Other news of the fun and weird

In the process of doing some research into foods and beverages of the Middle Ages, I made a fascinating discovery.  There may be some historical truth behind the beverage “Butterbeer” from the Harry Potter books and films.  I am guessing that J.K. Rowling probably had heard of the old beverage called Buttered Beere, which was literally beer that had been flavored with butter and spices and served hot.  I made some tonight using a white lager as a base and it turned out beautifully.   I hope to do some more experimenting and see what kind makes the best buttered beer.

-Geoff

Compare and contrast, plus a heads up

It is astonishing the difference in customer service between Verizon and DirecTV.  Lately we have been the victims of all sorts of technology failures: we have poor cell reception in our house; the DirecTV connection in our living room stopped working;  my primary desktop PC is dying a slow death;  and of course our Internet connection has been both slow and intermittent.  The tech that came by yesterday was able to diagnose what was wrong with the DirecTV connection in our living room pretty quickly based on what I told him about the differences in signal strength between the two boxes.  Imagine that.  He actually listened to what I was saying.  So he quickly found and fixed the problem (the jack in the wall had gone bad) and now we (meaning Kelly especially) can watch TV in the living room again.

Of course, the Internet connectivity problem continues to plague us.

Continue reading “Compare and contrast, plus a heads up”

Never mess with dog lovers

I guess I should amend that to, “Never mess with animal lovers.”  For me it is a more accurate statement as I am neither a dog nor cat person but an animal person.  But, it was the dog lovers who got Michael Vick sent to jail and fired by the Atlanta Falcons.  Now he’s consigned to the Philadelphia Eagles, my least favorite football team.  Is he still making money?  Sure.  But is he being watched like a hawk?  Absolutely.

Also, dogs can tear him apart whenever they like.

Continue reading “Never mess with dog lovers”

Thank you, Verizon, for proving my point

Today we lost our Internet connection yet again.  It was off for at least nine hours until I got on the phone late this afternoon and managed to get them to fix it.  I did not get any explanation worth a damn as to why it was no longer reliable, and I knew that it would go out yet again.  So earlier tonight I tried using the online tech help assistance chat thingie since a few people had said they had better luck with that than on the phone.  And the online tech apparently did not hear a damn thing I said.  I am so not shocked.  I tried to explain that the problem wasn’t that I didn’t have an Internet connection right that second, but that it was intermittent.  Of all the techs we have dealt with, in person or on the phone or online, we have had only one who actually understood that.  And so this time I tried to explain, and even let the tech connect to me remotely.  Her response was to essentially play with my wireless connection.  She disconnected it and then reconnected it, and was like “yay, your problem is solved!”  Um, no, it wasn’t. I tried to say that it was only a matter of time until I lost my connection again, and it was like I was speaking a language she couldn’t understand.  Like say, English.  I thanked her for her time and then disconnected her.  And so for a little while longer we had Internet access.

And then the Internet went out again for another three hours. It came back on within the past half hour.

Time to switch.  And I am still so angry I am thinking about asking for a refund.

-Geoff

Internet access, for the moment anyway

We have finally regained our Internet connection.  We shall see how long it lasts.  I honestly don’t have a lot of faith that it will last.  For whatever reason, Verizon DSL seems to be too unreliable.  We are hardly the only ones who seem to be having this problem, and I can find a fair bit of evidence that the problem has been going on with many Verizon DSL customers in our area for over a decade.

Continue reading “Internet access, for the moment anyway”

Oh, Internets, where art thou?

Still posting from my phone. Still no internet connectivity. Still no word from Verizon. We’re about to start a petition, or a fire, not sure which.

If you need us you know how to find us.

-Kelly

Verizon Fail, part whatever

I am posting this from my phone. This is our third day in a row with at least one call to Verizon to talk to “Peggy” or someone similar. Geoff has finally convinced them that, yes, we really do know what we are doing, no, we’re not going plug and unplug the damn thing again, and that the problem really is on their end.

Today they finally took us seriously and as a result they’ve completely shut off our internet connectivity. As a result we’re left to rely on our terrible AT&T cell coverage for internet service.

So, if you need to reach one or both of us DO NOT EMAIL US until we post otherwise here. Call the house, call our Google voice numbers, send us a text message, or call our cell phones as a last resort. As a reminder, our cell phones are ALWAYS our last resort as AT&T sucks.

If you are so inclined please feel free to email Verizon and tell them how awesome they are not.

-Kelly

Nice to know that there are happy endings sometimes

The other day I was down on Charles Street in Boston and I noticed a poster about a missing dog.  The stuff that was most memorable was the fact that it was a Yorkie-Chihuahua mix, and that it was left tied up outside a grocery store.  Well, the owner managed to get the dog back, but it could have ended much worse.  The dog could have just disappeared, never to be seen again.  And since coyotes are becoming a big problem even in Boston suburbs, it is not outside the realm of possibility for a coyote to attack a dog that does not have the ability to run away.  So be thoughtful with your four-legged friends and don’t make too many assumptions about where is safe and where isn’t safe.  The front of a grocery store is a very public place and the dog was still stolen.

-Geoff