I have a true love/hate relationship... with technology, that is. I can't imagine my life these days without the gadgets and the cyber-technology which makes my life so much better (and yet so much more complicated). What did we all do before tiny mobile phones (I still remember my dad's first mobile phone in the early '90s - they weren't called "bricks" for nothing), email, internet information at our fingertips, home fairy floss makers... but I digress.

I do love the technology which makes my life so much and easier and so much more interesting but why does it have to be so bloody hard to get going???!!! Once they're up and running, short of some sort of catastrophic computer crash or virus or other natural disaster which may befall our technological helpers, all runs smoothly. However, there is a big lump of pain involved in setting up our new technological friends. It's never a matter of plug in and play. It always requires a great deal of angst, confusion, swearing, the threatening to throw things, possibly the throwing of things, a long period "on hold" for the Help Desk and - HOPEFULLY - a final, blessed resolution.

Most of you may not know a Wireless Router from a bathroom grouter but this previously unheard of beastie is sitting on my dining room table as we speak. Last night it threatened to both my fragile mental health and our fragile household equilibrium. It all started when we had cable broadband installed on Monday. Because they couldn't run the cable to our bedroom, which is where our laptop normally lives, we settled on having it in the living room. They suggested attaching a wireless router so that we could then use the broadband connection anywhere in the house. Easier said than done. Now we have a wireless router, a broadband modem, a laptop, a whole lot of cables, wires, CDs (why don't they provide you with a REAL bloody manual anymore??!!) and a hell of a messy dining room table ... but nothing that works.

I had to give up on the whole frigging mess last night and retire to the bedroom for some Desperate Housewives and some meditation on the good things in my life (as Jason so wisely said "some people don't even have a computer!" - "lucky bloody people" I say). Now I'm hoping that some help will come our way on Saturday when some of Jason's IT buddies from work come over for a BBQ ("hey, did we show you our new wireless router? you couldn't help with a tinsy winsy little problem we're having, could you?").

With a bit of luck and some smiling from the IT gods I may be updating my blog from the comfort of my own bedroom in a few short days. I never had these problems with my trusty old IBM Composer...