[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by fov, from the Attack Of The Spam thread

Ahh, dial up. I remember those days fondly.

LOL. Get this. My bro-in-law just started his new job as an installer for a direct t.v. service, so he's going to be entitled to some benefits. We currently have a combo service of cable t.v. and cable broadband. Problem is that he cancelled the t.v. part of this service in anticipation of his satellite t.v. from his job (without first knowing what exactly his benefits at work will be), so the cable t.v. will end tomorrow. When he did that it somehow affected our Internet connection and it was intermittently interrupted so that we hadn't had Internet in the past week. We had a service man come over twice, but it didn't help and we've been offline ever since, which affects my sister's job (she works at home twice a week and relies on Internet for email and other things). Now she's furious at her husband, and I'm thinking what a sad dipsh!t my bro-in-law is for not doing his research:

1. He didn't cover all his bases by not fully investigating and getting a written list of all his benefits at his new job (including when exactly these benefits would kick in) so he can set up his satellite t.v. service properly, so now we have no cable t.v. service for the next month or so. He cancelled the existing t.v. service before he could even install the satellite dish or even find out when he could switch to satellite t.v. connection.

2. He eventually wants to set up a satellite Internet connection through his work when he didn't already know the terms of his benefits for that (including when it kicks in), in writing.

3. He didn't think how a possible interruption of our Internet service would affect his wife's at-home work.

4. Because they live so far away, I can't set up any kind of DSL service. The only available options are cable (and I'm trying to fix our current connection), and satellite, which is very expensive ($700 for a stupid dish, then $50+ monthly).

5. Because the cable company screwed up our connection (somehow), in desperation he signed up for a free trial dial-up service from AOL and Earthlink, and argued that his wife (my sister) could use this service for her work at home. When I tried to explain that dial-up is an awful idea because it will interrupt our phone service and my sister cannot know her job is contacting her unless she connects manually, and that with broadband you're always connected to the Internet 24/7, he wouldn't listen. Besides, dial-up connection, no matter if it's 5 times as fast as before, is nowhere near as stable as broadband. You could be downloading a large file and get booted off because someone is trying to call you or for whatever other reason.

6. He didn't know that with the free trial to dial-up you must notify the provider that you want to cancel the service before the free trial ends, otherwise they may automatically sign you up for a one year contract and start billing you for something you didn't want. I explained this to him.

So, now I have to sort this mess out myself, simply because he's such a jack ass and didn't plan this whole thing properly, and because all he wants to do is try to save money. I told him that we should have stuck to the month-by-month service of cable t.v. and Internet UNTIL he finally gets his benefits at his job and has everything (satellite dish, Internet dish, etc.) fully installed and running. Then and only until then should we cancel the cable service.

Sorry. Just had to rant.

[Jake]

Go in-laws!!!!!

[Intrepid Homoludens]

And here's more to the story.

Because he's such a jack ass, he doesn't want to listen to me. I tried telling him how volatile dial-up is, he argued that it's now 5 times faster than before. I said that's not the point. The point is that you can't rely on it because you get knocked off from your connection at any time. I also tried explaining that DSL does NOT share the line with your phone, that the DSL line is dedicated. He didn't get it. It doesn't matter, though. We can't get DSL because we live too far away from any service hub. So now I'm trying (for the second time) to undo the screwup to our cable Internet connection. He warned me that he'll refuse to pay for it unless it's become stable again. I told him I'll work on it.

....HA! Guess what just happened! I'm typing this post and I got booted off, because the phone started ringing, and I had to log back on. Ah, the luxuries of dial-up.

I also explained to him that since we're going to going to connect my sister's computer, my computer, and my little niece's, to a router, that dial-up is a REALLY sh!tty idea now, especially now.

[Kingzjester]

There's no laws like in-laws, like no laws I know!

Fuck the internet, Trep. NOLF, Trep, NOLF!!

[LeChimp]

Originally Posted by Kingzjester

There's no laws like in-laws, like no laws I know!

Fuck the internet, Trep. NOLF, Trep, NOLF!!

No One Lives Forever?


