About a year ago I started this blog with a post detailing my struggle to obtain an internet connection in my home. I was frazzled and frustrated.
Today, as a result of Turk Telekom's decision to stop sending bills by mail (and my failure to read my Turkish text messages, which are almost always sales pitches), my internet was cut off. Now, my internet connection is even more important to me now than it was a year ago, as I've become more involved in writing and even have an article due to Gecko Adventures in a few days. But I managed to restore my internet without panicking.
First, I walked calmly to the TT office where I greeted the service representative with a polite "Kolay Gelsin" (may your work be easy). Then, instead of blabbering "Internet yok!", I was able to say "my internet has been cut off". How do you like that? Passive voice and everything. When she suggested it might be because of money owed, I responded that no bill had come, and that "had it come, I would have paid it". Oh yes I did. Past subjunctive and conditional.
After I paid the overdue bill, I rewarded myself by stopping at my favorite bakery for a couple of tatli kuru pasta (cookies). Then I leisurely walked home, enjoying the beautiful weather, and fixed myself a cup of tea before trying in vain to sign on for my mail. I was still getting the error message about payment owed. I took a deep breath. "You're doing fine," I told myself, "just stay calm and call the service number." The service number was of course busy, so I had to redial about 20 times before reaching someone. I explained the problem and was told to turn the modem off, wait a minute, and turn it back on. Great. But after I did that, nothing changed. Okay, don't panic. Just call back. After another 20 tries, I connect. This time I had one of those "fast talkers" who don't slow down for foreigners, so I didn't understand everything she said. So I just repeated my story, and eventually the problem was resolved. Yay me! Yaşasin! Aferin bana!
Tomorrow we return to our regularly scheduled programming and my interview with Matt Krause.