The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week

1. We were without Internet access for 24 hours. A call to Verizon. The tech worked for 3 hours and got us up and running again.

2. Lunch at Point Breeze with the teaching assistants. Fun group of girls.

3. First Day of Spring

4. Nice day. I washed windows and changed curtains

5. Thursday with Teague

How was your week?

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1.  A big thank you to the Amazon Delivery Person who placed the packages inside the front porch.

2. On Halloween we watched Stephen King's Cell, a horror movie. 20 min. from the end Himself accidently clicked buttons on the Roku. When we went back to the movie, it was no longer available so we didn't know the ending! Thanks to Anne for telling me the ending.

3. The Young One and I played hairdresser and cut each other's hair.

4. I saw the female cardinal checking out the honeysuckle vine. Was she looking for a place to Winter over or planning her Spring nest? And then it occurred to me that today (11/5) would have been my grandmother's  125th birthday. Maybe the cardinal was a message from Grandma. 😊

5. Verizon cut our television and phone bundle and we bought a new router for the Internet access.

How was your week?

T Stands for Westward, Ho!

So we packed up the car. I thought the car looked like she was screaming. No more! No more stuff! But everything fit. The Eldest's little Prius is a TARDIS

I had suggested we take two cars. We could take more stuff, and I would have easy transportation home. The Eldest didn't want to drive down by herself, and truth be told, neither did I. The entire trip takes about 9 hours, and a bit longer with comfort, gas, and food stops. The first trip we took when we went apartment hunting, took us 11 hours. She decided she wanted to break the trip into two travel days. So we planned on stopping after 4.5 hours of drive time in Wilkes-Barre.

The Eldest waved good-bye to the house, and we were off.

Barely an hour or so away from home, and we had to take a comfort break. Who knew Connecticut could be so long?

Once again, we stopped at the Cracker Barrel in Fishkill, New York, about 3 hours away, and just a perfect stop for lunch. Easy off, easy back on the highway. I had the unsweetened iced tea with lemon and she had her favorite Foo-Foo Lahdidah, aka Latte with chocolate and whipped cream.

While waiting for our meal, I was content to bask in the warmth and glow of the hearth. Very homey. Very country. And then I noticed the fire wasn't real logs burning, but a gas fire! Illusions shattered.

Usually when I go to Cracker Barrel, I order breakfast. They serve breakfast all day long, and you can get breakfast with grits. Mmmmm. A student of mine had said she loved the bacon at Cracker Barrel so she always ordered a BLT (bacon, lettuce, and tomato). That sounded real good, but I couldn't find it on the menu. I asked the waitress if they had a BLT. She said they did, but it wasn't on the menu. You had to ask. Maybe it's some secret BLT club. Either way, it was delicious. The Eldest had the Bacon Cheeseburger.

Crossing the Hudson River over the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, New York. You can see just under the guardrail of the barrier on the right hand side, the right side of the river is still frozen.

Notice no snow!

Crossing the border from New York to Pennsylvania and greeted by the sign. And a reminder, especially for The Eldest: Pursue Your Happiness

Higher terrain as we got into the Poconos Mountains.

I'm not the only one dreaming of Summer weather. A very large boat was being towed by a very large flat bed, truck. Someone was getting a fun toy.

The Choice hotel was clean, roomy, and a welcome break.

The view from our room. There was a Perkins Restaurant beyond the portico. But we decided to stay and have dinner at Pickles Pub in the hotel.

When we got downstairs, we walked into the small bar. Not many people were there. Four truck driver types. Two fellas sitting together at the bar. Another fella, a few bar stools away, and the last fella sitting at a table finishing his dinner. The bartender was a very perky redhead.

We sat down at a table by the wall near the bar where the two fellas were sitting. I decided I wouldn't take any photographs as the bar was tiny and no way not to get other people in the picture. The bar tender/waitress brought us menus. I ordered a Coke. The Eldest, as young women her age, likes to have a cocktail. She scanned the bottles along the bar and said "Oooh, they have fixings for an Apple-tini (vodka, apple juice, or apple brandy, or apple cider, and a cherry.) The Eldest pulled out her ID because even though she's in her late 20s, she looks like she's 14.

