Trailer Wife

We have been without internet for the last week. Unsurprisingly, this has caused quite a bit of teeth-gnashing, bickering and general agony for our household. What did we do before checking email sixty or seventy times a day filled our days? Not to mention keeping up to date with the old blog. So... I called the University technical support this morning, quite indignant, looking for answers.

The chap on the phone was a little evasive, and finally gave me the number of a technical security officer to call, assuring me that the problem might be solved there. Technical security?? So I call, and am told that our line has been disconnected do to a copyright infringement complaint.

UH OH.

Of course we've all heard the dire warnings and public service announcements about illegal downloads. But who really pays attention to those things? It's just so easy to find the entire season of True Blood, download it, and rip it to my ipod (it's the only way I can get my ass up at 5:30 and to the gym... the promise of a new episode waiting for me on the elliptical machine). Everyone is doing it, right?

The security officer (whose name is Chirk, by the way, which rhymes with...) informed me that bit torrent downloads are illegal, punishable by huge fines and prison terms, and that I am basically a terrible person. While he's yammering on, my heart is racing, flashes of Sam being summarily fired for internet impropriety on University bandwidth. The phone cradled against my neck, I am frantically trashing all torrents, software and files that might incriminate me. But after the short lecture, Chirk bade me to send him an email promising that I have deleted the pirated file and swearing I will never go near a peer-to-peer site again before he would reinstate our internet connection. And though I am a little suspicious that he might have been jerking my chain a little, and had no real authority to do such a thing, it worked. Back to itunes for me.

The zinger about it was that the file I was busted for downloading was an album I don't even want to admit here to having been interested in! What a waste. Note to the torrent-savy: Music is targeted MUCH more than tv or video. So don't seed that shit. Not if you're on a network with a enthusiastic security tech.

Anyways... other than flirting with a life of internet crime, the days are pretty boring. The snow falls for a few hours, and then melts. It's very anticlimactic. My class is going well, despite my almost constant embarrassing outbursts in group discussion. My first story has been workshopped and I wasn't laughed out of the room - so that's a relief.

A high point this week: I went to my first "Zumba" dance workout with a friend (the fact that I have someone to call "friend" almost more exciting than the workout). Zumba fuses latin, belly, and hip hop dancing in one cardio-packed hour. Having no rhythm, and no previous dance experience of any kind, it was, in a word, entertaining. But the surprise was that I really enjoyed it (as long as I avoided my reflection in the mirror and the accompanying shame).

A low point this week: Not sure what's worse... that Gus chipped his front tooth or that it took me two days to notice. I'm pretty sure it happened when he dove off of the chair we have positioned in front of the window. It's become a regular thing with him - climbing. This morning, as I was chatting with Chirk, he quietly pushed the ottoman over to the end table, climbed on top and, when I finally noticed, stood several feet off the ground looking at me with a combination of defiance and pride. I said a little prayer that he'll forestall walking until he's 3 or 4.