I highlighted some terms so that you might do an Internet search for more information about them if you so desire

adding hot links to them only adds to the html code and slows down the page loading process

click pic link buttons to view the corresponding image which opens in a new window for convenience

Prologue

I guess you could say that I was always a techy freak / geek -- at Father Judge High School in the late 50s I took the Science Club on a tour of the then new and spectacular UNIVAC computer at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia -- the Institute photographer even found our visit so newsworthy, he took a photo of my group with the lady who was explaining its operation to us -- -- I am the one with the bow tie! -- curiously, I contacted the director of the Franklin Institute Archives in about 2004 to ascertain exactly what date it was taken -- hey, I even included the file number on the back -- -- they replied that they changed storage areas or whatever and that pic could not be located! Why can I find things dating back to my pre teen years while a prestrigeous educational / scientific research institution cannot?

Then on to what was my first computer toy -- I started out with a Commodore 64 to play with, the games were loads of fun -- gosh, that even used a tape cassette for memory storage and stuff, and the monitor was separate., as I recall -- I even programmed a couple simplistic games on it. Then in about 1984 I went to what was then the epitome of home computers, an Apple Macintosh M0001, with a nine inch black and white built in screen, floppy disk drive for apps and stuff and a minimalist memory -- no modem. It was MORE fun than a barrel of proverbial monkeys. Use of the then fledgling Internet was not very widespread at that time except perhaps for users of the ARPANET, for intercommunications between educational institutions and research centers, including the military, as I recall, and those state or federal entities which had network connections..

Since that time I have used several Apple computers and the last clone [the UMAX S910], not counting the several vintage Apple models [including a pizza box NeXT] and some PCs I acquired so that I might establish a computer museum, which will probably be an activity for a future life, if reincarnation exists.

I forget which was the first Apple model that included a phone jack for connecting to the Internet -- when that appeared I immediately signed up for America Online [AOL], and still have the same screen names I had then, each used for a different purpose. I am writing this on the first iMac G5 [no camera built in], and have the last model eMac beside it -- -- as backup and probably to fill up that space on my computer table -- I do not use it too frequently. Although I have watched my brother and others working on their Windows machine and have clicked a couple keys / buttons to get a fleeting feel for that operating system, I have never had one as my work - a - day gizmo.

I have always had a dialup connection, and with each new computer things were noticeably faster, my photo processing using even older apps, making my web pages using the ancient Adobe Page Mill v.3, plus the internet connection speed got a lot faster from the first really slow modems to the current 56k modem which has been included in all of the later Apple computers I used. Floppies disappeared long ago from Apple toys, which also made loading apps and other things much snappier © [that term is a local joke].

In the last couple years the InterNUT has changed considerably. What used to load quickly now sometimes becomes a chore because most web sites, including AOL pages include so many cookies and Java which only slows many things down to a virtual crawl. My hundreds of web pages still are done in a very basic simplistic format, no cookies because there are no commercial ads, easy / quick to load and navigate simply because I do not want all that cutesy crap. My aim is simply to provide content without boring peeps to tears waiting for what they came to see finally to eventually appear.

Now there are music files [in MP3 format] and movie clips in several formats, including the popular uTube videos, which take a LONG while to appear -- some emails I receive on a daily basis contain over six photos -- it gets slightly boring waiting to see these and many other things using dialup. Should I also mention the monthly Apple Computer updates, many of which take hours to download on my dialup.

Why have I not subscribed to DSL before this? Quite simply because the Internet experience is MUCH faster than it used to be, I can do things more rapidly than I could years ago, and should I mention that a fast connection costs a LOT more than dialup? All of my online activities have worked fast enough over the years to get them done, which was and remains the principal object of the game. I had not had the time to check out any of the several DSL / fast connection options available to me in my specific regional area, and many of the terms involved are kinda foreign to me -- I never was the brightest bulb in the package.

Checking Around

Fast speed to early February 2007 -- I read and sometimes post on three AOL message boards daily. On the AAPL [Apple Computer] board a much beloved by everyone, extremely knowledgeable, ever friendly, NEVER posting off topic material and perhaps holding the record for the MOST posts every day, a genial west coast dude, let me call him the My Patron Saint for the present time, posted that he would, as a philanthropic gesture, offer to pay for a one year subscription to the DSL provider of my choice -- NO, I did not solicit such a remarkable magnamous offer, it came out of the blue of the wintry sky and his limitless Love filled heart. I asked the brethren on that board which service would be the best for me, since I was basically clueless. One friend in Virginia said he uses Cavalier Telephone for his service -- I checked it out online but it was much too expensive for my quasi simplistic needs. Another pal from New Jersey, which is also where I currently reside, mentioned Verizon, which happens to be his and my telephone connection -- he was happy with it.

I began looking around. First to a Comp USA near Princeton, which was to be closed in the near future, offering 20% discounts on some closeout items. They had a section devoted to that service, but I spent at least an hour with an Apple rep, asking him about the latest and greatest Apple computers, and when I remembered to ask about Verizon high speed Internet, he told me he knew nothing about it, I would have to speak with another store rep. By that time I was tired of my visit already because all of the Apple things were ONLY 5% off, and I considered that a bait and switch tactic, so back home I went.

My next stop was to a nearby Radio Shack -- the gal I asked about DSL looked in a section they have dedicated to that subject, fishing through brochures, finally finding one related to Verizon. BUT, she was clueless -- I then went to a man who looked like the manager and asked him about it, giving him the brochure the girl found. He said that he uses Verizon for his home connection, but that he got it at least a year ago when the company was trying to get more subscribers. After checking his computer, he could find NOTHING about the service, suggesting that they no longer offer it. They did offer Comcast though, but it is more expensive than Verizon is supposed to be. OK, another dead end -- as I was leaving, the manager took the pile of Verizon brochures from the rack and threw them in the basket -- they were dated 2005.

