Computers Hate Me

Seriously, what the heck is up with my wireless connection tonight? 36.0 Mbps? Bah. I usually run on 54.0 at absolute minimum - not superfast, but good enough for me - but tonight it's playing me up, and it's taking forever to load webpages. Although I suppose I shouldn't complain too much, at least it's been working for the last couple of days. Every so often my internet stops working, full stop, and I can never figure out what's wrong with it. The wireless says it's fine. The troubleshooting usually tells me that:

a) my DNS isn't working (what the heck is DNS anyway?), or
b) my gateway is offline, or
c) my computer doesn't have a valid IP address, or
d) my key ports are not right and my firewall and proxy settings aren't allowing for net access, or
e) all of the above.

If this happened when I'd just changed something, I could understand. But it'll work one moment and then not work the next, and I'll fight with it for an hour or a day or a couple of days, checking firewall and proxy settings, checking everything else I can imagine, and it won't work. And then all of a sudden it'll start working again.

I should probably call the techie people, but I feel kind of stupid around them. Technically I'm entitled to yearly healthchecks, but I know if I call up they'll badger me to buy a new computer (how is it that my car is 18 years old and works just fine, and people consider it a classic, but I'm expected to buy a new computer every 2 years? Who the heck has the money to spend £899 on a laptop every 2 years? OK, so I got it in the sales, but still...) and I don't have the money. Plus, I like this one, even though it gets overheated easily these days.

It is highly annoying, though, that I've been paying £10 a month in insurance for the last 2 years to be told "press f11". Of course, if I cancelled the insurance, you can be sure that I'd need it pretty quickly, because that's just the way my life works.

The wireless is now up to 48.0 Mbps, so I'll go and see if the other site is working now. Ciao for now, and sorry I don't have much to say today besides bitching.

Although I did clean my room earlier, so I'm happy about that (albeit pretty sore from bending). Aside from that it's been a fairly annoying day - Hotel Babylon doesn't seem to be on anymore even though I'm sure I saw an ad for it on TV, I had a run-in with Ali the perv, and no news on the legal thing.

So I shall check out the site that needs checking out, then go to bed and play The Urbz.