Hooked Up!

Comcast Service Man Installing High Speed Internet for me

I'm back!  The past few days have been crazy.


First things first, I am now hooked up to Comcast and it is great.  I noticed the difference in my bandwidth right away.  


I take back everything bad I sad about Comcast.  The service guy came right on time.  He was knowledgeable, polite an efficient.  Also cute (which doesn't hurt).  Straight guys like to be around pretty girls, gay guys like to be around cute guys even if they are straight.  I'm attracted to straight guys anyway.  


So, I get hooked up to a faster speed to the Internet and the first thing I do is start uploading my files to Carbonite.  Carbonite is an offsite (up in the clouds) location for my thousands of files (mostly photos, I have over 42,500 of the suckers).  


My new friend and mentor (who patience I fear I am about to wear out) suggested that I backup my files to an offsite location and I have to agree with him.  I have an external hard drive which has an automatic backup function but if a hurricane blew through here in the future, I would have to search through the debris of my house to find it.  I don't want to go there.  

My Friend Don observing the Comcast Serviceman install

As soon as I started the backup I noticed a problem.  I had 93.325 Gigabytes of files (305,365) files to upload. Yes Virginia, I have THAT many files. I am not ashamed to admit it.  I am a photo hog.  


But here was the problem.  It took a hold day to upload a 2.sometthing GB.  At this rate I will be uploading into the summer.  All the time while I'm uploading I can't turn the computer off.  Can you say SCREEN BURN?  Thank goodness my friend Don showed me a Mac trick to put a screen saver on my 27 inch screen TV.  


So what have I been doing the past two days? For one thing I got up at 2:30 am Wednesday morning to order two iPhones, one for me and one for Bill.  Of course I had problems because I couldn't get through to Verizon.  Try as I might, I just couldn't make a connection.  They were swamped.  I went back to bed at 4:30 am but couldn't sleep.  Then I went back on my computer and went into the Apple store.  Viola!  They were taking orders.  I placed our orders!


Then Don came over for more Mac computer instruction.  I forget the sequence of events because the last two days have run together so much.  I had to work Wednesday evening and last night.  Neither day did I have an opportunity to take my nap.  Big mistake!  I was like a zombie at work.  


Last night when I went to bed?  I woke up this morning in the same position I went to bed.  That's how you know you're tired.  THE SAME POSITION!  It's a wonder I didn't stop breathing.  


Well, I had to call Don over this morning to help me figure out how to backup all my Flip Video files to a DVD-R.  I found out those files were over 23 Gigabytes due for backup!  Oh no, I can copy those to a DVD.  So Don came over this morning and helped me get started  He is so patient.  I am so nervous that I'm going to wipe everything off of my computer when I started messing around with it like this.  


Don got me started and left after a couple of hours.  Of course wouldn't you know it I screwed something up and almost lost all my remaining Flip video files.  I did something with the Time Machine and was able to recover them (don't ask me what I did, I don't know) and I copied them to a DVD.  I thew everything else into the Mac Trash Bucket and emptied it.  I think along the way I did lose one video file but I'm not going to jump off a cliff over that minor loss.  


Tonight we're doing the Friday Night Dine Out.  My friend Bob C. should be over in about a half an hour.  Tomorrow night we doing "Dirty Blonde" which is a show in Rehoboth.  


I got get back on my nap schedule.  I'm starting to look like the haggard old man that I am.  Where are those pins to put behind my ears to draw up my sagging face?


P.S
Anybody notice that I took the music off?  Is that all right with everyone.  I've been told that the music interferes with the reading of my blog.  I'm happy to oblige.  

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.

Incompetence

So yesterday I called Verizon.  I jumped through all the required hoops regarding my poor Internet connection.  The technician said he would send me a new modem.  


I got the modem today.  IT IS THE WRONG MODEM.  I needed a wireless modem (as I told him repeatedly yesterday).  So what do I get, the single modem.


I call Verizon again.  I jump through all the hoops of the telephone menu system that Verizon requires one to endure.  I'm hitting the pound (#) button over and over again.  Then I get a real person.  They promptly put me on hold.  I take out my journal and make my daily entry (I have the time).  


A technician comes on the phone.  I explain my problem.  He puts me on hold while he "checks my account".  I'm on hold a LONG TIME.  He finally gets back on the phone and says he's going to connect me to the billing department.  He tells me they will take care of replacing my modem.  Now I'm in the vortex of hell.


After holding I get someone obviously from India.  The heavy accent in which I can only understand every third word or so.  The women sounds like she's talking from the bottom of a well.  She asks my address.  She asks my name.  She asks for my telephone number.  Here I go jumping through the hoops again.  Finally we get to the problem at hand.  She tells me it will cost me $60.95 to replace the modem.


