I've been remembering why I stopped being a network admin over the last week. Last Wednesday (the 5th) we had some REALLY close lightning (I ducked), and my Apple Time Capsule died. The TC was a 1 Terabyte drive that also was a network print server (which I didn't use) and an 802.11n wireless router (which I did use), in addition to a shareable drive and my backup drive. So I lost my backup drive, the files Loren and I had been sharing (nothing critical there) and our network.
Being a geek, I had a spare wireless router sitting in the closet. (Well, what can I say? We got it for free when we bought Loren's laptop, and I already had one that was working.) So Thursday I set up the router. Took about an hour and a half (compared to the Time Capsule's 10 minutes). It dropped us over and over - very frustrating! I finally turned off dynamic IP addressing and we were able to work a little better.
Friday I called the Apple store where I bought the TC. 5 days out of warranty. Not repairable, only replaceable. I paid $500 for this thing (they go for $300 now). Nothing else on the UPS - or off it, for that matter - had any damage at all. Grrrr! So I called the UPS company, and they started a claim for me, are sending me a free UPS to replace my old one, and will determine if the damage is the fault of the UPS, and if so will give me the current market value of the item (about $180).
Saturday and Sunday I fought with the darn network while doing research on what to get for replacements. By Sunday it was doing okay for Loren, but dropping me every 2 minutes. I'd have to stop and start my network card to get back up again. All I can say is, I *almost* got my money's worth out of the thing (free, remember?).
Monday I went to Wal-Mart, bought a new network router, 2 new external hard drives, and a couple of other things to make Loren's life (and therefore, mine) a little easier. Spent less, got more (2.5 Tb instead of only 1). Spent some time last night getting my part set up - good router, lousy instructions, even lousier "tech support", but I figured it out). Learned that I can't network my hard drive using Apple file formats (yet - the router company is working on it), but oh, well, I have it directly connected to my computer and Loren doesn't need it, anyway. Still need to set up Loren's new network card (so HE can enjoy the blazing speeds I now have again) and hard drive.
So, 5 days pretty much eaten up by network troubles. I was supposed to go install the Linux box I built for the church sound booth today, but I needed some time at home to do at-home things, and I'm so sick of computers I could scream! So I made bread, made cow's milk yogurt and goat's milk yogurt, cleaned out the fridge, and have been slowly getting caught up on all the little things I was too fried to think about before. Who knows, I may even vacumn! What wild and crazy thing will I think of next?
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