Disconnected Discourse

Think really hard about the last time you had no phone line in your home or no access to the Internet. It’s unimaginable isn’t it; I have no idea how idea how I existed pre-1990. I mean the last time I used a rotary phone was… well, it was like 1998, but that’s because Lakeridge Swim Club is not exactly technologically saavy, but we’ve got Rocco, so it evens out.

Sorry, I digress…….

Jon and I moved into our new apartment and thought we would be able to have a telephone line through the resort until our telephone line would be set up. However, that was not the case; as soon as our apartment came out of the holiday letting pool, they were unable to provide that service for the unit.

We went to Telstra, the local telephone and broadband Internet provider, last Saturday afternoon and filled out an application to have someone come to our home and initiate our service package. By Thursday, we still had not heard from them and called Telstra Customer Service directly. We were floored to find out that our application that we had lodged at the shop was not even processed yet. With a little negotiation and a few tears, we were able to have the compassionate customer service person arrange for a service call on Monday, February 12th. I cannot believe I have been without the Internet for over a week.

I shudder to think at the amount of emails that are piling up for both Jon and I and all web bill-paying that needs to be done. It’s been really hard being so out of touch with my friends & family too. No phone, no internet and limited contact with other people has made things kind of lonely for me. Especially since Jonathan is working nights and sleeping during the day, my human contact is limited. I just have to keep telling myself it’s only for a few days.

I felt like Fred Flintstone when all of the paperwork that I have scanned for DIMIA, my work, Jon’s work, the real estate agent that had to be sent out the old fashioned express way and I wasted two days driving up and down the Coast to hand-deliver it to where it needed to be. How did we exist pre-email / Internet? I can’t even imagine going back to that!

We do have a kiosk in the resort, but no matter what time I go down there whether it is 2pm or 2am, there is a pre-teen MySpacing their face off for hours. So, we apologize for the fact that we have been out of touch lately, but it’s ridiculously expensive to call / receive calls internationally on our mobile phones, we have no land line, no Skype access, and essentially no internet.

Everything else has been going really well! We absolutely love our new home & have been enjoying the beach and the pool everyday!

Some good news: My letter of offer arrived yesterday and my start date is Valentine’s Day. All of the visa verification and tax file number issues were resolved and everything is on the up & up.