TechnoSqueak

[Esther Friesner]

Oh I do SO love our cable provider.

Not.

Last night we lost cable tv AND internet. We called for help. We were told
that they'd get a tech to us.

On Thursday.

Right now--even as we speak--I am appearing on the Random House teen reader
site, Random Buzzers. I'm supposed to be there all this week, answering questions.
There were already four PAGES worth of questions awaiting me.

Obviously we got the internet and cable back again--though I suppose it's not
exactly QED since I -could-be posting this from a Starbucks--but that was a
mere snippet of good fortune. I had no idea I'd be thus blessed. All I knew,
last night, was that our cable guys were going to leave us hanging until Thursday.

Which is righton the second day of Rosh Hashanah, and what if we'd be in temple?
Yeah, well, in that case (they said) they could get us someone here on Saturday.

I asked Walter why the heck we use these people. Answer: They are the only
d*mn game in town, aside from AT&T, and the problem with switching to AT&T is
that they demand you turn your phones to internet as well.

Which means in case of a power outage, no phone service either.

I am glad we got our service back, by the grace of G*d, but MAN, I wish there
were a way to have more than one darn choice available for these services!

[Roby James]

Post by Esther Friesner
I am glad we got our service back, by the grace of G*d, but MAN, I wish there
were a way to have more than one darn choice available for these services!

How in the world did you manage it, Esther? We are currently in a
contretemps with our satellite TV provider, because in *five* separate
phonecalls to arrange to switch to HD, not one rep told us that you
can't just get new HD equipment (which we now have); you have to sign
up separately for HD programming. Which we can't do until at least
tomorrow. You would have thought one of the five would have casually
remarked, "If you're getting the equipment, you might also be
interested in the programming," wouldn't you?

They seemed more interested in trying to get us to bundle (our phone
service is with a second company, our internet with a third), and I
have told them I refuse to bundle for the reason that if it goes down,
you lose *everything.* What maroons.

Roby

Warrior Wisewoman 3, August 2010 (Ed.)

[Esther Friesner]

Roby, we didn't really manage anything. It was like trying to find a variety
store in the old school USSR.

Two choices: Take it (as is) or leave it.

Someone tell me why this isn't a monopoly? And where is this generation's Teddy
Roosevelt and his trust-bustin' mojo?

[Roby James]

Post by Esther Friesner
Roby, we didn't really manage anything. It was like trying to find a variety
store in the old school USSR.

I actually meant how did you manage to get back online when they
couldn't get to you until Thursday? Sorry not to have been clearer
about that.

Roby

Warrior Wisewoman 3, August 2010 (Ed.)

[Esther Friesner]

Lord only knows.

What probably happened was that the techie with whom we spoke either didn't
know enough to find out if the problem was local to our house or somewhere outside
of it, or didn't want to be bothered doing that as he had a bit of a grudge
on for havng to work over Labor Day weekend.

However, after enough of the other local customers called in with the same problem,
it was determined that the problem was -not- local to one house, but lay down
the line, and actual fix-it folk were dispatched to that point, and lo, it was
fixed.

Just a guess.