SAY WHAT?


I impatiently inform her that I have a service contract.  She asks for my address again. AGAIN!  I tell her "I already gave it to you!  Why do you want it again?"  She says something I cannot understand.  I tell her she has a heavy accent and I cannot understand most of what she is saying.  There is a silence.  Then she tells me she needs a mailing address. 


Then we get into the charge.  I ask her "Why am I being charged for a new modem?  I have a service agreement on this modem that I have ALREADY PURCHASED."  She puts me on hold.  She comes back.  She tells me there will be no change.  The new modem will be delivered within 3-5 business days.  




She asks for my e-mail address so she can send me a return label for the wrong modem that they sent to me.  I'm still waiting for that e-mail.  


Why is it that I have the feeling that I'm going to be charged for this modem?  Huh?  Huh?




So here is where I am now.   The old modem is now working, albeit I still have a very slow Internet connection.  I'm waiting for my replacement modem which may or may not work.  


I wasted another two hours on the phone this morning with Verizon.  My arm is hurting.  My appointment at the orthopedic unit is 35 minutes from now.  


I'm outta here.

Every Day is an Adventure

What I woke up to this morning was no phone service. That meant no Internet service. Here we go again with Verizon.




I have lost track of the times I have had difficulty with my phone service, Internet service and cable TV since I move to good old Lower Slower. First it was with Comcast. Thank God I got rid of them. Comcast was ridiculously expensive and had a bad “We’re the only game in town” complex to boot.



So I went with Verizon. I won’t bore you with the difficulties I have had with Verizon but at least one thing I haven’t had to put up with is the arrogant attitude that I always got from the Comcast representatives.



I make the call to Verizon. I go through all the automated prompts and the warning (over and over again) that if the problem is in my house I will have to take out a second mortgage to pay for the repairs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The problem ALWAYS is outside of my house. At least I got them to stop coming in my house and traipsing through my house with their dirty construction boots. It always seems to be raining or snowing outside when the repair people stop by the humble abode.



Since we couldn’t get on the Internet I decided to do my chores early in the morning, ending with a visit our old friend Big Bob to see how he was coping being alone.  His partner Jim is still in the hospital, being fitted with a pacemaker. His partner just had a hernia operation last week. Poor Jim, all the pills he ingests; all the egg beaters and vegetarian diet and he’s falling apart. Maybe he should take up the Mayonnaise Diet (a big dollop of mayonnaise in EVERYTHING) that my 81 year old partner Bill uses. Or, perhaps he could take up my Doritos Diet (two bowls a day) that I use. Jim is only six months older than I am but apparently something isn’t working. One would think Jim would have the answer since he is a nurse but then one would be wrong.



So we make the stop at Food Lion. I get some food (milk and bread!) before the next Winter Storm Watch hits us this Saturday. I bought my Powerball tickets. Then I stopped at the Post Office to mail more DVD’s that I made from VHS tapes of a family reunion back in 1997. Then we were off to Big Bob’s, riding through the white landscape that is now Sussex County, Delaware after successive snow storms (more on the way. Oh, I already said that.)



Entering Big Bob’s double wide the ammonia smell of a kitty litter box that is long overdue to be cleaned out assaulted my nostrils and brought tears to my eyes.



We visited awhile. Our friend is in the early stages of dementia and is getting increasingly more confused each day. He was in a quandary because he couldn’t figure out how to activate his security system in his double wide. Apparently his partner has been taking care of that ever since they got the security system this past summer.



While we were there his partner called from the hospital and asked him to look up a phone number on an old insurance bill. Bob couldn’t find it. I help him. I showed him the number. He couldn’t read it. I read it for him.



We left shortly after that. I’m in a quandary myself here. I don’t know what to do or if I can do anything to help my friend and I see him slip into the fog of dementia. My Mother is now living with my brother and his wife in South Carolina. She is also in the early stages of dementia. Both of her older sisters had dementia. One is still living. My Mother is becoming increasingly difficult to deal with. I don’t know what to do to help my brother and his wife. They tell me not to worry. They said they will always take care of Mom.



Yesterday I received and e-mail from my former boss and friend concerning another former co-worker and friend of ours from our banking days in Philadelphia. The e-mail contained an attachment which was an obituary. The obituary was of our former friend and co-worker, Anne Marie.



Last year Anne Marie sent me an e-mail telling me she had terminal breast cancer and was “overwhelmed.” Anne Marie was a very successful real estate agent (having won many awards which I could understand because she was a vibrant, intelligent and hard working woman.) She was happily married with two teenaged sons. We exchanged a few e-mails subsequent e-mails that summer. Then in the fall the e-mails stopped. Last week I thought of her and had a funny feeling. Her obituary said she died January 29, 2010. Anne Marie was only 58 years old. I do believe in ESP.  This is not the first time I've had this experience.