The bartender scanned the ID, and went to mix the cocktail, and asked The Eldest what kind of vodka she wanted in her drink. Ketel or Grey Goose. The Eldest was trying to decide when, the younger of the two fellas sitting at the bar told her to order the Ketel. He said it was real smooth. So on his recommendation, the Eldest ordered the Ketel.

I had a sip of the Appletini. Not bad. I'm not much one for mixed drinks as I prefer sweet, white wines. There wasn't a big selection on the menu. Hamburgers, fish, and chips. We ordered fish and chips for dinner which were quite good.

Now, in a small room, it's hard not to overhear conversations. The two guys sitting together were chatting up the bartender. She was chatty and flirty. She was also wearing an Eagles tee-shirt.

The Philadelphia Eagles football team and the New England Patriots (the team from my state) are set to square off in the Superbowl Championship on 4. February. Himself had said Philly fans are rabid. In fact, the Chief of Police or some official had ordered that the light poles in Philadelphia be greased so fans couldn't climb the poles whether the Eagles win or lose. We decided if anyone asked where we were from we would say 

The bartender was a good hostess and eventually included everyone in conversation. The two fellas at the bar were subcontractors for Verizon cell towers. Worked on the ground and said the guys working on top of the towers don't get paid enough.  Conversation turned to where are you from, and I told the bartender she wouldn't like the answer. She laughed. Said a gentleman from Boston came into the bar and was asking about apartments. She was making fun of the Boston accent as we have a habit of dropping the R sound so apartment is pronounced A-paht-ment. She said she couldn't understand a word he said. She claimed she could do a good Boston accent. Asked how she did and everyone laughed. Not even close.

We had to be on the road at 7AM to make it to the Eldest's apahtment (=^,.^=) in time to meet the cable guy to hook up Internet so we got up to leave. The older of the two fellas asked me if we'd like to join them at the bar. Thanks, but an early morning. Yup, I still got it.

The journey continues next week.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

and obligatory bitching whining (wingeing) about the weather.

 

Bitter cold start to the week. Temperatures didn't improve much through the rest of the week.

 

The cardinal stopped by for a snack.

 

The day before the storm. Red sky in the morning sailor take warning. This adage proved to be so true.

 

Birds flocked to the feeder during the Bomb Cyclone. That's what the weather dudes were calling the storm. I heard it was because the satellite view of the storm showed a definite eye wall as seen in a hurricane and as the storm moved up the coast, its energy just exploded.  Maybe they just needed a new and sensational title as Stormaggedon, Snowpocalypse have already been used.

 

There wasn't much bird activity (that I saw before the storm), but during the storm, the birds flocked to the feeder. You would think they would be hunkered down some place. 

And in the middle of this, Verizon sent a technician to connect us to Internet, phone, and cable.  We thought they would have cancelled. I mentioned to the tech that the governor had said non-essential personnel stay off the roads. He said, communications was considered essential. He said Verizon was more reliable than the post office, and he said it with pride. Hope he made it home safely.

 

There was a good 10 inches maybe even a foot of snow, Thursday afternoon during the first pass at shoveling. On the coast, the snow was heavy and wet. Inland where I am, I was reminded that the snow was fluffy and light. That's like saying the heat in desert climes is a dry heat.

 

The wind was fierce and kept blowing the singing bells off their hooks. The ground was solidly frozen so no chance of pulling them up.

 

With all the snow blowing and drifting, none settled in the branches of the Japanese maple and the maple was still holding on to its leaves!

 

Model shoot for the cover of Avalanche magazine.

 

Friday, the day after the storm. Hard to tell how much snow we actually got as there was so much blowing and drifting. Nearly 23 inches in a spot near the back birdfeeder.