Back at home I went online to see what the Verizon offer was. They have a special online ONLY offer for two flavors of DSL, one apparently much faster than the other. The one I wanted, the faster option, started at $19.99 / month for the first six months, and $29.99 for months seven through 12, only available at these special prices if one gets a one year contract -- --

That is what I want -- now to begin the ordering process with much breathless excited, almost orgasmic enthusiasm

The Order

Day 1 - Monday, 5 March 2007 -- I went to the Verizon DSL page before noon on Monday, 5 March 2007 and had to first find what is available in my calling area -- -- after waiting for some time, going to the kitchen to refill my coffee mug, it was still searching. Finally I received the good news YES, there were two options open to me, one of which was the one I wanted to get. Is it not kinda strange that all of the people images on their pages are of YOUNG yuppy types, not a crusty old coot to be found among them! OK, so I went through the several pages and popups of information and ordering information, eventually, after an hour or so, I got to fill in the order form, which was three different screens. When I got to the final screen I discovered that nothing had been ordered! OMG, what did I do wrong?

Plan A goes into effect -- I call a number indicated on one of the brochures I got some days earlier in the snail mail -- it connected to one of those outsourced female peeps, Kim, probably in India or Indonesia who was barely understandable, and I asked her what I did wrong. She asked me to hang on while they checked my records -- gosh, what else could I do at this point? She come back to me and asked me to give her my phone number in case the connection is broken -- HUH? They already KNOW my phone number because it was one of the first things she asked me! OK, she does not have the needed info and would transfer me to someone who could help me -- THANK YOU FOR USING VERIZON. I was cut off.

Plan A-1 -- call them again -- got a dude this time, Bruce -- asked the same questions and I had to repeat everything I already gave peep #1 -- please hold on while I reference your file -- CLICK! Fut the wuck is happening here -- does Verizon NOT have the capacity to at least keep the line functioning during a call?

Again I called, got another gal on the line, she actually connected me with peep #4 who told me that his computer was not working [DUH!] and that he would transfer me to somebody else. Guess what -- CLICK, connection broken again!

At this point I was questioning my sanity to even hallucinate about getting DSL, specifically from a company that cannot even be well enough equipped to handle a simple customer service request. What to do next? I fished for my last Verizon bill and found a billing phone number to call -- what ingenuity, nicht wahr? A wonderfully pleasant lady answers, and I am almost totally sure she was American, located here in the USA somewhere. I told her my horror story and she said she would look through my files -- this was at least three hours AFTER I did the online order thing. To my dismay she told me that NO order was placed, BUT if I would like to order that service she could do it for me immediately -- NOW GET THIS -- it would NOT be at the special introductory rate that is ONLY available online! HUH? I am sure that you could have heard me scream on the west coast, if not in China -- FUT THE WUCK IS THIS, A FRIGGEN BAIT AND SWITCH SCAM? I hung up on the gal and said to myself, maybe the gawds do NOT really want me to get this DSL thing.

It was night time already, I relented [I can sometimes be as weak spined as a jellyfish] and tried once again to order the gawd damn fast connection. I waited until that searching screen ended and the message popped up that the service is available in my area, which I already knew. Now the shocker appears -- -- about twelve hours AFTER my first attempt, I now get the message that an order is currently in progress for my phone number!

Day 2 - Tuesday, 6 March 2007 -- I theorized that there might be some kind of an order update page, so I went to their page again before noon, 6 March 2007 -- found it -- -- included was, as you can see, the date ordered, when shipped, and the theoretical date when the service begins. How exciting to discover all those features, many of which I shall never use -- why bother with their online mail option? I can already do the same thing using AOL.

Enter Reality into the Dreamscape

About 15h I tried to get online -- phone is dead, the VERIZON phone connection -- I checked the plugs on the three phones I have connected up in the apartment -- perfect -- no phone knocked off the hook by one of the cats, although it does occasionally happen. It is out in the entire area? So I trudge down stairs, go outside in the freezing windy cold to see if the phone works on the first floor [which is not heated] -- that phone does work.

Looked for the Verizon service phone number on a long handy yearly updated list I keep at each phone -- it is NOT on the list because I rarely have to call them for anything. Back upstairs in the frigid outdoor air to get the last bill that has all the phone numbers on it, hobble back down again. I call the upstairs number and it rings, BUT the answering machine does not come on after the 4th ring. I call the repair number, can hardly hear the person on the other end of the line -- they tell me to hold on the line while they transfer me to whatever -- CLICK, nothing. I try again, and somehow get a power company that has nothing to do with Verizon, but he sounded normal, loud enough to hear, so that phone., logically, does not have a problem.

Then to the dark and dreary bowels of the basement to see if that phone sounds a tad better, I make the same call. A dude answers and asks me what phone is not working -- he still sounds very far away. Where am I calling from, who is that phone assigned to, what is the address, what is the name on the bill, my name, how many phones are hooked up to that line -- everything except what am I wearing and what the basement temperature is at the moment. You guessed it, he will transfer me to somebody else -- CLICK!

