the simple answer isn't always obvious

Last night I was getting my daily blog post ready when the internet disappeared.
I mean, i'm sure the actual internet didn't disappear, but suddenly I was no longer a part of it.
Thinking the router might have had a blip, I went downstairs and reset it.
Back upstairs to my laptop.
No internet.
But now there is a window saying that the router needs a password.
Really?
Since I am housesitting I didn't know exactly what it wanted, but I know a few of the common passwords around here so I tried a bunch of user names and passwords.
Then I realized that it probably wanted the password form the back of the router.
Back downstairs, got the code, back upstairs, enter the code.
Nothing.
Then I realized that with that password there must be a specific assigned user name that I couldn't possibly guess.
Time to text JP.
He texted back a few questions, I replied and he texted back a suggestion.
Tried what he wanted.
Nothing.
A few minutes later he called my cell phone.
We talked through what I was seeing while he made suggestions.
Then we realized that he couldn't remember which password he used so maybe we'd do another reset.
Back downstairs to unplug the router instead of just hitting the button. Wait 20 seconds, plug it back in, back upstairs to check my laptop.
Nothing.
Back downstairs to turn on JP's computer. While it is booting up, he checks the password manager on his phone to find that he didn't enter this password.
Once his computer is running he has me open a browser hoping that the router password was saved and would automatically fill in.
It wasn't and it didn't.
Now we go through a jillion combinations of user names and passwords until HAZZAH we are in the router management program.
I am trying to describe what I see while he is trying to remember what the program looks like.
After a few minutes we realize that I am not on the same page as him, literally.
Random clicking of tabs gets me to the screen that he has been describing.
Right in the middle it says INTERNET STATUS: disconnected.
No doy, computer.
Tell us something we didn't know.
At this point we'd been on the phone for over 25 minutes trying to get this fixed. I am envisioning no internet until they get home in 10 days and JP is totally frustrated.
Exasperated he says pick up the phone and see if you have a dial tone.
silence
Yep, Fios was out; no phone and no internet.
And all we had to do to realize that was pick up the phone.
We said goodbye and I went home as it was almost 11pm and I wasn't waiting for Verizon to get their crapolla together.

Time elapsed from the internet disappearing until I knew what was wrong: 58 minutes.
Time it took to pick up the phone and test the dial tone: 3 seconds.
Time completely wasted that I will never get back: 57 minutes, 57 seconds

sigh...