I am back

Wow! Can you imagine it? My computer was down since 23 Dec'06 and I was like handicapped until 5 Jan'07 evening when my daughter's friend, Wei Ming, so kindly came over to help me reset it. I was only doing my virus scan on that day and am not sure what went wrong after that. I just simply couldn't log in. Tried a few days calling Singnet for help but wasn't able to get through their technical hotline and was always put on hold for hours, and I mean really hours. I was using my home cordless phone and put it on hands-free speaker and just simply let it play until the battery went flat. I leave it to you people out there to guess how long was the wait. Exasperdated, I hung up, recharged the phone and call again. After more than 30 minutes of being on-hold, I finally manage to get though the line.

At last, there is life out there in Singnet after all, after days and many many attempts and frustration in trying to get through the line. Can you imagine what that guy told me? "Sir, don't worry, I am here to help you solve your problem." Yeah, nice comforting words. Anyway, I was just happy to be able to talk to a human after days of talking to the ASTD(+-*/) machine. I was just glad to have an expert over the phone to guide me in resetting.

I explained to that guy the problem I faced and the reply was because of the Taiwan earthquake. Yeah, I know. But hey, he wasn't paying attention to what I was trying to tell him. I wasn't able to log even before the quake happened. Wah, he mean to tell me my computer got sixth sense that the quake is about to happen and took the initiative to break down first. After he learnt that the router I was using D-Link ADSL router together with Linksys wireless router, his immediate response was that it was not compatible with Singnet's network. Huh! My impression of this guy changed immediately after that statement was made. I am not sure if this guy is really helpful or an expert after all. Hey, I have been using that equipment for the past months without problem and now he says it's not compatible with Singnet's setting. Okay, fine. Benefit of doubt given. He asked me to hold the line after confirming my telephone number and the phone line went silent. No background music to soothe me or indicate that I was on hold, while he, presumably went in search for assistance. Initially, I wasn't sure whether to hold the line or hang up. After much deliberation, I decided to hold the line and was waiting for something like 10 minutes (now that would be quite dumb under normal circumstances but thinking back on the days and many attempts in trying to get through the line, I waited) before I made the final decision after 15 minutes to hang up. I would expect that this guy would call back as he has my number but then as it turn out, there was no call. What kind of service is this? I intend to pursue this issue with Singnet in the foreseeable future. Fortunately, we have other ISPs available. But until now, Singnet still have a sizeable market share and that is probably the reason why they can afford to be lax on their service. Okay, today's topic wasn't suppose to be talking my computer problems but rather my taxi adventure, which I will publish in another posting.
Cheers