Patience Ron, Patience

Waiting in line at the Comcast office in Lewes

I hate to start out today with a blog posting bitching and complaining (not really) but here I go.  I really, really do try to post something positive and uplifting everyday to bring a smile to the faces of my faithful blog followers.  But with the way today has started out I have no choice but to BITCH.

The morning got started off all right.  I drove the ten miles down Rt. 1 to Rehoboth Beach and took my early morning walk on the boardwalk.  That always refreshes me, a brisk walk on the boardwalk with all the other strange people (me included of course), listening to the waves crashing in on the dull brown sand that is Rehoboth Beach (no whites sands of Myrtle Beach, SC on this Delaware coastline).

The drive home wasn't bad.  It was when I got out of my car that I spotted not one, but TWO dings on the back door of my NEW RED SUBARU FORESTER.  Yes folks, I now have THREE DINGS on my NEW CAR.  I blame the dings on the tight parking slot that I have to occupy when I go into work at the hotel in Lewes.  Hey, when those guests hit the town loaded down with luggage and bicycles all over their vehicles, I'm lucky dings are all I get when they unload.  I won't bitch anymore about the dings.    Of course I am upset and frustrated (I am very anal) but it is what it is.

Then I walk in the door and Bill tells me he's having problems connecting to the Internet.  OH NO.  Since I ditched Verizon's LOUSY DSL service last March and went to Comcast I have had NO PROBLEMS.  That need today.  I won't take you through the torture of all the phones calls I made this morning.  I'll sum it up this way, I kept losing the solid green light which indicates an Internet connection.  After an hour and a half and several phone calls, I scheduled a service appointment.  I was told the earliest they could come was NEXT FRIDAY.  Oh no, that won't do at all.  That would mean I would have TO LIVE WITHOUT THE INTERNET FOR A WHOLE WEEK.  EEEEEEKKKKKK!

So I put my Thinking Cap on and called back and suggested "How about if I take the modem down to the local office and exchange it for a new one?" See, what I was thinking that the MODEM WAS BAD.  The woman on the other end of the line from Comcast thought that would be an excellent idea.  Whoopee!

I unplug and disconnect my feeble modem and tell Bill that I'm going down to the local Comcast store in Lewes exchange it for a new modem.  He said he would drive me down. I'm figuring this will take minutes.  I think you know we're I'm going with this.

We pull up to the Comcast store at Five Points in Lewes.  I grab my Chinese made modem and enter the Comcast "store" (or whatever they call it).  Oh uh.  The line of OTHER COMCAST customers stretches to the DOOR !  The nice young woman who works for Comcast (she said she was the "greeter" - are you kidding me?) said there would be a forty minute wait.  OMIGOD.  So I settled in for the wait.  That is the picture you see above.

The wait went by fast because a gentleman came in behind me who was equally disturbed when he realized that he had also stepped into the Waiting In Line Quicksand.  He said Comcast had called him and told him his modem was old and he had to replace it.  Wisely (he told me), he didn't bring his old modem with him just in case the new one didn't work.  Of course he wasn't too thrilled about standing in line to fix something that wasn't broke.

My turn finally came and an elderly lady behind the window very efficiently took care of my situation and I was out the door, after saying "Goodbye" to my friend who was in the store to replace his modem that was still working!

I get home, take the new modem out of the box (which was assembled in Viet Nam - which for some unexplained reason made me nervous - sorry, I mean do disrespect Tai - my Vietnamese blogger buddy).  I plug in everything.  Pretty blue and green lights start popping on and off.  I go to my computer to see if I can connect to the Internet.  Viola!  A screen appears to lead me through the initialization of the new modem.  Way to go Comcast!  I don't have to make another phone call to activate my new modem.

So here I am, updating my blog.  Half the day is shot but it could have been worse.  I now have an Internet connection.  Now if there was someway I could get rid of those two new dings in my car door.

The Big Switch to Comcast

Serious Ron dreading the Invasion 

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY.  I switch from my slow Verizon DSL Internet connection to Comcast Super Charge Internet connection.


I have dreaded this day.  Not because I don't want a higher Internet connection speed.  I do.  I need it especially now that I am using FaceTime.  Also, I am so tired of losing my Verizon connection.  I have lost count the number of time I've had to call Verizon because I had NO Internet connection.  Whenever Bill and I saw the Verizon people working on the switch box at the entrance to our lovely little development here, we could almost always count on a slower Internet connection or none.  Like I said, I've lost count.


