No Internet?

I've just recently moved. The house, new, is amazing, perfect for me, and the community and neighbors are lovely. I'm certain everyone has a horror story or two, regarding moves, and I am no exception to the rule. It's safe to say though, that we got through.

It never once occurred to me, while preparing to move, that Internet would ever be an issue. After all, "Who doesn't have access to the Internet, right?" Oh my goodness, I was wrong. It started with a simple phone call. "I'd like to transfer service please." The lady was lovely, pleasant, helpful, but unfortunately declared that they were unable to offer service in my area. "There must be some mistake," I said, politely,
of course. No. There was no mistake. My address was simply not listed. "Ah you're kidding me," I responded, "Please check again." The lovely lady did, but nope, it hadn't changed since she'd last checked minutes before.

Stunned I hung up the phone and had a brief moment of panic; literally, after all I need Internet. After bursting into tears (well almost), I moved onto plan B. Who doesn't have a plan B? I proceeded to call other providers; surely this was just one provider's issue, right, nope! I was flabbergasted to find that no one appeared to service this particular area. What? Of course this has to be a mistake!

I work from home. I'm a writer/author, and have started a new imprint, 'Rising Phoenix Press' with Kinsy McVay and Jannifer Powelson, like the rest of the world, email mandatory. But what I discovered during this crisis (for me), is that I have amazing partners and neighbors!

My partners answered every mail that I couldn't and ordered books for events, reviews and schools. My neighbors, who didn't know me from Adam, offered their Wi-Fi codes and when that didn't work, offered their houses for use. How amazing is that? In todays world, when we barely have time to talk to one another, let alone help, to help a stranger seems unlikely, a colleague and a friend, a gift. I spent two weeks talking to my family; time usually spent (for me), working, for them, watching t.v. and I spent time doing what I love the most, writing. My original provider stepped up and fixed the issue, and I'm grateful. I need to get back to work; and I'm happy to do so.