Then I see a Customers with Disabilities number at the bottom of the list -- oh, great, that is what I should have called in the first place -- ring ... ring ... ring .... a recorded message appears telling me that this service is NOT available in your area! Come on already, there are at least a dozen handicapped parking signs within a block of me. Needless to say I am steaming at this point, my eyes are glowing red, I am trembling and the world seems to be quickly fading from view -- did I croak and wind up in hell? But I am not one to just give up, YET, I call the repair number again --

A new dude answers, and , naturally asks me all the same questions the first one did. Then a slight glimmer of hope creeps in -- OK, not a problem, they can have a repairman come over on Monday -- HUH? That is a week away! I am handicapped and NEED the phone service in case of an emergency, what if I croak before they finally decide to get here? Think of all the negative publicity the company would get, especially on Fox News. He thinks for a couple seconds and tells me he can put in an emergency order and that they would probably be there tomorrow, Wednesday -- they have nobody in this area at the present time. Well, just where DO they have their guys at this moment? At a donut shop shooting the breeze with the local cops, or what? He asked me again what number I was calling from in case they had to contact me later -- I told him the number and mentioned that he already has it. Do you have a cell phone? Gawd, no, never wil, and I am NOT going to remain in the dusty cold basement for a day just to wait for a call that may never arrive. I asked him what if something happens before then and I cannot use the phone, that I think their so called customer service sucks -- he hung up on me.

Out again and to the neighbor's house to ask him if his phone works -- it does. I recall having a similar glitch about two years ago, and the problem was in the switch box on the nearby telephone pole -- it was a bad connection or whatever. They fixed it within two or three hours after calling them. Not exactly speedy, but at least they did not take days to arrive and check things out.

I now ask myself a nagging question -- WHY did I choose Verizon as a complex DSL provider if they cannot even give me a worry free service with a simple telephone line? Maybe I should forget the entire thing. Perhaps if companies stopped cost cutting just to increase profits, laying off worlers, sending their jobs to some distant foreign country, switching live customer contacts, thus needing fewer employees to do that important job, to automated answering machines having so many voice box options that one tires while being bounced back and forth, not resolving anything in a timely manner, if at all.

This did not happen in the last millennium. Why are we constantly being bombarded on all fronts by so called technical innovation which only results in utter frustration, more worries than we already have, a feeling of allienation and not belonging to the in crowd -- as I always say, all this stuff is a royal PITA, a POS, nothing more, nothing less.

I am really pissed, maybe you noticed.

Day 3 - Wednesday, 7 March 2007 -- today is super cold and it is snowing again -- at least two inches on the ground already. At noon I plodded through the accumulating white stuff to the downstairs front door to call the phone company again -- did I mention which phone company I have used for many years? VERIZON -- gosh, that sounds like the same one I wanted to use for my upscale DSL connection -- what a coincidence. Hey, as an aside, the phone is still not working, thus the journey without snowshoes and sled dogs to call them, again --

hello, what can we do for you today? My phone is still not working. I see that there is a repair order scheduled for today between 09h and 19h. Gawd. Knowing that no matter what I said would be meaningless to her, I simply said, thank you very much.

Shortly thereafter the door bell rings -- gosh, the phone repair man? NO such luck, it is the UPS delivery dude with a box from, ehhhhhh..... -- none other than Verizon, containing all the crabola needed for the DSL connection. Four DSL filters, a 2 for 1 phone adaptor, a DSL modem with antenna [why the fock do I need a wireless antenna if I do NOT intend to use it wirelessly?], phone cable and ethernet cable for the modem, several sheets / brochures about the wonders of DSL, a CD with installation instructions, a certificate for 25 free music downloads from emusic.com [when reading the fine print at the bottom, you have to sign up for their service, give a credit card number, to get a 14 day trial subscription, and even if you decide not to continue with them, you keep the downloads -- NO, thank you], and some small - ish black plastic thing that looks like a stand for something but there is no indication what it is used for and it does not seem to fit the modem snugly in any position.

So I spend some time reading the printed stuff, which is vaguely informative. I pop in the CD, going from section to section about how and where to plug in the DSL filters -- did that for my three phones according to the instructions. Then I had to get the modem set up, figuring out where the wires would go in my jungle of cables for all kinds of stuff and where to put the modem -- first plug in the modem, then attach the ethernet cable to the iMac -- did that, flipped the ON button, as suggested in the CD. Lights flash, oh, kewlio. Now to the iMac control panel to see what kind of ethernet connection there would be [incidentally, they do NOT mention anything about how to do this on a Mac] -- set up a new one called VERIZON DSL, which, in theory, is recognized automatically by the computer. I cannot do more until the DSL thing is activated, perhaps tomorrow after 18h, gawd willing.

Gawd, the doorbell again -- this time it is a dude who wants to shovel my sidewalk -- how much? -- ten dollars -- I always do this myself, but at this point I do not have the slightest desire nor am I in the mood to go out and shovel snow, so I tell him ok.

What I have done all these hours without a phone is update some files [long overdue, I might add] for my book [Libro.ws] web site, those pages related to camera books [I also started on the toy reference pages] -- had to REdo all of the description pages [some of the formats were from four years ago!], and make larger thumbnails for each of the books on the index page [the old ones were really teensy and could barely be seen]. Whenever the phone is functioning, I then have to check which files to delete from the server and then load the updated ones, which is a snap using Fetch, my handy FTP application.

Doorbell again, the shoveling is done -- I go out to see the job, it is ok, better than I would have done it -- I gave the peep the ten clams, and a bag with a new designer t shirt, a box of cigars and a large container of candy. He effusively thanks me -- I feel great because the snow is gone and I did my good deed for the day. Now back to the toys web pages -- or maybe I need another snack -- some crackers with mango jam sounds appetizing.

Oh, ship, I entirely forgot that today was recycle day!

It is now 19:20h and nobody has appeared to restore my phone service -- I may go downstairs again and give them another friendly call [remember, going downstairs means leaving the side door to the apartment and going to the front of the building -- it is not a simple walk downstairs thing as in most properties that accesses from the inside via a stairway -- I have wanted to remedy that annoying problem by adding a door at the foot of the entrance stairway, but that means you know what -- MONEY]. I am seriously thinking of returning the DSL stuff and telling them that since they are totally undependable with an uncomplicated telephone connection, their service with DSL would be just as miserable if not far worse. I really tried, but this has gotten a tad further from reality than expected.

