A Quick Update, While I'm Connected

 I'm only on-line thanks to a roving xfinity signal and a free one-hour trial offer, and so I figured I'd get as much out of these few moments as I could and tell you about my day-OMG-MY-DAY.  

It started out at oh-f*ck-o'clock, our new start time at Washington Technical. Our internet was acting wonky since we'd gotten home, so I wasn't able to do my morning routines, but as a bonus we got Shawn to work and Mason to school in no time flat.  I decided to go in with Mason to try to sort out a scheduling snafu... this took MUCH longer than it probably should have, considering the result.  But, okay, here's the story in a nutshell:

We were going to be out of town for Washington Technical's Open House and this was only a problem because the Open House was the day that the students picked out their after-school program (which is a mandatory extra hour, but completely elective and ranges from everything from Spanish to Robotics to Swim Team).  So, I called the school to see what we could do to make sure Mason got into something he liked.  I was directed to talk to a counselor who read me the list over the phone and, I was assured, signed Mason up for Robotics.  BUT, lo and behold, when we got to school on the Camp Six day (the practice run for 6th graders going to middle school for the first time), his schedule was completely different--instead of Robotics, he was in "World Languages" which sounded suspiciously like a dumping ground for people who neglected to show up to the Open House.  

SO!  I went in with Mason this morning and first stood in a line only to be told that the person I'd been waiting to talk to couldn't help me because he only dealt with 8th graders and above.  He directed me to an EVEN LONGER LINE to wait to talk to the person in charge of 6th and 7th graders.  Fine, I had nowhere to go, except out for a cup of coffee, so I waited.  When I finally reached that guy, I was told, "Nope.  Too complicated for me, go up to the office."  WHERE THERE WAS ANOTHER queue.  I waited my turn in that line and finally got to talk to a person who ended up saying, "Oh, that?  We corrected it already.  His new schedule has him in ROCKETRY.  Will that be acceptable since Robotics was full?"  I was like, "Yeah, that's fine."  

I treated myself to TWO cups of coffee after that, I tell you.

Good thing I did, too, because dealing with our Clear (now Sprint) people was the next headache and a half.  Very, VERY similarly, I ended up waiting in a lot of "lines" or perhaps "on the line" a lot.  The annoying menu did not give me the option to say, "Yes, I've tried rebooting," so every time I called I had to listen to a Siri-like happy woman's voice telling me how to do the single simplest solution in the history of solutions, possibly in the history of history.  

Fine.

But I went through the whole thing with a Tech Support person again after happy Siri-lady because this person was in some country far, far away.  It may be a stereotype, but if this person was in this country 1) they could not deal with going off script even slightly and 2) they could not deal with *me* going off script even slightly.  WHICH MEANT I HAD TO FLIPPING REBOOT MY WIFI WITH THIS PERSON AGAIN.  Finally, when we were getting somewhere interesting, my phone battery died.

And when the tech guy called back?  He didn't leave a name or an extension, so I had to go through all of it again, except with a completely different Technical Support person.

OMG.

On the other hand, by this point, since my phone was only a tiny-bit recharged I ended up using my walk-around cordless phone only long enough to get through the push-button menu, and then switched to my hard-wired rotary phone.

Yes, that's right, I talked through tech support for my wifi on A ROTARY PHONE.

But, the best part?  Even after all that, they couldn't fix it.  They're sending us another one, which has already shipped (according to AN EMAIL they sent, because, yes, I am the last person on the planet without a smart phone who has no way to get email when, let's see, MY INTERNET IS DOWN.)  

At that point, I picked up Shawn from work and we both lay down for an afternoon nap before going back to pick up Mason.  Mason, meanwhile, had gotten a migraine at school, so he ended up crashing when he got home too.  On the flip side, Washington Technical seems to have spontaneously moved him into an 8th grade math class (he'd already been planning on being in the 7th grade one, so this is an extra bump we weren't entirely expecting.) I'm not completely convinced that Mason is 100% ready for this, so guess what?  I get to try to talk to a counselor tomorrow again, just to check in and hear what their reasoning is.  We'd all be super-happy if they have a good reason, but we don't want Mason to be pushed too far ahead, especially if it were to make him frustrated. 

At least this time I know that Mason's official counselor is Ms. Sanchez and where to find her.  So, that's half the battle apparently.  

Oi vey, what a day.