I shouldn't be doing this right now because the more windows I have open, the more memory it eats up, which might screw up my softphone. Normally having a lot of applications running while taking calls is ok, but my newly installed DSL connection at home is acting up. 230 kbps? Who are they kidding? It should be 512. My PC was working perfectly fine at Len's place, but now I get disconnected every now and then, in addition to the slow connection. Could it be that they installed the splitter for the landline (which is an extension) right next to my PC upstairs? I checked the diagram at the DSL website and it shows that the splitter should go through the modem cable AND the main phone, which is downstairs. If that's the case, then maybe I get booted off whenever someone uses the phone downstairs. Then they'll probably have to reinstall the splitter so it feeds through the main phone instead of the extension I have beside me now.

This spotty connection is pissing me off! I'm using this for work, dammit. I have to restart my softphone application every now and then just to make sure it's still running and ready to receive calls. Customer service says it might be due to the fact that it was just installed yesterday, hence the unstable connection. But that was more than 24 hours ago - they said it should clear up by then.

AND the PC just rebooted by itself all of a sudden. Good thing I was on break that time. I don't know what happened, could it have been a loose power cable? Or did the extension cord or AVR come loose? My steps were quite light, so I don't know. I just hope it doesn't happen again.

It reminds me of the other non-working PC they have here. The power light comes on, but nothing comes through the monitor. There are some cases where it would boot up fine and you could even open applications, but the screen would suddenly black out or the picture would turn garbage. Maybe it's the video card, or the memory's screwed up, I honestly don't know. Or maybe it's because the monitor for that broken PC feeds through the CPU for its power supply rather than having a separate power cord to go into an outlet. And that monitor is what I have hooked up to my own PC now. I have to pick up my own monitor from Len's place tomorrow. I have this sinking feeling that this monitor might be one of the culprits involved in the fall of its former PC.

So here I am, waiting for the DSL helpdesk to call me back for the ticket I logged FOUR hours ago. Maybe I'm reaping the seeds that I've sown during my own days as a customer service rep at my last job.

There are just so many factors left to chance right now. I'm glad I've come this far, but I need to be employed for at least six months at this job so I can pay off my mom, who charged this costly computer to her card for now.

I swear, I'm right about ready to chew my fingers off. My nails would've been gone by now if I was the type that bit them during these kinds of situations.

To quote Tom Cruise's character in Vanilla Sky:

"It's a nightmare!! Tech support!!!"