Ever since my last return to Motovun, which was ten days ago, I have been losing my Internet connection every two or three days. It has taken me quite a while to reconnect every time this has happened. Today it has taken me hours. I have no idea what is going on, and I know that it is quite useless inquiring about it, but I know for sure that it has nothing to do with my own hardware or software. The fault is with the Internet service provider in Zagreb or its network covering the Istrian peninsula. One way or another, it smacks of massive incompetence. As well as complete and total misunderstanding of the service itself. What these ignoramuses take as an entertainment outlet is serious business to a growing number of people. Including some tourists, to be sure. It is becoming akin to water or electricity to quite a few. Well, the ignoramuses in Istria cannot ensure the uninterrupted supply of water and electricity, either. As far as they are concerned, the Internet is but a joke. “If it’s so important to you,” you can almost hear them chuckle, “you must be some sort of a weirdo, anyway.”

Addendum (May 21, 2012)

I could not get to the Internet when I got up this morning. I tried every trick in the book, but to no avail. It was early afternoon when I mentioned my misery to Milica and Martina Pahović. “Why don’t you call the phone company?” both of them said in one voice. They gave me the phone number, and I called the Internet service provider as soon as I returned home. The young man on the other side of the line was quite pleasant, but he could not tell me what was wrong with my service. All he could promise me was that the phone company’s technicians would look into the problem within forty-eight hours. “Let’s hope it can be solved remotely,” he added cheerfully. That was around two o’clock. And the Internet connection came alive three hours later. I was delighted, of course. But I also felt ill at ease with a technology that was completely beyond my understanding, let alone my power to manage it. I am at the mercy of a phone company that provides the service, and that is all there is to it. To my chagrin, the service in question means a bit too much to me at this stage of my life. To put it more precisely, it means way too much to me for my own comfort. For the time being, I am at the mercy of ignoramuses.