heh heh, nope.

So the router started doing its blinky light thing again overnight.

Dangit. I tried doing the power cycle - even left it unplugged for a couple hours in the middle of the night - and that didn't fix it. So I can't even get online long enough to try to download new firmware (which was an issue I didn't think about until late last night).

I assume this means I need a new router.

I'm steeling myself to gather up the old one, go into the computer shop a couple blocks down from me (where I bought the laptop from and who provided the original router) and there are four possible outcomes, from best to worst:

1. "Oh, that's a known issue with these, here, we have a fix" or they do something like manage to get it working and do the firmware patch

2. "Yeah, it's dead, but we sell one that will work as a replacement" and either "We can make an appointment to come out and set it up for you" or "there's step by step instructions, you should be able to do it, call us if you have a problem."

3. "We don't sell these now but this model is the one you want and you can get it locally at this place, and you should be able to figure it out, call us if you need help"

and worst

4. "We can't help you, try the wal-mart."

I mean, I KINDA know what I need and I KINDA think I can set it up on my own but it helps to know someone has my back (the biggest worry being "how do I get my printer to recognize the new router" - it's a wireless printer. Though maybe that's automatic once I get my computer to talk to the router?)

My other big worry, one of those late-night "oh woes, what would I do then?" was "what if the new router requires Windows 10?" I have, thus far, been a Win 7 holdout. (My dad has 10, and....it's kinda ugly but I could get used to it if I had to, I guess?)

Then again: I looked up Belkin routers (my current brand) on Amazon (reverse showrooming, heh: look up the specs on Amazon because it's easy but buy locally if I can) and it said "Requires a minimum of Windows XP, so, I guess I should be good. (Anyway, computer dudes can tell me. I know they gave me 7 back in 2014 or so because "8 really sucks and you'd regret getting it"


But, ugh. I would just "jack in" to the computer with the ethernet cable (I can become comfortable with inconvenience) EXCEPT for the wireless printer and even if I could find a cable to connect my printer to my laptop and print directly, sometimes I need to be online AND printing, and I can't do both of those, not with a lot MORE inconvenience than trying to get a new wireless router.

Ugh. First world problems are first-worldy.

That said? I changed the cartridge on the laser printer here at school (because I had to shake the old one yet again to get it to print for me this morning). I left the old cartridge and box in the room with the printer, and when the colleague who had complained about the not-printing yesterday came in, I told him, and added, "I left the cartridge and box in there so you could box it up if you want to send it for recycling, I'm a little too busy for that right now" and he said "Or you could" and I kind of sighed and repeated "I'm a little too busy right now" and maybe I should have been more explicit about BECAUSE I WAS THE ONE WHO WENT AND GOT THE CARTRIDGE AND SUITED UP IN MY LAB APRON LEST I GET TONER ON MY BLOUSE AND READ THE INSTRUCTIONS AND PULLED OUT THE SILLY TAB AND PUT THE NEW CARTRIDGE IN THE MACHINE, YOU CAN DO THIS RELATIVELY SMALL THING SINCE YOU USE THE PRINTER TOO but I forget that not everyone comes from a background where saying "You could do this thing (with: after I did this other task left unsaid) because I'm busy right now" really means HEY YOU PULL YOUR WEIGHT BY DOING SOME OF THE WORK INSTEAD OF LEAVING IT ALL TO ME.

At any rate: I'm good at overlooking the kind of "clutter" that the cartridge and box are in the printer room, colleague is someone bugged by that kind of thing, so if this becomes a standoff, he'll blink long before I do.