 

The South solar array completely buried. The snow on the roof made it both dangerous and exciting to shovel a path to and around the condenser. All that snow could come crashing down. Brushing snow away behind the condenser, I disturbed a little critter, a mouse of a mole. He leaped into the snow bank. I don't know who was more startled. Wait, I do know. It was me.

 

You never would have guess I had shoveled a path to the birdfeeders. Blowing and drifting snow undid all my hard work.

 

I'm happy to report the mailbox survived the plows during this storm.

 

The temps are still in the single digits. The wind has been howling the past few days and wind chill temps are in the dangerous zone. I'm glad we're safe and warm inside the dollhouse.  Lots of people in coastal towns didn't have it so easy during the storm. Astronomical high tides and fierce winds caused major flooding in Boston and surrounding cities and towns. 

I hope today finds your safe and warm in your home. And your weather sunny, a lot warmer, and no snow.

Listen

National Kid has us covered when
the electricity goes out.

I wasn't prepared for the storm. Initial forecasts predicted 2 to 4 inches of snow for my area with 4 to 8 inches south and east. We were straddling the line. Still, the storm wasn't going to be a block buster though a nuisance as it would make the morning commute a mess.

We were up at 5 AM, to listen to no school reports. There were no classes at the college where Himself teaches, but the faculty had a professional day schedule. The professional days are part of their contract so attendance is mandatory. At 5:30 AM, we saw Himself's college scroll by. Hooray, a snow day! I went back to bed.

When I woke u a couple of hours later and looked out the window, it was snowing hard.There was already a good 4 inches of snow on the ground and snow was predicted all day. I wondered if I should fill up the water buckets just in case the electricity went out. Himself didn't think the storm would be bad. Yeah, it probably wouldn't be that bad and I ignored my gut feeling.

Shortly after I finished my cup of tea, the electricty went out. I was able to navigate the National Grid site to report the outage though the site was painfully slow as electrical service in other towns began to fail due to the heavy wet snow. Navigating the Internet on the cellphone was excrutiatingly slow, too, as Verizon service dropped from 4G to my grandma can run faster and she's been dead for 35 years.

I sent a text to Red who live in the next town west and south of me. She still had electricity and she was able to check the National Grid Outage Map. Electricity was expected to be back on by 1:30 PM. Not too bad. We don't have an alternate heat source (i.e. no fireplace or wood stove). The temperature in the house wouldn't drop that quickly. Food in the fridge would be ok, too, and if the electricity was out longer, food could be put on the porch. The only issue was going to be no water to flush the toilet.

I phoned Prissy just to make sure she was ok. She was fine though wished she had had a second cup of coffee. I told her we wouldn't have long to wait before the electricity came back on.

Kudos to National Grid for getting the electricity turned on an hour before the expected time. I heard later the outage was due to a tree limb taking power lines down somewhere on my road.

So, the moral of the story? Listen to your gut feeling. (Or don't listen to Himself (-; ). The weather dudes are talking about two more potential storms for Monday into Tuesday.  After the electricity came on, I had a second cup of tea, flushed the toilet, and filled up some water buckets. Just in case.

New Phone - Part 2

We got to the Verizon store about a half an hour after it opened. A salesperson took my name and added me to the queue. I was next in line. We wandered around looking at the tech toys. About 20 minutes later, my name was called.

I told the salesperson I hated the Droid Turbo 2, wanted to return it, and to buy the iPhone 6S. He said I had to wait for the original salesman who was busy with another couple, but "he'd be finished in a few minutes."

Cue clock and music from High Noon. The couple were purchasing two iphone 6 whatevers, and the salesperson was taking decades with them. All other customers in the store bought there purchases and happily left to continue their day.

I went to talk to the salesperson on door duty, but he said he couldn't help me because he was on door duty. No other salesperson was around. He did cheerfully tell me, I would be next.

"Considering I'm the only customer here at this time, I should hope so."

Cue the clock and music again. I'm fuming and muttering. 45 minutes has now gone by. I'm tempted to go across the street to the AT&T store and switch my service. I think I might have said this aloud. Somewhere in time, we asked to see the store manager, but he was on a conference call.

