Today, my office was back up and running [mostly] after a three day ordeal of painting, cleaning, and re-carpeting. Now, if only my computer could access the Internet, all would be right with the world.
After 17 years in the same location, we finally gave in to the need to replace the worn carpet, torn seams, and stains on the walls from roof leaks. When I say "ordeal", I'm not exaggerating. This required a small army crawling all over the office moving furniture, files, and technology. Since we were already making a mess, we used the opportunity to clean out as much as possible. The students we'd hired to help move boxes and furniture had a lot of dead time, so we brought out the Pledge, End Dust, and vacuum cleaners, and attacked most everything.
Having built large bookcases with a lot of empty space [enough to last the rest of my life], we had long since run out of room, so another 19 storage boxes were sent off to the shredder.
We realized we could reduce the space between shelves, and pick up extra space. That meant moving all the books up a few notches, and inserting shelves from storage we hadn't needed when we built the bookcases. Our students were the ideal workers. Quiet, happy to have the work, and almost tireless. Amazing how dusty old law books could get when they are rarely taken off the shelf - my set has all the reported California court decisions back to 1926, while virtually all law a divorce lawyer uses has developed since the Family Law Act of 1969.
Technology is another problem. Accumulated dust in and around computers, keyboards, and even telephones: New carpet gave us the incentive to clean. Dust Off cans, compressed air to blow out dust, were everywhere - tops of books, phones, piles of paper, and insides of computers.
When we put everything back together late Saturday afternoon, my problem as the tech guy in the office [when I should be practicing law] was to get all the computers re-connected to the network. That's when I realized our DSL line was disconnected [that's our means of access to the Internet]. Hours on tech support with ATT, with no solution in sight. More time on Sunday on hold to Bangalore [or wherever they do 1st level support], proved fruitless. This caused mild panic: All the office e-mail comes directly to our computers for distribution to me, my employees, and my iPhone - if we don't have a computer connected it goes out into the Ether somewhere - potentially, clients are trying to reach us, finding we are out of operation.
With no dial tone on the phone associated with the DSL line, ATT couldn't recognize the modem that connects their line to my system and translates the signal - then they told me the blinking red light on the modem could mean that it was defective, so even if we could get a dial tone it might be a problem.
Trying to plan ahead, in case it was also a modem problem, I asked the Bangalorian what model of modem I could buy to have on hand, and where could I get it locally? They identified the only model they support/recommend, and suggested two stores that carry it. The first, Radio Shack, was in walking distance so I went there - never heard of the brand, DSL modems, or the time of day - didn't even show it in their computer as available. So Sunday, off to the 2nd store, where I finally found it - the brand name ATT had given me was on a small sticker sealing the box, so I had trouble finding the right one, but after asking around I was pointed in the right direction.
When I returned to the office to finish putting things back together, I discovered the DSL line had a dial tone. The old modem still didn't work, so I called Bangalore again - this time, I became so frustrated answering the same question over and over again, I finally screamed that they needed to find me a technician who spoke the same language as I: California English. Eventually, I got a call back from a very nice guy named Victor from San Ramon, California - what a difference. Explained my problem in 2 sentences, and we set about troubleshooting - finally resulting in calling another department and getting authorization for an emergency cross-trained tech [someone who understood both phone lines and DSL], who showed up early Monday.
Yesterday, miraculously, while I was waiting for a client in my Rancho Santa Fe office, a tech showed up, unannounced, to solve the problem. Somewhere in the wiring there was a problem. No need for a new modem: In fact, according to the tech, the replacement recommended was a piece of junk, and didn't work at all well with my type of system, even if it could stay operating - unbeknowst to the Bangalorian, I have a legacy system because I've been a customer since ATT first started installing DSL lines in the area.
Only one problem left: My personal computer can't access the Internet, although it's the closest to the modem. My laptop connects wirelessly through the same router, but my desktop doesn't operate. At least the network and our server is up and running, and I'm getting e-mail again. One client wrote that he and his wife had reached an agreement, another that their agreement seemed to be falling apart, and a third contained a revised agreement being prepared by a neutral lawyer - all three needed a prompt response, so I was rushing to recover.
After hauling off about 5 trash can's full of trash to the dumpster, and sending 19 boxes to the shredding company, we were starting off with a clean slate, except for the box of current work hiding somewhere, that originated in piles on my floor and desk over "the last few weeks."
I encourage everyone to re-carpet periodically. If you can live through it, it's a wonderful way to start off anew.
