Part of what I love about my work is that I can do it from anywhere, and therefore get to live part of the year in our beloved Pergola, in the Pesaro-Urbino region of Marche, Italy.  This assumes, however, that the “anywhere” in question has reliable internet service.

It is exceedingly stressful to have work that relies on having internet, and having no connection. My chiavetta (the usb modem) worked fine last spring but has decided to be very persnickety now that I have a lot of work to do. I try to connect, it goes through the motions, connects for a micro-second, dies and tells me to try again or contact my administrator. Yeah right.

I breathe deeply, think forgiving thoughts (yeah right) and keep trying.

Not only is the modem unstable, it also has a limit on the amount of data I may download. Once I reach 10gb it takes me down to an unbearably slow speed. And I can’t recharge the darn thing for 30 days! I have a collection of sim cards that I go through, hoping they will last until my DSL is installed.

Ahh, and when will that be? This is Italy remember. Americans are not built to flow in Italian time. We were told it would be a minimum of a week before we received the post card that then tells us who to call to schedule installation. That was 10 days ago. Each morning I go to check the mail, hopeful, but sigh.

I have a birthday coming up. Maybe I’ll have reliable internet by then.

Christmas?