Shortly after, the salesperson who told me I would have to wait, decided since the original salesperson was still dealing with the iPhone couple, he would help me.

There were some pressure tactic when I told him I hated the Turbo 2 and wanted to return it. It's the best phone on the market. The iPhone 6S is thin and bends easily.

I heard about that. I'm a grown up and am careful with my things. I don't put my phone in my trouser pocket and then sit down. More blah, blah, blah, Even the most careful person...

At this point, Himself who is usually very patient, snapped just give her the iPhone she wants. And we want to talk to the manager.

Phone returned, $35 re-stocking fee charged (though for having to wait so long, that should have been waived. New iPhone 6S, and a lightweight case (similar to the one I had on the 5C) was brought out. Contacts ported over. Since the Turbo 2 didn't work when I left the store and had to spend 2 1/2 hours with tech support, I had the salesperson place a call to the new phone. It worked. I even got to keep the Bose portable speaker from the Turbo 2 package.

The manager came out to see us. I told him his policy of having to wait for the original salesperson was assinine. What happened if the salesperson had the day off? Would I have to come back during his next shift? No, of course not. He admitted they made a bad call. Didn't realize the couple was going to take several months of time with the salesman. I said there should be a way of having the office fix commission info.

I left with my purchase. Not bad for an hour and a half.

Lesson learned, maybe don't buy a new phone the week before Christmas. Though I'm not sure with having to go back to the original salesperson would make a difference at any other time of the year.

Diffusing Young Living's Christmas Spirit, again. Really like the combination of cinnamon, orange, and spruce

New Phone, Part 1

My iPhone 5C battery wasn't holding a charge so time to get a new phone. Was thinking about the new iPhone 6. Went to the Verizon store. I was stunned to find the cell phones are now huge! Seems to be a cross between a phone and a tablet. Though, I have to admit a larger screen is helpful for old eyes.

Verizon was running a deal. Trade the iPhone for a Motorola Droid Turbo 2. The Turbo 2 has a shatterproof screen, a nice feature. As part of the package get a phone charger, Otterbox hard shell case, and a choice of a portable Bose Speaker or a Fitbit. The Turbo had 32G storage compared to the 16G on my iPhone. Sweet.

The salesman ported my info over, and then realized he had pulled the wrong phone. Don't know what happened as it wasn't particularly busy. There were people in the store, but it wasn't packed and everyone was being helped. He talked to his manager. There would be a restock charge and then that cancelled out on the bill. He got the correct phone, ported the info, and I left the store. Riding home, playing with the phone, something was wrong. Seems the salesman mixed up my phone with Himself's phone. (Himself was not getting a new phone). The new phone had all my information, but Himself's phone number. Himself's phone had been disabled and the new phone was not connected. OY!

Returned to the Verizon store to find the store closed at 8 PM. Seriously?! The week before Christmas and the store closed at 8 PM? What now?

Fortunately, most of the companies are on Social Media. I found the Verizon Support Page and opened a chat with tech, Monique. Explained my tale of woe. She said she could straighten things out and I wouldn't have to return to the store. Great! Except it took her 2 1/2 hours to reprogram both phones. I didn't have to do anything except play on Facebook, occasionally read her IMEI numbers or turn the phone off and on. Monique was very nice and got the phones up and running. I went to bed.

Spent the next few days getting used to the new phone. It's big. Feels clumsy and is heavy. Though I suspect that's due to the Otterbox case. The case is hard to take off, and there's no easy access door to the SD card. The phone can't be connected to the computer because the cord can't be connected from the power plug like the iPhone lightning connector.  I could customize the ring tones, but had to download an app to do it. Was an extra step compared to the iPhone.

While downloading apps I was horrified to find the Android operating system requires an all or none app permissions. And the permissions are insidious and not necessary for the app to run. Things like:

Some apps can directly call phone numbers (perhaps costing money), read the phone status and identity, take pictures, use the microphone, take video, read contacts, add or modify calendar events, send email to guests witout owner's knowledge, modify or delete  the contents of the SD card. And the list goes on and on. There's no way you can deny app permissions on an individual basis like you can on an iPhone.

