Hardly Galsworthy, but this saga has been rumbling on for weeks and weeks now and I fully intend to bore you and bring you up to date with the latest.
I am composing this post on my lovely new Dell laptop, very swish (mine has the green lid - did contemplate pink but thought perhaps that was a bit too girly), very fast and loads more memory. I have had this laptop now for some two months and only now have I managed to get on line and then not the way I should. So bear with me gentle reader and I will tell you all.
Having tried various modems to get on line and finding myself chatting to a very helpful young man in 
Boston (Mass not Lincs) which he assured me would not cost me much as I was on a UK line (HA!), he told me I had been sold the wrong modem. Back to the shop breathing fire and brimstone and had it replaced. Loaded it up successfully, drivers done success pat on back hooray hooray.
Well, I rejoiced too soon because up came the dreaded message 'the modem is being blocked'
Back onto AOL help line (never has anything been more inaptly named), spoke to a very polite young man who was obviously based in India, (was very evasive when I tried to find out where he was talking from and how was the weather in Delhi), as I said most helpful and we tried everything and nothing worked. He then transferred me to another colleague who told me he would send me a router 'and that will solve the problem'.
It will be with me in five working days - two weeks later called them up. Where was it? Turned out that they had sent it, for some reason which totally escapes me, to my old work address. Why? I shrieked I have never had anything sent there before. Oh, they said could I go and collect it then? You can imagine my response. After more shrieking and screaming they promised me they would send me out another one which they did and I came home and it was sitting outside my front door. So much for secure delivery. When I opened it up there was a CD, router etc and a little note saying 'You will need your log in ID and password which has been sent to you in a separate letter before you can download this software'.
I went to bed.
Rang up next day, shrieked again (throat quite sore by now) and he gave me the relevant information. While I was on the phone I made him give me my MAC code as I am thinking of changing my ISP if this does not work.
Back home that evening set it all up and guess what? Yes you are right folks, 'the modem is being blocked' Back to the help line (heaven knows what my telephone bill is going to be like this quarter), more screaming and shrieking by me who has just about had enough.
And here is the bottom line - AOL and Vista, which is on all new computers, are INCOMPATIBLE. I was told that they are receiving over 200 calls a day from users who have the same problem as me. 200 - I ask you. 'But don't worry madam I am going to sort this out for you now' - I was then promptly cut off and left with a high pitched whirring sound. By this time I had lost the will to live and went to bed.
In case you are wondering how I am on line, I discovered more by accident than design that I could get on line if I went through Internet Explorer and by passed my AOL log in completely. I then did a Google search for AOL, marked it up as a favourite and now I am here. The problem is still not solved and I have now had enough and am going to get another service provider. Some kind person left a comment on my blog earlier and suggested I use Eclipse a UK based company and I have checked out their website and had a chat with them and they seem very helpful. So enough is enough and will sort this out in the next month.
And let me make it clear, nobody but nobody at AOL told me that I could not get on line with a USB modem and that I needed a router. Nobody and I have been on the phone to them dozens of times.
I feel a Grumpy Old Woman of Colchester letter coming on to go with this rant.
It is all too much to bear.