I just called -- after getting their usual automated voice messages, I simply kept clicking ZERO and finally a woman came on the line -- not even barely audible -- I had to constantly ask her to speak louder, which she did not do, and after she said whatever it was that she was trying to tell me several times while I repeated that I could not hear her, she hung up. I suspish that they get an enormous volume of calls, all handled through that POS automated message system which uses soooo much power that everything comes in garbled and impossible to hear.

Snow is still everywhere, I had to brush it from the Honda and van windows so it would not ice up over night and be impossible to remove if I must use the car [which I have to do tomorrow sometime]. Thanks for absolutely nothing, Verizon -- I think you just convinced me not to get your really kewl DSL line because your customer service is 5th rate, and that is being overly generous.

Plan B -- I went down again to call Bernar at his cell phone number, hoping he could call Verizon to see what is happening. Got his voice messenging system as usual -- I left a note that I would remain in the dreary basement for about five minutes, to call me at that number [which I gave him], and that I had a problem with my home phone. Waited ten minutes and went upstairs again -- I may call him tomorrow at work and ask him to do me that favor, assuming he is working, of course, and not on a break or whatever.

Day 4 - Thursday, 8 March 2007 -- today is the theoretical date the high speed access is supposed to begin -- I will never know about it unless they come and fix the gawd damn phone, though.

At 9:05h, the bell rings -- Mike, from Berlin in South Jersey -- the Verizon guy! I tell him what the problem has been for three days already, mentioned that it has happened before, that the glitch was always in the connection box on the telephone pole, and that I ordered DSL from his marvelous company. Oh, he tells me, DSL, huh -- the company may cut your service until the DSL is connected -- fut the wuck, why did they not tell me this little detail -- they do not tell the customer that. Ok, he comes upstairs, looks at the phone, sees that there is no signal, goes back out. Puts up a monster caution sign -- pic taken from my kitchen window -- -- puts on his hard hat and hops in the thingy to go up to the pole. Comes back down, rings bell again -- I go down to open the door [gawd, I have been getting more exercise in the past few days than I do in weeks!]. Now he has to put some gizmo on my phone line to be able to identify the signal because there are a jumble of wires in the box -- back down again and up the pole. Comes down, rings bell again -- he removes the gizmo and the phone works. He tells me that somebody at the main switching office did half the job and switched you to DSL at the central, but they did not bother scheduling the connection on your phone line. Now that is real customer service for you! He did me the extra favor of looking at the downstairs phone and said it may be the old telephones I have down there that results in the poor sound volume. He packed up at 09:55 -- I gave him a bag with three cigar tennis shirts, a tub of candy and a couple other things for his super friendly service.

Now to get online, IF it works, load this info page, see who won my auctions [if anybody did] in the last two days, check my always highly important emails and the wonderful friendly posts on the AAPL board -- wish me luck --

OK, I was able to get online and load this page, BUT everything seems the normal speed, nothing has changed and I cannot use my telephone while online [not that I would ever want to -- I hate distractions from what I am doing]. I go back to the status page of Verizon to see if they say I am ready yet -- -- oh, well, another change, the Service Ready Date is now tomorrow instead of today. Maybe they have to rumage around to see if they can find a piece of cable somewhere to make the actual connection. They are chalking up a notable track record thus far for NOT getting things done in a timely manner -- I wonder what rating they have with Consumer Reports or some other venue for customer satisfaction and a glitch free service. I may as well add the beginning of tomorrows update [should I add them for the next month too?], just to be slightly ahead of the game

Day 5 - Friday, 9 March 2007 -- I checked online and the message was that my DSL has been activated. Now to try getting online with the fast connection. Clicked on AOL and it connected with the normal slow speed -- IMed Ron who said to check settings, which I did. OK, so I call the Verizon help line -- an automated voice message told me the DSL was functioning, but since it was not I clicked ZERO a couple times until I got a living breathing peep on the line, this a gal, Myla, who transferred me to Michelle when I told her I use an Apple iMac. This was about 13:40h. She walked me through some steps to get the connection working, BUT there were several glitches. She had to RESET the Westell modem from the settings that it came with to new ones, which took quite a few steps, changing to a different user name / password and other stuff. You would not believe how lengthy and complicated the process was, and I assume that for a normal computer user they would not have too much of a clue about all the changing URLs and everything else that was entailed. Her instructions on what to click and what to type in were exactly as the things appeared on my screen. Unfortunately, it almost takes a geeky mentality to follow everything and understand the reasons why.

After changing this and that, there were still some adjustments to make on an administrator level -- you would not believe that she kept with me for about an hour and a half, talking to me in a friendly unhurried or annoyed way on my phone line while everything else appeared already on the computer screen, obviously connected with the marvelous world of DSL. I cannot say I was overly impressed with the labyrinth of necessary procedures, but that is how most of this new high techy stuff works.

I once again checked to see how the connection speed was on AOL -- nothing changed. She told me that I have to click the Safari icon and enter my DSL passwords to get the DSL connection, BUT I never use Safari, so we switched to Netscape as my preferred DSL browser. OK, how can I now go to my usual olde format AOL? She did not know anything about AOL, so she could not help me with that. I tried opening a new Netscape browser screen, which should open in Kardas.net -- it did not, so back to more changing settings / administrator options. I opted to have any Verizon emails forwarded to a single AOL email account simply so that I do not have to bother switching back and forth just to read things sent to me -- as usual, my olde motto, simpler is better is my long tried and true standard operating procedure.