So guess what? I hate this phone. The Turbo 2 is going back. I'll grudgingly pay the restock charge, and will stick with Apple. At least, I'll be able to control the permissions from the various apps.

Diffusing Christmas Woods: Idaho Blue Spruce, Cedarwood.

I Got No Strings To Hold Me Down.

While I was on the phone to Verizon to cancel the landline, I also cancelled our cable subscription. We don't really watch much television anymore. We're all quite happy with Netflix. I can watch the news on the computer or iPad. Even the shows we do watch (Supernatural, Blacklist, Gracepoint) can be seen on the computer, a day or two, after they are aired on television.

The only show I didn't really think about was Doctor Who. The last episode of series 8 ended two weeks ago. BBC America doesn't offer the show for viewing on their website. I won't be able to see the Christmas special. Not really a big deal. I like the new doctor, but he's not my doctor. I can happily watch my doctor on Netflix and wait for the new doctor's episodes to be aired on Netflix in the near future.

Dealing with Verizon wasn't too bad. The first customer service rep was flustered when I told her I wanted to cancel the phone and cable. She put me on hold while (I assume) she contacted her supervisor. While I waited forever, I tweeted my frustration, and got a response from AT&T

ATTCares ‏@ATTCares  Nov 17

@CJKennedyink Oh no! Join the #ATTFamily @ http://soc.att.com/SwitchNow  ASAP for service that will make you smile! ^Colton

Made me laugh. Gotta love social media.

Finally, another rep. got on the line to take care of me. I didn't like having to justify my reason to them. I'm not sure Verizon liked hearing I didn't feel like making two more car payments or another mortgage payment. Yeah, the bill was that high, and we didn't even have premium channels except for the Sports package for Himself. The second rep. cancelled everything instantly.

We still have Internet service with them, and I don't have a problem with that. Though I did drop the Internet speed. The speed we were (supposedly) at 35/35 was no longer offered. I dropped to 25/25 and haven't noticed much difference. If it does pose a problem, we can always upgrade.

 I'd really like to drop the cellphone service. That's where the real expense on the bill is. Friend and colleague, Andy Fish, switched his cell service to Republic. You can read his reviews on his service.(Scroll down because the first search of Republic is from Republic Pictures) Andy's a savvy fella.  Unfortunately, I read Andy's reviews a couple of weeks after I renewed my cellphone contract with Verizon. Terminating the contract is too expensive, so it's marked on my 2016 To Do calendar.

Watson, Come Here. I Don't Need You

I finally ditched the landline. I'd been thinking about doing it for a long time. Seemed silly to pay for something that wasn't really used. Most of the calls were from telemarketers. I also had a distinctive ring number for the FAX machine which I've only used a half dozen times. That was disconnected, too.

The girlies use their cellphones to text or Skype with their friends. (Himself is a Luddite and doesn't like using a phone, land or cell.)

 I pretty much transfer all the house calls to my cellphone. I got into the habit of having calls transferred when my parents were in the nursing home as I would get calls from the nursing home staff several times a week (a day!). I also like knowing instantly who's calling me. Call me often enough and you get your own ring tone.

Do you still have a landline?

Tools, Gadgets,and Widgets - iPhone 5C

My iPhone 4 was due for an upgrade, and I was hoping to upgrade from Verizon's 3G network to 4G. I thought I would upgrade to the 4S, but the 4S is still on Verizon's 3G network and 3G, which I call 3 Grandmas, is painfully slow. (You do know that the G in this case stands for generation, so 4G is just the 4th or newest incarnation of the network)

Last week, Apple unveiled two new phones, the expensive 5S and the less expensive 5C. (The difference is the 5C has a colorful, plastic shell). I like the iPhone. Works well out of the box, intuitive to use. I like the minimalist design, enhanced by the new IOS7 operating system so I went with the in my budget 5C.

