Friday, January 29, 2016

Love/Hate




I do love my tech-y devices, and probably use them too much.  However… 

Last year, I got a new phone, a new laptop, changed to Windows 10, moved, got a new cable/phone/internet provider, and got new landline phones. Of course there was some adjustment to all the new stuff, but generally things have been working fine. 

Until a couple of weeks ago, when my landline phone stopped working.  I called Comcast (my cable provider).  They were unable to fix it remotely, and I felt I had to have a service call.  The tech told me it was my phone base.  So I bought a new single base/phone.  It worked for about a week (although didn't connect with the old system extensions, even though it was basically the same phone), and then developed an interesting quirk.  It rings, the caller ID works, showing up on the TV screen, the answering machine works/records/plays back, but the handset doesn't work.  All the lights are on, but nothing working on the brand new instrument.  Well, so much for the phone. 

Then this afternoon, the internet disappeared.  Well, shit!  I called Comcast again, worked with the recorded system, and again, they were unable to shut it down remotely.  I finally got a real person (young man, native English-speaker), who convinced me I could unplug the modem.  I managed to figure that out, and basically rebooted the modem.  And finally, all the lights came back on, with the wonderful wifi! 

But no magic changes to the landline phone. 

So, if you need to call me, expect to get the answering machine, leave a message, and I'll call you back.  Or just call my cell phone.

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