One thing she did say is that I must NEVER turn the modem off -- what happens if the lights go out or I shut my computer down when I am finished playing with it? Shutting the computer down has no effect on the connection, it still remains active. Accidentally shutting the modem off, or a power failure MAY cause a loss of all the settings she walked me through and I would have top start over from scratch. hummmmm -- this is getting to be MUCH less attractive as I learn more about it.

We said our pleasant fairwell, and I attempted to get onto AOL via Netscape, which I knew would take me to their newish universal interNUT format which I did NOT want. What to do? When I started this entire activation procedure I removed the phone line jack from the back of the computer as Ron suggested. What happens if I replug it in? Would I be able to access AOL via the phone and the AOL browser as I had been for many years? YES, seemingly without a problem. Thank the gawds. Of course I had to activate the internal modem once again in my iMac Preference Panel, which was a piece of cake, so now they are both active [which may or may not make a lot of logical sense]. ALL of my scores of links and emails and everything else are in the AOL format, and I do not want to figure out how to get everything into the Netscape mode -- I never use the Netscape email, what is it called, MSN?.

I tried my first OSX downloads with DSL -- QuickTime 7.1.5, iTunes 7.1, Java 2.0 and DVD Player -- they all took minutes rather than hours as they did when I downloaded the updates via dialup -- super Snappy ©. Before I could take a shower, have dinner and still have to watch the scrolly bar turning for quite some time, twiddling my thumbs all the while. I hope to do the VERY long OSX combined update when I have a free moment, and hopefully will not have to REinstall the old OSX because I encounter way too many annoying glitches as happened the last time I did it on dialup.

Gosh, then I remembered that I had not checked to see if I have any snail mail -- sort of holding my breath I went down stairs to look -- GLORY BE, a letter from the Green Lantern, a superhero of yesteryear, now retired in sunny California, where babes in convertibles with their tops down abound --

inside, folded in a sheet of plain white paper [no message -- he is the ultimate in modesty] was the promised moola to provide me with this marvelous DSL connection, even though the major problems of the last couple days are still indelibly deeply etched in my mind and I question my sanity for even thinking of using Verizon -- Ron had the amount correct. My heart began to pump much faster, I had to lean back in my tattered high back computer chair to catch my breath, I saw stars and fireworks flashing before my weary eyes and got extra hungry, which is not unusual. Gosh, if I decide to keep all this DSL stuff [IF it keeps working for at least a week or so] I will be in the fast lane with the other rich and famous folks -- hey, dude, I have a really kewl fast Internet connection, what a jive. I really doubt that I would want to be buried in the Bahamas to be yet closer to all those money bags, thank you [that is another recent local joke, the paternity suits for which are still pending]. Why did Westell provide a smallish stand to hold the model upright if the thing sits in it way too loosely? Liana, a friend in Florida told me she had problems with the equipment Verizon sent her -- in the third shipment she got a special DSL filter, hypothetically designed for wall mounted telephones -- she installed it and when she went to use that phone, the telephone kept popping off -- some of her comments --

The first tech guy had a thick accent. I told him I didn't get a CD ... so I tried to set it up without it ... but isn't working.
He called out each color wire and checked that I did have them in the right places. But I said ... what about the blue wire ... he said ... 'You have a blue wire? You're not supposed to have a blue wire.' GOD!

Then he said ... take the jack out of the wall and plug in the tan wire. I said ... but that's the phone line I'm speaking on right now ... he said it will be OK. Huh? I did it ... and we got disconnected ... Maybe he wanted to go to lunch. LOL!

The second guy said he would give me a phone number that was direct so I wouldn't have to deal with that automated hell for 5 minutes. We got disconnected before he could give me the number ... so I had to go through automated hell all over again. I was almost a raving lunatic by that time.

When I my phone popped off the wall for the 5 th time. I called Verizon ... I said 'Get this crap out of my house now!' LOL! The woman on the other end said .. 'Would you like the Fios and our new plan?'

'WHAT?? WHAT???' I was a crazy woman by this time. I said .. 'You're trying to sell me MORE stuff? PLEASE get this out of my house!!'

Finally I was connected to a woman with a brain. I explained what happened ... I apologized to her if I sounded nuts and that I knew it wasn't her fault. She said ... 'I understand. I will send you a prepaid label for UPS ... and they will pick it up also if you like. It will be of no cost to you'

It was over ... I was relieved. I took a shower and a nap.

PS ... now I have to wait and see if they reimburse me for the $65 they charged me. That bill was also a piece of work. I'm not even going THERE.

I'm back on dial up now ... I had DSL for a few days while they tortured me with missing parts ... unnecessary wires ... disconnected calls and a wall phone that wouldn't stay on the wall because the back panel filter didn't fit my phone right.

oh, well, just another few anecdotes about all this hyper modern crabola. There are now ninety - three files including emails & instant messages from online friends, a couple original pics for this report and related items in my DSL INFO folder, which may be closed at this time, wishfully, forever.

I wish to publicly humbly and most sincerely thank my super benefactor for his true kindness / thoughtfulness, another splendid example of his altruism and caring for his fellow man in a non debatable / combative gracious manner, always with a smile :). Would I recommend anyone getting verizon DSL? ONLY if they are NOT undyed natural blondes.

There may be future updates, maybe -- at least the saga is now complete at this moment in tyme. Oh, yes, my FTP app seems to work a LOT faster now on DSL, not that it bothered me in the least before, mind you. Thanks for reading.

Day 6 - Saturday, 10 March 2007 -- ok, here is a photo of the Westtell modem -- it kinda looks like a robot or something, with the antenna [to connect wirelessly with other computers] sticking up in the back --

my DSL INFO folder now has one hundred and twenty - one files in it -- a few more email messages about DSL --

Then you are lucky. My Verizon DSL isn't that great....it's not that fast either.

