Tag: computing in the 21st century

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”

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

Dear Verizon-

We get it.  We’re stuck with you.  You’re like the abusive spouse that’s got us stuck in a relationship we can’t get out of.  You’ve isolated us from our friends, and the only people we know who might be able to help us out are Comcast, who’s WAY worse, and satellite internet, which we can’t afford.

Continue reading “Dear Verizon-“

The job hunt continues

While I see that the unemployment figures for the state of Massachusetts are slowly going down, I am still looking for work.  I am fortunate enough to have had a couple of interviews this month, but so far nothing looks certain.  Of course Kelly is still looking for full-time work also, and is still grabbing as many shifts as she can at her part-time job.  I feel like I need to do something different, but I am not sure what.   Should I try to get more IT certifications?  Should I try something else?  I almost feel like my answer should be “all of the above” so I don’t limit myself.

-Geoff

A picture is worth a thousand words

When the picture is done properly.

I used to work in the retail and online auction industry.  In fact, sometimes I was responsible for actually taking the pictures and photo editing them so that they could be put up online to sell stuff.  That’s why when this photo showed up in my inbox the other day I literally had to do a double take.

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Read this and earn a million dollars! No real effort required!

Just kidding.  We haven’t been hacked or anything, I just wanted to get your attention and make a point at the same time.  Friends and family, I have been meaning to do this for a while and just haven’t gotten around to it.  I have wanted to sit everyone down, so to speak, and have a little chat regarding safe behaviors on the Internet.   Some of you may need this more than others, to be frank.

And this is a long post, yes.  But if you are one of the people who ask me for computer advice, especially IT security advice, do me (and yourself) a favor and READ ALL OF THIS because the odds are good I will be sending you here to read this the next time you have a problem.

Continue reading “Read this and earn a million dollars! No real effort required!”