The 5C comes in  a range of candyass prissy, pastel colors. I chose the  light blue, but would have been happier with a darker shade of blue or black. This morning while surfing, I saw an article which stated the iPhone comes in a Croc of colors. Sure enough, My  iPhone and fugly shoes are color coordinated. What a relief! The 5C is slightly longer and narrower than the iPhone 4. It's also lighter in weight due to the plastic shell.  I asked the salesman if any men were buying the iPhone 5C. He said in the week the phone was out, he had only sold the phone to women, and women buying the phone for their children (I'm assuming girls)

Earlier in the week with the introduction of the new operating system, I had backed up my iPhone 4 to the iCloud. The salesman ported my phone number to the new phone, and we erased the data on the old phone. Verizon gave me $100 off the cost of the phone if I traded in the old one. At home, I booted up iTunes and restored the back up. Very easy to do. All my contacts, calendar events, reminders, apps, and specialty ringtones were right on the new phone without problems. I only had to set the custom ringtones and that took all of 5 seconds.

Besides the Croc colors, my other complaint has to do with the cable connector. One end still has the USB connector, but Apple changed the end which goes into the phone. It's now teeny, tiny. So the phone won't fit into the iHome alarm clock/radio/charging station Himself gave me for Christmas. It also meant I had to buy another car charger.

I'd grade the iPhone 5C an A for ease of use, design, and weight, and a C+ for color choices and the cable connector.

The Lights Went Out

It was a dark and stormy night. Just as the natives were dancing and chanting "Kong, Kong", the lights went out. Wait, it wasn't dark or stormy while the natives were dancing. They were dancing in broad daylight. Never mind.

It was pouring. The rain made a din on the sun room roof. We were having trouble hearing King Kong, the movie we were watching. Just as we got to the part where the natives stopped their dancing and chanting because they were interrupted by the crew of the tramp steamer, the lights went out.

I chanted a string of phrases. We waited a few minutes to see if the electricity would come back on. I grabbed the iPad and went to the National Grid site to report the outage. It took forever to get  a 3G signal from Verizon. Verizon boasts the largest coverage, except for the dead zone where I live. And they want me to upgrade to 4G and they can't even provide 3G service, but I digress.

National Grid has a pretty good way for customers to keep up with status updates during outages. After  you sign in at the site, there's a display that lets you know how many in your area are without power and a time estimation when power will be back.

Ten. There were only ten customers in my area without power and power would be restored by midnight.

While I was reporting the outage and making status updates, Himself set out the lanterns and went to the basement to hook up a portable pump to a battery generator to take over sump pump duties. In the time it took him to accomplish this feat, a puddle of water accumulated in the basement. Himself came upstairs and we settled in the sun room to wait for the magic hour.

A short time later I noticed flashing lights in front of a neighbor's house. It was an electric company truck. I could have almost cried with relief. We watched the flashing lights and could make out the cherry picker ascending the heights. I thought what a crappy job the line dudes have. Miserable weather, so dark you can't see your hand in front of your face, and there they are heroically restoring electricity so the rest of us can be comfortable. We cheered when the power was restored.

We got between 2.5 inches and 3.0 inches of rain from Tropical Storm Andrea and a small puddle of water in the basement. It could have been so much worse. So here's to the electric company dudes for their speedy and efficient service and a hope that this year's hurricane season fizzles out.

Sending SMS via Email

Ever need to reach someone with a message, but they aren't near their computer, and you don't have reliable cellphone service? Happened to me on Friday when The Young One had a question about when and who was going to pick her up from school. She can't always get a cellphone signal while she's on campus. She had tried to ping me from her laptop via Skype, but surprise! I'm not always at the computer. What does one do?

You can send an email as a text message to a cellphone. All you need to know is the cellphone number and carrier of the person you are trying to reach. For example, to send an email message to a Verizon cellphone, enter the 10 digit phone number@vtext.com in the To: field of the email client. Compose the rest of the email as usual. Press send. The email is converted to a text message and sent to the mobile phone. You can get a list of the correct format for different carriers at TechnoTarget 

Is This Any Way to Run an Airline?