If my phone rings...forget it, I lose my internet connection, then the red light goes on. I have to shut down the computer and start all over again. I only have one area for my phone and computer, and I can't do both. Makes me crazy.

When I signed up for Bell South DSL, they sent me a box of parts and instructions. I told them if they wanted my DSL account, they would have to send an installer. One arrived the next day and did everything. This was 5 years ago and it has worked perfectly. I flat out refused to assemble and install the service myself. There was no charge. I drive a hard bargain

I had Verizon before I moved from Texas. I really thought it was a headache

from my cousin, Ted, in Maryland -- I always imagined you had DSL. - I find it hard to believe that you accomplished all you have in the past years, including all your complex web activity, on dial up. You are to be commended for your perspicacity.

from Bernar, who has DSL from another provider -- Welcome to a new fast pipe - line to the internet... it's all the same, just you'll get it faster on a good day.

This morning about 09h I tried to get online -- NO WAY -- it would not work -- what a disappointment. So I called their toll free number [1 800 567 6789] and after the usual pressing the ZERO button, finally got George on the line -- he asked me a few questions, and when I told him I was using a Mac, he transferred me to Tony, the Mac dude, who sounded sort of sleepy or something-- it seems that the log in data was not being recognized by their servers -- to make a long story short, we went through basically all the same series of Safari Verizon pages [which we were able to connect to for some strange reason] and changed user log information for both Verizon and the Westell modem / router -- it may have taken 20 minutes to get everything neat and tidy and once again I was able to connect. Then I tried to find my recently purchased copy of Disk Warrior, to optimize my hard drive -- I could not really remember the size of the package and looked all over for it -- I finally found it under a book on the desk behind me, overlooked before because I somehow thought the box size was larger --

I wanted to get everything on my hard drive organized where each file should be rather than the usually distant locations where new things are stashed, thus making everything run smoother because all similar files are together on the same disk sections. What one first discovers when using that app is a graph of the hard drive space with all the apps / files, et al. as they are currently physically located on the disk, shown as a blue graph -- any shades of blue not in their corresponding area/s are easily noted -- an optimized disk would have simply progressive shades of blue / white showing. Then one clicks the button to do the REBUILD, and Disk Warrior completely recreates a new hard drive configuration with everything in its corresponding place. This screen shot shows, above, the initial disk contents -- notice the many shades of color out of place -- -- below that I included the graph of the optimized hard drive end result of the rebuild for comparison.

I then thought, why not do some software updates -- once again on DSL they would load very quickly, so I did the remaining ones -- Mac OSX 10.4.8 [a multi - combo update because I was still on OSX 4.0 which came with this iMac], DVD Playback, Air Port, J2SF 5.0.4, three security updates and the Daylight Savings Time one, which begins tonight or early tomorrow morning. Did you know that some American Indians in Arizona have their own separate time zones, which sometimes vary from tribal lands on one side of the highway to those of a different tribe on the other side? I believe that Arizona does NOT change their time as they do in every other state.

Wonderful, now I updated everything that Apple suggested -- the end of the update load always includes an optimization segment -- one assumes that this does what Disk Warrior accomplishes in order to make everything run smoother and at an optimum. Just to check it out, I once again ran Disk Warrior, and much to my amazement, the disk was quite fragmented -- -- I did the rebuild once again and got everything where it should be. What I ask myself is, fut the wuck does the built in optimization accomplish after downloading new software? From what I can plainly observe in the last graph, is that it does absolutely nothing! Another piece of eye candy making Mac users think that everything is fine and dandy when in effect it is not.

Steve Gallagher, aka The Green Lantern, suggested that I see what connection speed/s I am getting on DSL by using the Speakeasy Speed Test, which one can access online at www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ -- as Bernar mentioned, these results will vary all the time, some hours / days getting a faster speed than on other days -- I did the test several times within minutes of each other and got different speeds each time -- -- these numbers are a lot faster than they would be by using dialup. According to Steve, the download speed is more than 25X faster than dialup, and the upload speed over 6X faster. It is very noticeable, needless to say.

Day 8 - Monday, 12 March 2007 -- another glowingly negative comment from friends near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania --

GOOD MORNING, SONNY,
JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW : THAT I AM ABOUT TO CANCEL "DS-HELL" IT IS THE WORST, YET, EVER!
WE'VE HAD SUCCESS NOW W/COMCAST.
GIVE US A RING! BE WELL, RENEE & JULES

Thursday, 17 May 2007 -- I looked at my 10 April 2007 Verizon phone bill, something that I rarely do since I trust that their and other billing departments actually know what they are doing [which is certainly NOT the case in some instances over the past few years, including city water, gas and electric, to name a few] -- much to my surprise I found that they were charging me $29.99 / month instead of the $19.99 of the special online offer, AND that they were charging $29.99 for the modem which was supposed to be free! To the right of the page there is a note -- For Verizon Online questions call 800 567 - 6789, which I immediately did. I was answered by a male who sounded American, who asked me what I wanted -- told him I have a bill that is charging me more than I am supposed to be paying and would they please rectify same -- he said this is NOT the number to call for such information, and bounced me to a Ms. Cooper, who already knew my telephone number and asked how she could help me today -- I briefly explained the problem -- she said they never had such an offer -- I told her I have screen shots of the online ordering process on one of my web pages dedicated to my DSL experience -- she replied that any web page has nothing to do with Verizon -- did I receive an email confirmation with the details of the plan and what I was supposed to pay? NO, I DID NOT -- the only information I found was on the Verizon web page about my order and when it was supposed to be activated. She put me on hold, then bounced me to a Catrina [or similar] -- we went through the exact same dialog as above, but when I mentioned that all the info is on my web page, adding that it is NOT very positive about my Verizon experience, she put me on hold -- oh, but we DO have a special online offer, but MY records indicate that you ordered it by phone, that is why we are charging you 29.99 / month -- raising my voice considerably, I DID NOT ORDER IT BY PHONE, RATHER I DID IT ONLINE SIMPLY BECAUSE OF THE SPECIAL ONE YEAR PLAN OFFER -- I CONSIDER THIS A BAIT AND SWITCH TACTIC ... at this point she interjected that there is NO bait and switch, that I was billed for what I ordered -- and what about the supposedly FREE modem they are charging me for? There is nothing about a free modem, she replied, where is the email that was sent you stipulating the conditions of your plan -- I told her she seems to be following the party line, and how many other people have they defrauded by NOT sending such emails and later billing them more than what they signed up for -- then I hung up on her. At this point my patience was really wearing thin, but let me see if I can find some other number to call on the sheets of bills --

