Modem madness, retreat, aaaaand... the kids are back

My modem has decided that it hates me, and refuses to work.  I have no idea why.  The last time it (mis)behaved like this was when it thought that I needed to buy more airtime.  But I purchased three months worth about two weeks ago.  'tis a mystery.  I’m imagining that I’ve put the modem in time-out so that it can think about what it’s doing (or not, as it were), so that when we return on Sunday evening, it can behave the way it should.  I desperately want this to happen because I don’t have time to go to the Orange Shop in town, nor do I feel like talking to customer support and trying to troubleshoot this on the phone.  For me, African accents are harder to discern on the phone.

Thankfully, we do have access to the UCU wireless network up here on the top of the hill; in semesters past, it didn't reach this far.  And aghast as I am, it's unlocked - I've not registered this laptop with the IT guys, yet I can access the net.  Count me aghast and grateful.  It's pokey, but works.  Don't even think about how long it took to upload this image.

Something I learned this morning is that UCU has banned Facebook from the hours of 9am-5pm.  I only learned this when I tried to refresh my screen while I was on the UCU net.  I think this is 1. Brilliant, as at any point in time, go to either the dining hall, or any computer lab and all you’ll see is a sea of blue and white.  I’m sure that placed a serious drain on the network, hence the decision.  Imagine how crippling it is to the student population, however.  Which is why I also think this is 2. Hysterical.  I usually think of employers banning pages like Facebook, not schools.

We are indeed going on retreat this weekend, and I think it’ll be at the same place we were last year.  The lovely place, which in addition to being beautiful, has excellent food, and where, unfortunately, I didn’t sleep well.  We’ll try again.  The Honours College kids are also going on retreat, so it’s a bit unfortunate that all of us will be gone at the same time.

Their retreat is this weekend because the USPs have just finished their two-week homestay, and so that means that they’re back, and so is the decibel level.  Actually, they were around the dorms during the day, showering and doing wash, so it wasn’t like they were completely gone.  Now that they’re adjusting to being here, perhaps some of the completely understandable squealing epiphanies will diminish.  Please, God?  I’m actually happy they’re back, but I’m old.  I like quiet when I want to sleep.