Bright sunshine this early Friday on California’s north coast with like weather forecast for the next few days — no rain as yet in sight.

Of course, no post yesterday — the big story around these parts was the AT&T ‘fiber’ episode. First, the asshole comm giant claimed Thursday’s big Internet/phone service breakdown came from a rock slide near Ukiah, then later, the whole shebang was due to an ‘an act of vandalism.’

(Illustration found here).

The latest from Lost Coast Outpost this morning:

Earlier this year, news broke that the FBI has been investigating a long series of cable-slashing incidents in and around the Bay Area.
A security consultant told TechNewsWorld.com back then that the efficacy of such attacks would be greatly hampered by redundant fiber connections — something that Humboldt County thought it had, but which AT&T apparently declined, yesterday, to use, except to service its elite customers.

See, assholes. Details and more background on the incident from LoCO yesterday morning.

Odd, no Internet along with no 911 and no long-distance on my landline. I could call local numbers here in Mckinleyville, but nowhere else.
And of course, again, no Internet.

Assholes.

*********

Meanwhile…or maybe an UPDATE…..

Three hours or so later from when the post was originally published, now near-about noon.
I wanted to make my Safeway run/walk while still morning, so I dashed off some shit to somewhat explain what happened yesterday — only the fourth time I haven’t published a post during a week-day in nearly six years, and those occasions where in the same league as yesterday’s.
Two dates were due to the Internet being unavailable — once last year due to some tech trouble from my Provider, and then yesterday, the AT&T fuck-up ‘fiber vandalism‘ — and twice two years ago because ‘both‘ my laptops were stolen by some crank-heads, and it took a couple of days to get replacements.

Yesterday’s little episode was odd, maybe because I don’t have a cell phone — landline only, with no long distance. I have a Rite Aid phone card. In reality, I don’t really need a cell, I just don’t call many people and have my laptop for the InterWebs. My kids want me to get a Trac-phone for emergencies, but…
Anyway, I had no long-distance, though, I could call locally, but no 1-800 numbers, even AT&T’s main one.
I assume cell service wasn’t effected — wrong.
Via the Ukiah Daily Journal:

Radios and analog phones were the heros of the day Thursday as much of Mendocino County lost internet access and cell phone service for several hours.
When the outage began shortly before 10 a.m. Sept. 3, the Ukiah Police Department’s 911 service briefly went down, then calls were soon routed to Howard Forest near Willits.
UPD dispatcher Tracey Porter said some calls were also coming through the California Highway Patrol before being transferred to the UPD.

Apparently, a most vital element in modern life — from Santa Rosa’s Press Democrat:

The outages primarily hit Mendocino and Humboldt counties, but also affected portions of Sonoma, Lake and Del Norte counties, AT&T officials said.
Service was restored by 3 a.m., roughly 16 hours after the line was cut, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said.
…
One or more vandals cut an exposed fiber optic line running along railroad tracks near Hopland on Thursday morning, investigators said.
The vandal may have been looking for copper, the Sheriff’s Office said Friday.
The cut section of cable was above ground following repairs of a landslide in the area last year and would have been easy to spot by someone walking along the train tracks, sheriff’s Capt. Greg Van Patten said.
“It was a temporary fix,” at that time, Van Patten explained.
The cable, located near the railroad tracks between Burke Hill Road and Nelson Ranch Road, south of Ukiah, normally is buried about 2 feet deep, AT&T workers said Thursday.
The section of track also is located in an area where youth from a nearby subdivision are known to walk.
…
Thursday’s outages were a reminder of how vulnerable communications services can be.
It follows calls by area residents, emergency providers, Internet providers and legislators for redundant cable lines that can carry emergency communications when one cable breaks.
Law enforcement and other emergency responders were able to reroute 911 calls and keep the system afloat Thursday, but there could have been people in need of help who had no way to phone 911.
The outages affected standard phone lines, Internet-based phone lines and cellphones.
One Ukiah area woman reported her car’s OnStar program also was down.

Amazing how fragile modern life, despite all the technology…odd now having the Internet, for me it was a reminder how every-day shit is online somewhere…my blog, my Netflix…my e-mail…

And: What-the-whaaat!