Anyway, I remember once a few years ago, my internet provider went out of business or something, so we had to use 56k for a while. This was during my Diablo 2 craze and I remember my mom or dad getting mad at me because I spent a large amount of time playing Diablo 2 online and no one could call our house.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by Kingzjester

There's no laws like in-laws, like no laws I know!

Fuck the internet, Trep. NOLF, Trep, NOLF!!

Shut up, bitch! I'm gonna kick your misanthropic ass in NOLF multiplayer! You just wait til I get my hands on some lipstick bombs!

[tries to type in more swear words but gets kicked off from online 'cause the phone starts ringing]

[ConcreteRancor]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

Shut up, bitch! I'm gonna kick your misanthropic ass in NOLF multiplayer! You just wait til I get my hands on some lipstick bombs!

[tries to type in more swear words but gets kicked off from online 'cause the phone starts ringing]

I never really liked the lipstick bombs. I always went for the acid spray myself. Such satisfying screams....

[Intrepid Homoludens]

I don't necessarily use all the lipstick bombs, just the blue one, which is the proximity mine. I love leaving it at intersections and the tops of ladders, where opponents least suspect.

But NOLF2 has the exploding pussies! Best thing since the lipstick bomb.

[Kingzjester]

Spoiler:

Ouyay avehay alreadyway aidsay erehay oremay erehay anthay Iway eednay, itchbay.

[ConcreteRancor]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

But NOLF2 has the exploding pussies! Best thing since the lipstick bomb.

That's just about the closest that the NOLF series ever went to gross-out humor. Mainly because the activation button was conveniently located right under its tail. The bright... red... activation button.

Well, now we know why the Angry Kitty is so angry. A raging case of hemorrhoids.

[fov]

it was intermittently interrupted so that we hadn't had Internet in the past week.

And here I was thinking you went off on some exotic vacation and didn't tell anyone. :eek:

Until March I had dialup and it never bothered me. Then again I lived by myself and I didn't care if the phone was tied up all night. But now that I've been living with cable internet (and cable TV, for that matter - oh yeah, and my boyfriend too) for half a year I'm probably ruined for life.

People who run around cancelling things without doing their research are the worst kind of people. Well, maybe not quite as bad as people who run around clubbing baby seals. But almost.

-emily

ps I must admit, dirty pictures load much more quickly now than they did on dialup...

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Here's the latest episode on this thrilling soap opera!

I called the cable company yesterday, explained the situation in detail, and requested a service call. They promised to send a senior technician this morning and I demanded they fix this problem once and for all and issue us a credit for all the times we were offline as they have that information on file in their system. I was still asleep when the technician came, but my bro-in-law was awake and refused to let the guy in, I only found out about this when I finally woke up.

My bro-in-law's argument for not letting the technician in was the same: screw them all for ripping us off when all we wanted was cancellation of our cable t.v. service and continuation of the Internet service. I said, "That may have been our best chance at getting this thing taken care of for good!" He then said that he had bought a $700 satellite dish exclusively for Internet connection, and that service should kick in tomorrow afternoon. I said, "I hope so, I don't want to be stranded without Internet while you guys are away in Europe for a month, and I need that connection for my writing and other work."

[Erwin_Br]

I'd strangle the guy with a coax cable. But that's just me. You could also go to Dr. Phil. Maybe the man can talk some sense into him.

--Erwin

[Kingzjester]

Originally Posted by Erwin_Br

I'd strangle the guy with a coax cable. But that's just me. You could also go to Dr. Phil. Maybe the man can talk some sense into him.

--Erwin

This sounds to me more like a case for Jerry Springer...

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Eiw, man. I don't wanna be lumped in with all those trash who wanna air their immaturely dealt with dirty laundry on t.v.

Anyway, I just got done mowing the lawn. Before he left to go to work, bro-in-law briefed me on what to tell the satellite installer guy when he comes to set up the service tomorrow morning. Evil Trep tells me to refuse to let the guy in as payback for bro-in-law's refusing to let cable man in. Pragmatic Trep tells me to let the satellite guy in and even offer him some coffee and toast with Nutella.