Bill Questions / 1800 427 - 9977 -- hello, this is Ruth, how can I help you today -- hello, I hope that you can help me -- I called another number and was bounced back and forth several times with no resolution to a bill for DSL services that is obviously wrong, they are overcharging me for the service. Please stay on the line while I access your records -- you ordered DSL in early March by phone -- I DID NOT, you are saying just what the other party liners apparently reading from a script told me -- can I speak with a supervisor, please -- sorry, there is none available at this time -- do you have a confirmation email -- HOLY SHIT, I DIDN'T GET ANY CONFIRMATION EMAIL -- there is no need to use profanity with me -- look lady, I am handicapped, I ordered this service online because it would be useful for my church activities -- it is causing me more frustration, headaches and lost time that I really want or need, how's about if you come and pick up the router and other stuff and I am no longer interested in your weasley DSL -- oh, but you cannot do that because the 30 day trial period is up -- for an early termination you would be charged a penalty of $69 [or something like that] -- look, Ruth, I do NOT plan on sending you a cent until the charges are corrected, you can sue me if you feel like -- I will take the matter to the FCC or where ever they deal with obvious telephone and other commercial fraud -- she puts me on hold -- musical background, as usual, a weirdish tune, almost far eastern although she sounded American.

Hello, this is Mrs. Peterson, who am I speaking with -- although they would not add it on my billing account, this is Reverend Sigmund J. Kardas, Jr. -- how can I help you today, Rev. Kardas -- I nicely and calmly present her with the problem -- please stay on the line while I access your account -- I am very sorry, but according to our records you ordered the DSL service by telephone, and the lady you spoke with is sitting right here beside me -- [I didn't even bother asking what her name was because I knew it would be the same fable they had been feeding me up to this point] -- look here, Mrs. Peterson, if you cannot resolve this situation I do NOT intend to be bounced to yet more representatives -- my next step is to contact the appropriate authorities about what is obviously a scam, and you can come to pick up the DSL materials at the address on the bill at MY convenience -- please stay on the line a moment, please, while I consult with an associate -- [why wasn't there an "associate" about 15 minutes ago?] OK, I have permission to give you a special offer -- we will change your subscription to the next lower service at $14.99 / month -- what next lower service? What you have now is a faster speed, 1.5 kbps -- the new one will be 750 kbps -- but that is only slightly faster than my dial up, what I signed up for was the one I now have -- I did an online speed test and it is usually around 1.5, NOT 750 -- sorry, but I do not understand the technical terms, but you will still get a fast access -- the new charges will be on a revised bill which will be sent to you. OK, whatever -- I am VERY unhappy about this entire matter, good bye.

Tuesday, 22 May 2007 -- I checked online about how to contact the Federal Communications Commission -- I called one of the numbers listed and they too seem to think that extremely convoluted time consuming automated mailbox options are the future of customer service, so I languished through a multitude of options and finally gave up and just clicked ZERO -- as usually happens, this quickly got me through to a live rep, a woman, Laura, very helpful, I might add, who, after hearing my complaint, explained my options and suggested that I fill out form 475, which can be done online. I said that I distrust online forms but will try it. If she mails me the form it takes a lot longer to process. Within less than 2 hours I received her promised email, with a link to the necessary form and a downloadable FACTSHEET92.PDF, which contains 5 pages of FCC Consumer Facts about High - Speed Internet Access - "Broadband" -- will I get some kind of confirmation that I actually filed the form online? YES, it will be sent in an email. Thank you very much, Laura, you have been most helpful.

Wednesday, 23 May 2007 -- I am still waiting for a revised Verizon bill. I added the above details about the calls to Verizon to be able to include this documented link somewhere in my complaint form, if that is possible. I can only assume that many other Verizon subscribers were scammed in a similar manner, IF they bothered to actually read their DSL bill.

Thursday, 24 May 2007 -- I filed the form 475 online this morning [including the URL to this page, which explains in more detail than the form allowed, concerning the seemingly complex nature of the complaint, how I was bounced from one rep to another and the very apparent contradictions in their comments], but have not received an email confirmation thus far from the FCC. I did the Speakeasy Speed Test again, and it appears that Verizon was VERY fast to change from the plan I originally signed up for online to one having a LOWER access speed -- about half the speed I had a couple days ago -- it IS noticeable -- what a rip off! I have still NOT received a revised bill from Verizon whose mailing address is in this same city.

I may as well include a scan of the billing charges I filed the complaint about, just to complete the documentation about this matter -- -- I shall wait to see what happens now

Wednesday, 1 August 2007 -- on 18 June 2007 [several weeks after I filed the FCC complaint] I finally received a snail mail letter from a Mr. Richardson from, what I consider a misnomer, Verizon Customer Service in Newark NJ -- -- as you can see it addresses NONE of my stated concerns -- I wrote him a reply two days later which was not sent until 10 July, since apparently Verizon doesn't care anything about timeliness, and I was still awaiting a hypothetical revised billing statement -- -- it was sent Certified with Signed Return Receipt card attached and the postal services were paid for -- -- as of today I have NOT received the signed green return receipt card from the post office -- I found that my letter was received the day after I sent it -- -- so fer the wuck is the receipt card I paid for as proof that Richardson received it?