So why am I dreading switching over to Comcast?  Because I know there will be some kind of glitch.  Some kind of torture that I will have to go through.  Oh I'll hear the "Well, that never happened before." from the person that Comcast sends out to switch me over. I just know, I KNOW, that there will be a problem like they never encountered before.  Oh yes, there will be a problem.  I have a brand new modem.  I have a brand new router.  Both of which I purchased yesterday at Staples.  I cleaned out my office.  The outlets are clear.  I'm ready.  Will there be a problem?  Yes.  There will be a problem.  Guaranteed.  I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.


When we moved in here four years ago the house was already wired up for Comcast.  I had no choice, they were the Only Game in Town and they knew it.  So I went with Comcast but I wasn't hooked up.  They billed me but I was getting any service.  I called them and told them I wasn't hooked up.  I actually had a service representative on the other end of the line ARGUING WITH ME  that their records indicated that I was receiving service.  I suggested that they come out to my house and check for themselves.  They send yet another sub-contractor out (don't you just love these companies trying to save every last penny by not hiring someone full time and paying them benefits?) who also didn't know what he was doing.  They check and sure enough, I wasn't getting service.  My neighbor was getting my service.  The lines were switched.  Then I heard "Well THAT never happened before."  Don't you just love it?


Then I had to go through the torture of convincing them to credit my bill for two month's worth of service that I DIDN'T receive.  Of course when their sub contractors came out it was raining every time so I had wet, dirty construction boots traipsing on my new wall to wall expensive beige Berber carpets.  


When Comcast finally got its act together I had fast reliable Internet service.  The only problem was the price.  It seemed like every other month they were raising their price.  Then came the coup de tat.  I changed my cable service to satellite TV (DirecTV) because I didn't like the clunky DVR service that Comcast was offering.  When I called Comcast to inform them to discontinue my cable service they immediately DOUBLED my Internet connection service from $30 a month to $60 a month.  Yes folks, DOUBLED my bill.  I asked them why and the guy on the other end of the line snottily said "You don't have our bundled package and that's our price."  Just a lovely, helpful attitude towards the customer who they are supposed to work for.  I can see why Comcast was able to buy NBC-Universal.  They do know how to make money, especially if they're the only game in town.


So for the past 3 1/2 years I've been struggling with Verizon and their shitty (sorry folks, no other term explains it) Internet connection service.  In Pennsylvania I had their FIOS service which was GREAT!  But no go down here.  I called them last year and asked when they though FIOS would be available in my lovely little development.  The answer I received was "About ten years."  Well folks, I'll probably be dead by then (pushing 80 big ones) so I resigned myself to their DSL service for which I now pay $37.99 a month.  Their prices are going up too.  


But now that my friend Don V. is showing me all the wonderful things my iMac can do, I need a faster Internet connection.  He has Comcast, which he says he has never had a problem with.  My friend Lar says the same thing.  I wish I could say the same but I have only Comcast horror stories.  


So I was up against a wall. This morning I gave in and called Comcast.  Of course I get someone on the phone who I can hardly understand.  Not only a poor phone connection but an accent which I couldn't place. The poor phone connection I attribute to Comcast because they want me to get their connection.  I didn't fall for it.  But I did ask to subscribe to their Internet service for $19.99 a month for the first six months (God knows what it will be after the first six months is up).  Once Comcast hooks me up to their Internet connection, I'll have a connection speed five times faster (up to 15 mps) than I do now (at up to 3 mps).  THAT I can live with, even if they do charge me more after the first six months which they will.  Guaranteed.  


So here I await.  I've cleaned out my office to make a lot of space for the INVASION tomorrow of the construction booted sub-contractor Comcast will send to my door in the rain.  Oh yes, rain is forecast tomorrow.  


Funny thing, Comcast now has commercial that tout their "great" customer service.  They even say that their employees carry booties with them when they enter a customer's house.  I used to have a plumber that did that and I was so impressed with his respect for not traipsing through my house with his "who knows where they have been?" boots.  How much to you want to bet that this Comcast person who arrives at my door tomorrow DOESN'T have booties?


Does it sound like I'm bitching a lot?  Well I am because this kind of stuff drives me crazy.  Maybe it's because I'm older now and I just can't take a lot of change.  I especially don't like people walking through my house with their dirty shoes/boots who don't know what they're doing which has been my experience most of the time I've had service people in my house since we moved here four years ago.  I just want everything to work with a minimum of disruption.