The problem, I received a bill from Charter for internet, phone and television services for October. The last bill was paid on 12. Sept. and you will recall on the 15. Sept, we began 3 days of installation hell with Verizon. We had no telephone, no internet, and no phone services for those three days.

I called Charter Customer Service only to be told since my name is not on the account, they could not speak to me. Even though I'm the one who pays the monthly bill. An argument ensued and I asked to speak to a Supervisor. Was put on hold and the call never answered.

I call a second time and had to endure the same song and dance, and the frustration of being put on hold and no supervisor picking up in a timely fashion. By now, I'm spitting nails.

From the Charter website, I followed a link to talk to a live representative. I pretended to be Himself. Part way through our conversation, I almost asked the representative if she was mentally impaired. Bostonians will instantly understand the expression I was going to use including the colorful adjective. At this point, I began typing in CAPS

Here is the actual transcript:

Thank you for choosing Charter Chat Live! A Customer Care representative from Billing Inquiries will be with you shortly. You have been connected to TTD Ria .

TTD Ria : Thank you for contacting Charter Communications Support Team. My name is Ria. How may I assist you today?

Himself : Hi Ria, I received a bill for bundled phone, internet, and tv, however on Sept 15, services we terminated because we switched to Verizon

TTD Ria : Hi, Himself.

Himself : since we have not had charter services since Sept 15, we should not have a bill nor expected to pay any bill

TTD Ria : Please let me check on this.

Himself : thank you

TTD Ria : Can you please provide me with your account number?

Himself : Yup

TTD Ria : Thank you.

TTD Ria : The balance left on your account is $115.74.

Himself : except there should be no balance

Himself : and when I returned equipment, we were told there was a credit on the bill. and we should receive a check

Himself : the last bill paid was in the amount of $183.90 and paid Sept 12

TTD Ria : Himself, this bill is for your services for the period of 10/16/08-11/15/08.

TTD Ria : Please be reminded that you are paying for your services one month in advance. Himself : we are no longer with charter

Himself : services were terminated Sept 15

Himself : we did not use charter services after Sept 15

TTD Ria : Yur services are scheduled to be disconnected on October 15, 2008. Himself : the services were disconnected on Sept 15

Himself : for 3 days while Verizon completed installation I had NO phone, NO internet, NO TV TTD Ria : Himself, you had Charter services since 2004.

Himself : yes, but as of Sept 15, 2008 we switched to Verizon

Himself : so from Sept 15 2008 to the present, we are not using Charter services Himself : we are Verizon customers

Himself : ergo the bill was sent by mistake

Himself : I turned in 3 boxes and a modem for the phone

Himself : we no longer have charter equipment

TTD Ria : Himself, I are you saying you had your services connected September 2008 and had those disconnected on the same month?

Himself : yes

TTD Ria : Himself, I'm sorry but I can see on the account that you had Charter services since 2004.

TTD Ria : You may go to your local office to check on this further.

Himself : is that the only way this issue can be resolved?

Himself : you cannot help? TTD Ria : I'm sorry but I can't see what you are saying on the account that I pulled up.

TTD Ria : What is reflected in my database is that you had services with us since 2004.

Himself : WE ARE NO LONGER CHARTER CUSTOMERS

Himself : what don't you understand

Himself : WE TERMNATED CHARTER SERVICES ON SEPT 15, 2008

Himself : THIS YEAR

TTD Ria : Himself, I'm sorry but I can't just believe in what you are saying. I need something as proof. I'm sorry but what you are saying is not reflected in my database.

Himself : WE RECEIVED A BILL FOR OCT-NOV, BUT WE HAVE NOT USED CHARTER AS WE ARE CONNECTED TO VERIZON. WHAT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND ABOUT THAT? Himself : THE BILL WAS SENT ERRONEOUSLY

Himself : OUR SERVICES ARE NOT TO BE TERMINATED IN OCTOBE3R, BUT WERE TERMINATED IN SEPTEMBER

TD Ria : Well, I'm sorry but only the local office can check on that further.