Then, I received a letter on 1 July 2007, postmarked on 27 June 2007 from Gettysburgh PA, from the FCC, which broadly states that Verizon did nothing wrong -- -- BUT, if I want to file a formal complaint with them, I can do so IF I pay a fee for filing same!

Another weird thing was found when I attempted to call a long distance number a few days ago -- I have AT&T as my long distance carrier for as long as I have had the telephone -- I get a recorded message telling me to call Verizon and that I cannot call long distance until I do so! I did NOT ask to have verizon as my long distance carrier -- isn't this called SLAMMING or unauthorized switching of carriers, which is illegal? I wonder if they disconnected the phone line on 30 July when I photographed a Verizon truck trying for at least a half hour to do something on the pole where my line is located -- -- actually there were two vehicles, the usual repair thing and a van -- those guys don't seem to be the brightest crayons in the box because the two in the van parked in front of the other one, did absolutely nothing but look at the dude in the lift and laugh, while blocking the one way street for all that time. A car would have been able to get around the lift truck easily enough, and the van had MANY other free spaces along the curb to park, but decided, in their infinite wisdom, to leave their van exactly in a place with other cars at the curbs, not allowing free passage. Whatever the guy in the lift was doing, he had to use his cell phone numerous times, kept looking at some papers he had [probably the work order], fidgeted around in the connection box, used the cell phone again, then back to the papers, actually giving the impression that he didn't have the foggiest clue how to do what he was supposed to do [buy, hey, all that time spent on some probably simple job , adds up at the end of the day when the time card punch out time rolls around].

Yesterday I received another email from a friend telling me about the ratty service Verizon offers --

In a message dated 31/7/07 14:30:05, faith@xxx writes:

And your Verizon experience-- Geez what a nightmare! Alicia's friend has Verizon for his cell phone co. and says they suck - sure not much good to be said about them, huh?

How Verizon has any customers at all eludes me at this point.

Friday, 3 August 2007 -- today I mailed another letter to Mr. Richardson of Verizon -- -- sending it, as I did my first missive, via Certified USPS Mail -- -- with Return Receipt card needing an endorsement from the receiver -- -- while at the post office I asked about the previous return receipt card which I have not yet received -- they did a search on their own servers and found that the scan of said card had not yet been entered into the USPS system, and YES, I should have gotten it already. If I do NOT receive a written reply to this letter I shall simply disconnect all the DSL gizmos from my phone line and computer, wait for them to come for them, and return to the landline service I had for over 10 years already [perhaps changing service providers at the same time]. The ball is now squarely in the Verizon court. I have lost enough sleep, suffered severe anxiety / depression, and have been unable to function normally since this all began many weeks ago.

Out of curiosity I did a web search for VERIZON DSL SCAM and came up with several pages of results. I only looked at a couple links -- -- -- on Complaints.com I did a search for VERIZON DSL -- there were 186 posted -- -- not surprisingly, they all describe basically the SAME irregularities which I have clearly documented above.

Saturday, 4 August 2007 -- this morning I went to the Verizon billing page online to see what they are supposedly billing me for -- there were three monthly bills listed -- -- I clicked on the one dated 4 July [incidently, since 4 July is a national holiday, how the hell can they send me a bill for that date? It certainly doesn't seem very patriotic, to say the least -- maybe HomeLandSecurity should look into their anti American business practices] -- -- please note that it states that the previous bill was paid, BUT I have NOT paid a cent for the DSL service until they confirm the details of my service, as requested several times., PLUS they are still overcharging me -- why was the previous bill for $15.15 and the new one for $19.99??

Sunday, 5 August 2007 -- I have been having recurrent nightmares for many days already about somebody breaking in and killing me, simply because I did NOT have phone service to report the incident -- I woke up sweating, my heart palpitating, with shortness of breath. This is really inhumanely intolerable. Verizon is terrorizing me simply because I refuse to pay a DSL bill that does NOT reflect the service option I ordered online. Since all of this started I have been taking blood pressure readings every so often -- on 31 July it was 206 / 104, with a pulse of 62 -- MUCH higher than normal for me.

I went through the unpaid Verizon bills and figured out what the charge was just for the telephone service and took that to the post office to mail out, hallucinating that I would get both my local and long distance telephone line functioning again next week and be able to communicate with the outside world once again

Sunday, 12 August 2007 -- on 8 August I discovered, by chance, that my phone line was working again -- of course Verizon did not bother to inform me of same. I immediately called Horacio, a former student at the university in the Canary Islands, to ask about the forest fires -- they are in the south, quite a distance from his country property. I am still having the nightmares, though. I think the biggest one was to have chosen Verizon as my DSL carrier! Still no official letter about my service, nor even one of the two signed return receipt postal cards, an apology for the obvious error on their part, and / or a revised billing statement.

God Bless !

Daily  Trivia Contests

My Closeout Deals & Real Estate -->> Personal Sales -->> Adopt a Sphynx Kitten Mis cosas en -- -- Canary Islands, Spain My Cigars & Goodies on -->> YardSaleNet.net My offerings on -- -- Singapore My Items on -- -- eBay

This page was updated with the able assistance of an Apple G5 iMac, the Perfect Home / Office Computer   PageMill and the PageMill logo are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated Back to

Free counters provided by Andale.

COPYRIGHT © 2007 by * * All rights reserved. due to the constantly changing nature of the Internet, some external links may no longer be valid My Other Domains Privacy Policy