New Year, Same Old, 17, 18 & 19. Rural Disconnections.

My internet connection via wifi is just getting worse and worse. Today, I went to a computer shop in town where they offer different services, to sign up with another company for fiber, now that Telefónica/Movistar put through a cable down my road.

Things are not so simple. The only company that offers only internet (or at least at that office) is R, previously a regional Galician company that has since been bought by Euskaltel, a Basque company. It has an obligatory permanence of at least a year, after which, I was warned, they would probably hike prices. Fine. I still settled for it because I have few other choices. 

First problem was checking my street number. It turns out that I do have access to fiber, but my house has not been "normalized." The reason for that seems to be that it has never had a landline nor any other telephone connection by wire. So, I waited for close to an hour as the person who was trying to insert my information on the company web page explained that to someone on the other end of the phone. It turns out that to normalize my house, the person at the company has to do something online, but their servers are down. That is such a nice, comforting thought; the company from which I want to receive a decent internet service, has its servers down. 

The second problem was the documentation I presented. I took my identity card and the number of my bank account, where the bill would be domiciled. But I need a certificate from the bank, saying that is my bank account. That I presented my identity card seems to be no guarantee. Either a certificate, or the copy of the page on my bank passbook with my name and the number on it. 

But, I can't present my passbook, because my bank (and others) are trying to make their slaves (customers) go online to close as many bank branches as possible, so they have eliminated passbooks. So, I either have to get a copy of a bill domiciled in the account, or the certificate. But I can't get a copy of a bill, because those companies have also decided to stop sending paper copies to me. I would have to open my account online and print out a charge. But I can't do that because I don't have a decent internet connection. So, the fish is biting its own tail.

So now, I have to go to the bank, ask for a certificate (oh, and that's if I can, because they now have strange hours and do not provide all kinds of services in the office because of Covid), and then return with it to the computer store, sign my name in blood to guarantee monthly payments, and then wait a month or two to have the fiber installed. Such is life in twenty-first century rural Spain, a country that is pushing online communication to the nth degree for everything, but not guaranteeing a good connection outside the cities and larger towns. 

In the meantime, I have tried opening this page to write for at least three quarters of an hour. I have had to finish adding the photo and the color on my phone if I want to publish this today, too.

Life continues. Offline.