Himself : can you tell me if the local office is open on Sat

Himself : and what the hours are

TTD Ria : Sure. TTD Ria : Your local office is open Monday8:30 AM1:00 PM2:00 PM5:00 PMTuesday8:30 AM1:00 PM2:00 PM5:00 PMWednesday8:30 AM1:00 PM2:00 PM5:00 PMThursday8:30 AM1:00 PM2:00 PM5:00 PMFriday8:30 AM1:00 PM2:00 PM5:00 PM

Himself : No Sat hours?

TTD Ria : I'm sorry but no.

Himself : do these transcripts get looked over for quality assurance?

TTD Ria : Yes.

Himself : please note: Customer Service should not be an oxymoron.

Himself : I guess this ends the session

I'm of a good mind to ignore the bill and wait to receive if you don't pay this bill, we will terminate your services. Let them!

Wednesday Weigh-In

No whining, wailing or gnashing of teeth. I gained a pound this week. I think it was a combination of stress with the Verizon installation and the scale was being generous with its 3 pound loss from last week.

I had a pat on the back moment when I went looking for a new fall jacket. I saw a nice one in the LL Bean catalog, a waterproof shell with a zip out polartec lining. Wear one or both for 3 different jackets. Unfortunately all the petite sizes were sold out and LL isn't going to reorder. So I went to Kohl's hoping to find a similar jacket. No such luck, but I did try on a polartec jacket and I tried it on in a medium. And the medium almost fits! It was a little snug, but a few pounds less and it would fit! I was happy with the "atta girl" and decided to wait before I bought a new jacket.

Seven

Seven reasons to be unhappy with the installation and phone service for Verizon FIOS

1. We were told the technician would arrive at 1pm and the installation would take 4 hours. We took time off from work. At 2pm, we called to find out the job had not been dispatched and the technician would arrive between 1pm and 5 pm for an installation that would take 4 to 6 hours.

2. A call at 5pm said the technician would be on his way. The technician, two helpers and 3 Verizon trucks with cherry pickers arrived at 6:50pm. The lead technician was surly. I was too. They couldn't get things up and going so left close to 9pm with a promise they would arrive the next day at 3pm.

3. The next day, Charter, our previous cable company, yanked service to phone, Internet, and television. At 3pm, using my cellphone I called Verizon and waited on hold for a half an hour while the Customer Service Rep. tried to get in touch with the dispatcher and technician. The technician called a half hour later to say he would arrive in an hour. He kept good his word, was in a better mood and set about getting phone service, Internet service on my computer, the television in the bedroom up and running, and the local network stations on the television in the sunroom.

4. When asked for documentation for the telephone options such as setting up voice mail, he said Verizon would be mailing the booklet in 3 to 5 business days. There was a help section online. The technician left close to 9pm. By the way, what is the proper etiquette when dealing with technicians who arrive during dinner and the family hour? Are they invited to dinner? Given clean linen and shown to the guest room?

5. The online phone help was as useful as a teat on a bull. Though it told me in a general vague way how to set up the voice mail, it did not provide access numbers or temporary passwords. I had to call Customer Service to obtain this information.

6. Through online help I found the access codes for Call Forwarding to another telephone. A feature I use quite frequently. When I went to attempt to forward calls to the home phone to my cellphone, I received a call can't be completed as dialed message. A call to Customer Service revealed that this service is not available as part of my package. I would have to pay $5 per month for this feature. Seems that all of the features the cable company included in our cable bundled package, Verizon charges!

7. The installation began on Monday and was completed Wednesday night. I have not received documentation for the telephone features.

The whole experience left me more with an OMG! feeling instead of the WOW from the Verizon media blitz. If it sounds too good to be true, it generally is. I'm not inspired to recommend Verizon FIOS to anyone without adding caveat emptor, buyer beware. Verizon, do you hear me now?

I had no trouble with Charter, the cable company. The technicians arrived on time, were never surly, completed installations in a timely fashion, and left us up and completely running. Maybe we should have paid attention to the adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it.