My technology trials

Ever get the feeling that someone up there is telling you not to do something? This is how I have spent the last week, instead of putting smug posts on here about how sunny it is. I'm sorry if this is boring, but writing it has been very therapeutic. Living it, however, wasn't.

Thursday - arrive!

House has no electricity

The dongle doesn’t seem to be compatible with my mac

Friday:

Go to Vodafone shop and they upload some mac-type software - yay!

Wait three hours for pay-as-you-go deal to kick in feeling very positive

When I get home, it doesn’t work.

But the electricity is back on!

Saturday:

Told the dongle would never work at my house due to crap reception

Discover it works in Town

Discover wi-fi hotspot in town

Discover cannot recharge computer at wi-fi hotspot so have to move every two hours

Find out I can sneakily plug my computer into the wall of a restaurant (under the archy bit in the picture)

And it has a wi-fi network I can secretly tap into

Although Skype doesn’t work in that spot, only in the wi-fi hotspot

Skype doesn’t always work in the wi-fi hotspot, by the way just sometimes when the wind is blowing the right way and mercury is in retrograde

And have to stay indoors with increasingly hot laptop and no A/C 

Sunday:

Whole of town closed. Can’t work

Monday:

Manage to do a Skype interview in Rivergaro (nearby small town)

Out of power so have to charge up at uncle’s house and eat enormous five course meal and try to understand his dialect.

Get to Piacenza to discover Skype not working

Go to buy a mobile phone and find that the shop is closed for the rest of August

Discover that the Wi-Fi hotspot will have limited opening hours all next week due to national holiday.

The signal is still there 24/7

But would have to sit in a courtyard with my laptop on my knees.

Back to restaurant, with no Skype.

Discover last bus home is around 7pm, therefore no possibility of working late.

Discover this after I have missed it.

Tuesday:

Find rather nice café near the hotspot where wi-fi works

Skype still doesn’t work

Then when I attach the dongle and stay in the same spot, it does. I think I have found a civilised new home.

But then café owner puts on very loud Christina Aguilera medley while I am doing an interview

And two ice teas cost me eight euros

And she won’t let me plug my computer in to charge.

I leave my new home, too embarrassed to charge computer up in restaurant for a second time that day and go home

Go back to Rivergaro, computer out of power, in tears of desperation. Phone cousin to ask for help but she’s going to the opera.

Back home I walk to Travo (only small town within walking distance) sit on church steps and check reception. Niente.

Decide to hire car to have the working late in Piacenza option

Wednesday:

Manage to do successful interview in wi-fi hotspot

Out of battery power – back to restaurant

Pick car up at 3pm and drive out to Rivergaro

Work in Rivergaro café. Skype sometimes working sometimes not. Very loud Stock Aitken and Waterman music. No aircon. Battery runs down at 6pm.

Cousin offers use of her office until Monday as it’s closed for the holidays

Manage to get Skype working at 10pm in a random car park long enough to interview someone in NYC 

Thursday:

Arrive in office. Air conditioning! Internet connection on creaky PC! Water cooler! Toilet that isn’t a hole in the floor! Electricity!

Skype doesn’t work and need to do lots of interviews today

Remember have BT Chargecard number from old address. Start using that instead via cousin’s landline.

Emails start inexplicably failing to send

Can’t get hold of interviewee – v frustrating as can’t just leave her a message to call me. Have abandoned Skype number as total waste of time and money

Slowly interviews and copy pieced together and start to see light at end of tunnel

Friday:

Office! Luxury! Joy!

Then BT chargecard stops working

Ring four different helplines and nobody seems to know what’s happening

Get through to lovely David Monk on BT chargecard helpline, man with sense of humour and also just sense. Find out I’ve run out of credit because I have spent more than £60 on the chargecard in 24 hours at 50p a minute.

Get more money put on chargecard – no choice really unless I want to sit in a sun-beaten car park for two hours at a time

Skype starts working! I make the most of it by talking manically on the phone to everyone I can get hold of.

Finally it’s the weekend – and I think I have just enough info available to start writing on the balcony without having to go online or phone people.

I’m thinking of taking a bit of time off when this is done…