I am so sick of all this.

Mum came in, I told her about the conversation.

This is just ridiculous.

I did a quick check, and my mate's account had been cutoff.

I called my mate and let him know what was going on again, and that he'd been screwed just like me. I got a couple of phone numbers off him.

I rang a guy to find out about ADSL circuits, and setting up for hosting.

I then browsed around looking for more ADSL plans available.

At some point the useless guy that fixes the PCs rang me, everyone else is too gutless to speak to me obviously.

"What's the password for the domain registrar?" I told him what it was, the same as I told the solicitor earlier. he said ok, and I got off the phone.

I bummed around on the computer for a while. Looking at prices of ADSL still.

I rang one of the clients who I have been dealing with recently, to let him know that I couldn't help him anymore, because I had been locked out of everything, and no one will talk to me. I told him what I thought was going on, but that it was only a guess, because no one will speak to me.

He told me that they had been locked out of their equipment too. He asked me if he should take his business elsewhere, I told him that I could not give him an answer to that, I feel that would be wrong, but I told him that I had been speaking to other clients, and they had decided to take their business elsewhere, which is the truth, I've nothing to gain by lying.

I offered to help him get his stuff working. He asked my rate, I told him something reasonable, I'm not trying to make money, I'm trying help someone, because I feel morally inclined to help them out of the situation.

He said he would try to find out what was going on, and would get back to me. He didn't get back to me.

I went and had another conversation with Mum, and sat inside watching tv for a bit.

My phone rang again, it was the useless guy that fixes the computers again. He's tried to login but the details don't work. Well, I'm sorry, but that's not my problem. You will have to go through the "forgot password" procedure, and change it, just like I had to to get in there a month ago when the main domain expired, so I could renew it. If the details I gave you don't work, then I don't know what they are.

They are lucky I'm speaking to any of them at all, after the unbelievable treatment I have received from them, so they can't expect me to go out of my way to help them with a problem. They should have thought about that before screwing me over for no reason.

I left at this point, I went to visit my mate. It took me over 40 minutes to get to his place.

I told him what was going on, we had a conversation. He told me he rang in earlier to find out why he had been cutoff, and when he was fed nonsense, he told them he quit.

We sat and chatted for quite a while. The guy I saw yesterday and made cables called me, he'd installed them, but a couple were too long, and he wanted the final setup done. I said I could come and do it tomorrow or Friday. He asked me to arrange with the woman in charge when I could do it, and he gave me her details.

I got off the phone, I tried to call her, but her line was busy. I'll try again in a bit.

We chatted a bit more.

The guy I was going to start the ISP with last year called me, "Are you having trouble logging on?" he asked me, "Yeah, you could say that", and I told him what was going on. Obviously it's turned into an ISP only for the people the De Facto likes, and everyone else gets cutoff.

I chatted to him for a bit, he told me he might have some work available, so I queued up a day's work on Friday.

I tried ringing the woman again, got through, explained that tomorrow was the only time available this week that I could sort out the network for them. We arranged for me to turn up tomorrow morning and sort it out.

Then we went and picked up his wife from the station. We came back, and made some dinner.

During that, the phone rang, it was the De Facto. My mate told her to ring back in half an hour. We ate dinner. I started on desert, and my phone rang, it was my Dad.

I started talking to him, he told me he had just talked to the De Facto, to find out about him getting paid for work he did last year, she wouldn't even talk to him about that, only about me.

It's nice that she'll talk to everyone but me about me.

A couple of minutes in, my mate's phone rang, it was the De Facto. I went outside so I could continue my conversation with my Dad without the De Facto knowing I was there.

She had told him some nonsense about me trying to crack into the systems, and had "evidence" to support it.

Well, it must be fabricated, because there will be no such evidence, because I've not tried to crack in to their systems. All I've done is tried to login to my accounts, that up until Tuesday morning I could use.

She claimed I had some "crack disk". I didn't work what she was on about until later.. yeah, a copy of the linux based disk that lets you change passwords on NT systems. I mentioned I had this when they asked me to see if I could get into my friends laptop, to get the files off for them.

A disk that lets you change the password on windows machines, require physical access, is really going to help me crack into a bunch of linux machines I don't have physical access to isn't it?

It's difficult to argue with someone who doesn't know what they are talking about.

She also told him that someone had overheard a conversation I had with someone in the carpark near where the equipment is, that was on Monday.

She claimed that she was going to take legal action against me, and that she had the solicitor investigate me for the last month.

I became irate. I spoke on the phone for a while, expressing the fact that this is all crap.

Been investigating me for a month? WTF? If you have some sort of an issue with _me_, then come and talk to _me_ about it, don't go pissing about.

I got off the phone. I was angry, I felt sick.

I went back inside, I tried to continue eating my ice cream, but I couldn't. I also couldn't handle hearing half the conversation my mate was having with the De Facto. More nonsense about this domain registrar crap.

I went and stood in the garage where I couldn't hear what was going on.

When he got off the phone, I came back inside.

He told me some of things they had discussed.

He asked why I had not been contacted. She told my mate that she was paranoid, and couldn't contact me until all the equipment was moved, which happened last night. He wondered why she didn't call me to let me know what was going on today, but he didn't say that.

I felt sick. I was so upset. I felt betrayed. Tears came to my eyes. I felt like my friend had died all over again.

My mate who was in the US recently called me, he asked me how I was, I told him that I was not very well. I didn't tell him any of the new details, I was too upset, and could barely talk.

He told me he'd mentioned to his Dad (the guy who owns the air con business I've worked for) the treatment I had received, and he was disgusted, and that he was going to write an email and tell them that. heh. He asked me some questions about his hardware he was having problems with, that I was trying to fix when I was at his place last night.

I got off the phone, and I was really upset now. I cried.

I shouldn't have to deal with this. I've just spent the last 9 weeks running my friend's business, being paid almost nothing, and they just cut me off, and won't even speak to me. To make it even worse, they are now making false allegations that I am a cracker, without even approaching me about it.

I decided that this is getting out of control, and something needs to be done. I am going to call the solicitor tomorrow, and arrange a meeting between himself, myself, the De Facto, and anyone else who wants to come along, bringing this "evidence" of me attempting to crack into their systems, so I can set this all straight, and make them all realise that someone doesn't like me for some reason, and is going out of their way to cause shit.

I came home. I had tears running down my face the whole way home. This is so stuffed up.

I realised what was going on.. it all clicked. The conversation the other day that was overheard, where I said that "I was considering starting up a business, based on what happened to this one", someone's gone and told her that I'm going to start a business, she's decided that I'm a competitor, and has started all this defamation against me, claiming I'm a cracker, and that I'm trying to break into their equipment, either to scare me off so I don't startup, or that if I do, people will think I'm bad news.

I might have to sue for defamation.

I got home, I went and spoke to my parents. I told them what I had just worked out, and they agreed that it sounded a logical explanation. It's the only possible reason I can think of for causing all this.

We chatted for a while about it, and I told them everything I knew, and the conversations I'd had with people earlier today.

Dad remembered that while he was speaking to the De Facto, she complained that while I was in the Cafe I would take drinks without paying.

WTF? I would turn up, do like an hours work, and take a 50c can of Coke while I was there, and I didn't pay for it?? how about the $50 you didn't pay me for the hours work you just got?

I was so angry. I gave Dad the solicitor's contact details, so he could put in his bill for the work that he did.

I'm off to bed, I have to be up early to setup that network. A quick drink will hit the spot though, I don't think I'll be able to sleep otherwise.