One Last Sneak Peek for 2022

 It's a cartoon that has kept me up nights.

Then, when all the drawing and scanning and formatting and shading the grayscale version was done, it turned out that our internet service was down.

So I rebooted the router a couple times; and when that didn't work, unplugged and replugged the modem as well. Then my better half called Spectrum's three-digit help line, and was put on hold until he got tired of the muzak and hung up. So we rebooted the router and unplugged the modem again.

By then, I was mostly finished with the colorized versions, so I tried calling Spectrum again. The automated voice assured me there were no outages in our area, and advised us to reboot the router and unplug the modem. With a predictable lack of results.

Then I got through to a human. Let's call him Ron.

Ron asked our account information, then wanted to know how many units were affected. One, I told him. We don't have a bunch of modems and routers in the house. Oh, said Ron, do you have a business account with us? And since we have a residential account, not a business account, Ron said he would transfer me to residential services.

After I sat through a recording touting Spectrum's new voice-identification security plan, a guy I'll call Rick picked up the line. The conversation was nearly the same as that with Ron, including the point where Rick said that he was on the business account side of things. Then he told me the phone number to call for residential services.

So I hung up and called the ten-digit number, where the same automated voice as before went through the same automated advice as before — although this time, she did say that there were reports of intermittent service outages in our area, and technicians were already working on the problem.

I put my cartoon files on a USB drive, drove over to my Dad's house and sent them from there.

Four hours later, still no internet at home; so my better half tried calling Spectrum again.

This time, whoever he talked to wanted us not only to reboot the modem and unplug the router, but to turn off the computer as well.

Good thing that worked.

Because the next step would have been to reboot the modem, unplug the router, turn off the computer, and shut off power to the whole house.