I don’t know where I’m going with this. I know this blog posting isn’t focused but all I’m doing is posting some of what happened the last two days of my life. Life is definitely an adventure. Always something.



What is the picture on this blog posting? That is what is left of the telephone connector box on Cave Neck Road after someone plowed into it early this morning. That’s what happened to my phone connection.



The phones are back up now. I’m on the Internet. Life goes on……until something else happens.

Here We Go Again

For the last several months I have notice that I cannot watch a You Tube video without it pausing. I’ve also noticed that the past several months that my Internet downloads take a long time to download. Here we go again. I’m about to do battle with my Internet service provider, Verizon.



Sunday I did a speed test. As I suspected my Internet speed wasn’t up to 3 MB as I was promised and what I’m paying Verizon for monthly. Instead my Internet speed varies between 200 and 500 kbps. This isn’t the high speed Internet service I’m paying for.



Here we go again. Sunday I started the series of phone calls that is necessary to resolve this problem. I don’t to bore the readers of this blog with all the hoops I had to jump through until I got a real person. The “real person” was Sanjay in India. Someone who I could hardly understand his English. That torturous phone conversation ended with Sanjay telling me I had too much on my Startup and that was affecting my Internet speed. I’m not a techie but I knew this was a ridiculous explanation.



Yesterday I took the plunge again and called Verizon. Again, I jump through all the hoops until I finally got a real person. This time it was a man from Canada. At least I could understand him. Again, I answered all the questions on his script. We did another speed test which confirmed that my Internet speed is SLOW.



This time he’s going to write up a ticket. Then he transfers me to a real technician. This guy is Mr. Smooth. At the end of the conversation, after I answer all the same questions and go through another speed test, he says “Someone will contract me if it is NECESSARY to do so.” What? I DON’T HAVE THE INTERET SPEED THAT I AM PAYING FOR!



After almost three hours on the phone yesterday morning, I am no further along than I was when I made my first phone call on Sunday.



So now I await the call from Verizon.



I’ve been here before. When I first moved here in November of 2006 I went through the nightmare of Comcast. I dumped Comcast and got Verizon. That is my only choice in the area, Comcast or Verizon. That is some choice isn’t it? That’s competition.



Stay tuned.

Movement

Today I made some movement on some outstanding issues that have contributed to my frustration of the past few weeks. One was finally resolving the problem I had with TracFone to have my old phone number transferred from Verizon to TracFone. Since buying my TracFone on November 17th, I have encountered nothing but a scripted response from the TracFone customer service desk in India every time I called about why my phone number wasn't ported to my new TracFone. Of course it didn't help that every time I called I got an Indian who sounded like he was talking in a well and I could only understand every fifth word. Trying to get these guys off the script in front of them was my challenge this morning. Well I can report now that my phone call this morning actually got a person that I could understand. She took care of the problem and I now have a TracFone from which I can make and receive calls.




This will save me about $80 a month. I had a Verizon Wireless Family plan for 700 minutes a month. I rarely used more than 30 minutes a month. Verizon offered me no other options other than this plan. They even had the nerve to offer me an extra 100 minutes a month if I would sign a new two year contract. No thanks Verizon.



My next goal was to end the contract I was obligated to for three years when I built this house. That charge was $31.95 a month for the security system. I don't need a security system where I live. Fortunately I live in a safe neighborhood. But I was obligated for three years because the company wired my house. That obligation is finished and I'm saving another $31.95 a month.



My third goal was to renew my prescription for my prostate medicine with the VA. I made that phone call this morning and I got through! The medicine is on its way.



Then, feeling like I was making progress I jumped right into addressing my Christmas cards. This year I'm sending out photo cards that I got from J.C. Penney last month. Yes, I am sending my visage to a select few friends on my Christmas mailing list. I've been sending photo Christmas cards for years now. I wonder if any of my friends have saved all those cards. It would be interesting to line up those cards from the oldest to the most recent to see the aging process of Ron.

So here I am this morning making progress on my Christmas cards. I had 60 cards. After addressing 40 envelopes I realized that Penney's only supplied me with 40 envelopes. Oh my. Now I have to make another trip to Dover. That's a 39 mile trip one way. Running short of envelopes was another snag in an otherwise smooth running morning. However, I won't let this little snag throw me. I have dental appointment scheduled next week in Dover. I'll kill two Santa Clauses and get my teeth cleaned and pick up the remaining 20 envelopes.



Tomorrow the goal is to put up my Christmas decorations. Progress, it's wonderful. I might even attack that room in my basement that is still full of unpacked boxes from my move three years ago. I’m on a roll.

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.