Besides, bro-in-law is paying for everything regardless: $700 satellite dish (non-returnable, only for Internet, not t.v.), and $70 a month subscription (only for Internet, not t.v.). Mind you, before all this he was paying a mere $50 a month for premium cable t.v. AND broadband Internet combined. I guess maybe he wants to impress people (and his relatives back home in Turkey) with his 'on-the-cusp-of-new-technology' veneer. Fine with me, but you all know I'd have done it differently. At least I still got my broadband access.

Don't get me wrong, I love him. He's practically the only truly cool in-law I have (excellent sense of humour). He's just a big jack ass when it comes to the fine print, and he refuses to admit his ignorance and mistakes.

[Erwin_Br]

Hmm, interesting. We have quite a few Turkish people living in the neighborhood and you can instantly recognize where they live... by the satellite dishes! No kidding. Maybe it's a Turkish obsession?

(But they're very friendly people)

--Erwin

[Intrepid Homoludens]

I dunno about that. All I know is that we're waiting for satellite man to come install the dish. Maybe he's Turkish.

BTW, I noticed on the details that satellite Internet comes at 500kps d/l and 75 kps uploads. How would that 75 kps affect my online gaming of SoFII?

[Erwin_Br]

You know it uses a telephone connection for upload, right? Because a satellite can only receive signals.

--Erwin

[ragnar]

Originally Posted by Erwin_Br

Hmm, interesting. We have quite a few Turkish people living in the neighborhood and you can instantly recognize where they live... by the satellite dishes! No kidding. Maybe it's a Turkish obsession?

(But they're very friendly people)

--Erwin

It's not an obsession. I think it's simply because they want to see some Turkish channels, not available otherwise in Netherlands.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

We've been officially offline for over a week now, and likely to be so for about another week. Which is why my reputation of being here 24/7 is now on the rocks.

The modem shorted on us. So I called it in, got to speak again to a very pleasant rep with that accent I really love (honestly!) in India, halfway around the world, and of course transferred to another rep Stateside just for them to tell me what I already knew. Standard procedure. So the guy said he'll order us up a replacement modem - 3 to 5 business days. That's fine, I said. When it arrived, the adapter was missing . So I tried using the adapter from the broken modem. It didn't work. I called them again, went through the whole drama of speaking to another pleasant Indian for 30 minutes, then transferred to an American technician for another 30 minutes, all so that he could tell me he'll send a replacement adapter. Another 3-5 business days.

Great. 3 days pass, I call them back. Turns out they ordered one for me, but it went 'missing' in the mail..... . I said, "Goddammit, I WANT THAT ADAPTER SHIPPED OVERNIGHT NOW!" They said they'd ship it FedEx 2nd Day Air .

Okay, so it finally arrives, my brother-in-law watches me install it. Modem power light goes on. But there's no signal. I call them again, have a 'lovely' chat with another Indian fellow, but this time he walks me through the entire modem re-registration process , which I was never told about when the modem was ordered. We're back online for one night. Yep, one night.

Next day we're offline again. I call them. Yep, you guessed it - 30 minute chat with Indian rep, 30 minutes with American techie. The problem this time is that the 'transmission cable' is fukced up. Which means a service call, someone will have to come over to fix it, which means another 3-5 business days, and having to WAIT for the contractor to call us to arrange a time to come over to fix it. This whole thing was what, four phone calls, average 1 hour per call. 4 hours total of my time for them to tell me the modem's dead, the replacement modem's gone MIA in the post, the adapter's missing, re-registering the modem, and telling me the transmission cable needs fixing. On top of the fact that we're offline for at least 2 weeks from a service that costs almost twice as much more than cable service (t.v. AND internet) with equipment that costs several hundred dollars to buy and install.

I'll emphasize as well that ever since my moron-in-law started this service we average 1 to 2 tech support call-ins every month for one kind of problem or another.

And you're asking how I can post this now? Well, my moron-in-law has a trial subscription to AOL (frightening yes) dialup.

Have nice f#&king evening.