One good thing that is happening tomorrow, my friend and Mac mentor Don V. has asked to come over when the Comcast guy/gal arrives.  Don has offered to help if any problems arise (which I am sure they will, they always do).  Like I said, ONE GOOD THING IS HAPPENING TOMORROW.  A friend is coming over to help.  Thank you Don.  Now just to get through tomorrow.  

The way I hope I look tomorrow after Comcast

Back on Line

I'm back on line folks and not a minute too soon.  So much to discuss.


Well, it turns out the problem with the Internet connection was inside.  My telephone cord went bad.  Just like that, it went bad.  I didn't touch a thing.  


Vicky, my Verizon service person (who I know quite well now from her numerous visits for my numerous service calls) checked the DSL speed coming in my house.  I have a direct line from outside the wall into my home office.  That speed was 7 MP.  At a loss at what to do now, we switched the telephone line inside that goes to the router.  Viola!  That worked!  


I am humbled.  I was wrong.  It wasn't Verizon's fault but my own negligence for having a bad telephone line.  Uh, and just how was I to know that.  Well, "things happen."  


So I'm back on line and now it's Catch Up Time.


I have a lot to write about the TSA and their Security Theater at the airport.  I will do that in a future blog posting.  I'll probably do that tomorrow after Bill and I return from Sam's Club in Dover.  This is our last shopping trip before the Christmas Deluge which begins Black Friday.  When all the Christmas shopping craziness starts we stay and home to keep out of everyone's way.  Nobody needs two doddering old men hindering their Christmas shopping experience.


Now it is time for me to watch "Dancing With the Stars".  Yes, I finally have local (aka network) TV!  I want to see what all the fuss is about Bristol Palin and if she really is that fantastic dancer the Palinites keep voting back week after week.  


Hey, I don't care if she wins.  Reality shows aren't really reality shows anyway.  They're nothing but popularity shows.  That's fine with me.  They're scripted just like any other TV show.  They're about as "real" as professional wrestling.  

Lost Internet Connection

Hi folks! I lost my Internet connection.......AGAIN! Thank you very much Verizon.

I'm working from my iPad at work now. I'm glad my workplace has a wifi. I'm glad I have an iPad, one of the best investments I've ever made.

So here I am, thwarted from expressing my usual creative juices through my blog postings.

Verizon is coming out Monday afternoon to "fix" the problem. What the problem is that Verizon just doesn't have the capacity to handle it's customers here in lower Delaware.

If they can't fix this problem with my slow and dropped Internet connections I may had to go back to Comcast........humbled and with my tail between my legs.

I hate Comcast. There customer service skills are atrocious. They're too expensive. But at least they have reliable service. That's because they're operating through a cable and Verizon is operating through a phone line.

Who knows? Maybe Comcast will surprise me and dropped their arrogant attitude and actually have customer service. One can only hope.

But you know what they say....sometimes you don't have a choice. Verizon has been so unstable that I don't have a choice.

Maybe Comcast will surprise me and actually improved their customer service. One can always hope.

Internet Connection Blues

Stay cool Ron, stay cool.

Hey folks, I keep losing my Internet connection. 


Thank you very much Verizon.


Here's my choice, Verizon or Comcast.  Talk about being between a rock and a hard place. They both suck.


Bear with me.  The new modem will arrive in two days.  If that doesn't work then I will dump Verizon and go back to Comcast.  I hate Comcast.

Bluebird Progress

Just a short blog today on the baby bluebird progress. Yesterday my Internet service provider, Verizon, was down for about 17 hours. That outage threw my schedule all out of whack. I worked a the hotel today. I just got off. I have three knock out rose bushes to plant and about ten geraniums to insert into planters. Then it's time to relax this weekend. Maybe watch a few DVD's, go out to breakfast with Bill, do a little yard work. One thing is for sure, I don't have to get out on Route One and join that parking lot. Oh yes, the Weekend Hord is descending as I type this entry.

The baby bluebirds are progressing quite well. I was concerned because there appears to be a dominant baby bluebird who is hogging the entry. I was afraid that the other four bluebirds wouldn't get enough food. However, I have observed the parents going around the dominant baby bluebird to make sure the others in the nest get their fair share. I guess the parents have dealt with this situation before. They know what they're doing.

More tomorrow once I get back on schedule. Thank you Verizon.

By the way, no surprises at work. The waters were roiling but seem to have settled down to a low simmer. Still not gone but not coming to a head either. Stay tuned.