more animals

The cause of my woes, it appears and I’m actively hoping, was interference by Zonealarm free firewall software. It’s served well in [...]]]> So after many evolutions, and two minutes-burning cell phone calls to SWCP tech support (who were helpful, anyway), we seem to be back in business:  connected to DSL via wireless network.

more animals

The cause of my woes, it appears and I’m actively hoping, was interference by Zonealarm free firewall software. It’s served well in the past, at least apparently.  It may’ve been that elephant-repellent thing; I’ve no real way of knowing.

The tech I spoke to on my second call, who had me turn ZA off, assured me software firewalls aren’t too necessary anymore. At least in my case, since my DSL modem comes with a hardware firewall.

Also, after I succeeded in connecting yesterday, I DL’d a new-mark “upgrade” of ZA. Since the phone jack on my notebook computer went out several weeks ago I hadn’t been online with that machine for a long time. So I routinely upgraded the everyday stuff: ZA, AVG antivirus, the Fox, T-bird, and Opera, which I use as an alternate browser. It’s entirely possible the older ZA wouldn’t have screwed me up.

Whether or no, this also allows me (briefly, before I get back to writing real stuff!) to ride another favorite hobbyhorse of mine:  my aversion to automatic updates. Yes, the ZA update was entirely knowing and deliberate; mea freakin’ culpa.

It still points up a reason I eschew automatic updates, and generally don’t update at all until I get some kind of feedback on whether the update will do something like switch free software to pay, work worse than the older mark (or not at all), or bust the registry and screw up my machine. All of which have happened to me in the past.

One can’t get complacent even with people who’re generally reliable. A few months ago I installed a new download manager from eMusic, whom I like quite a lot. And it a) had less usability for me than the old version; and b) didn’t actually work.

I should’ve known better because a year or so earlier eMusic had put out a mandatory upgrade that was such a total fiasco they made an updated version of their old DL manager available, which I promptly installed and liked. This time they gave me a choice; I DL’d and installed the new one. And bang.

While the new manager might actually work with broadband – on dialup it would not successfully complete a DL – I mean not one – I won’t go to it despite being nagged whenever I open my old DL manager because it doesn’t do what I want it to do as well as the old version. The eMusic development gnomes appear to’ve gotten all entranced by the idea that I need a browser and an MP3 player. Yeah, like I don’t already have those things. Like about five each. (Okay, I think just three browsers, and Internet Exploiter hardly counts because I do not use it.)

Plus they gave an option to install a new toolbar – yeah, that’s what I need, too:  something else getting between me and what I’m really trying to do onscreen. They suckered me into trying it by offering a free daily MP3 – without revealing up front it was one of their choosing. Yes, another thing I can’t live without: filling up my dwindling hard drive space with megabytes from the same crappy garage bands whose unrelenting Friending attempts do so much to make the MySpace experience what it is. By which I mean, Hell.

The toolbar itself offered nothing of value. Except a really suave realtime local-weather monitor. I liked that so much I installed a Firefox add-on called Forecastfox which, while not quite as cool as the eMusic one (so far as I’ve ascertained; haven’t had time or inclination to monkey with all the options yet) serves just fine. Off went the toolbar.

Since I’m in pissin’+moanin’ mode, I note their seem to be trends in insufferable arrogance among software developers. At one point it was all the rage to try to plunk their software into the startup menu. Even on a Win95 machine with about the clock speed of my Palm T|X, that tended to shave off, like, oh, 0.5 seconds from the time it took the program to come up. But it sure did eat up RAM, and slow the damned computer wa-a-ay down!

Then the fad was to have a given program jump all the file associations that were even remotely relevant, so you had to go back and prevent your music player from trying to run all your video files incompetently – if you were lucky and it didn’t take over, say, your spreadsheet files.

These days (along with trying to hang browsers and music players on every goddam thing) the burning hotness is those stupid toolbars.  If I installed half of them as wanted it, I’d be writing this on a workspace the size of a postage stamp. Of course a lot of sites – this at least is abating some – insist on using a micrometer font that would fit the whole Bible into a space like that. Maybe there’s some kind of symbiosis going on here?

Woof!  Rowr!  Grr. Arrgh.

Yes, I decided to take some of my pet peeves out for a run today. They’ve been fed so goddam much lately they need the exercise.

Overall things do well here: the pets and I are all okay, my friends seem to be healthy. It’s good.

I am peeved, however, over my woes trying to get cell phone service restored.

Apparently on Sunday while walking Emma on the ditch west of my [...]]]> 12/25/08 – Well, the big day is here. Merry Christmas everybody!

Overall things do well here: the pets and I are all okay, my friends seem to be healthy. It’s good.

I am peeved, however, over my woes trying to get cell phone service restored.

Apparently on Sunday while walking Emma on the ditch west of my house I lost my old TracFone. I’d had it since Autumn 2005 and was generally very happy with it. I also found myself quite dependent on it, for things such as keeping track of friends I was meeting up with, and of course times my car broke down. So I was quite distressed to lose it.

Monday, after confirming it was gone (by the reliable method of calling the number and trying to hunt down the ring) the Em and I retraced our steps: no luck, although we enjoyed another pleasant walk.

Trying to buy a new one led to a lot of wasted motion. I finally ascertained what I wanted to replace my little lost pod phone was a Motorola W376g – basically similar to their no-longer-trendy Razr. With double minutes for life (TracFone is a pay-as-you-go service), Bluetooth capability, and a camera it represented a big upgrade over my beloved old phone, and would cost 10 bucks more than I paid for it (unless I was dumb enough to buy it at Kmart, which charges $50 for a phone TracFone’ll sell you online for $30.) I found one at the good price at Radio Shack.

Plus it’s a flip-phone. Laugh if you will, ye who have had a flip phone since Napoleon was still a corporal; long and long have I desired one. Think: “Scotty, beam me up.”

So anyway, the next step was to activate it. Because I’d reported the old phone lost Monday, when I found out about it, I couldn’t take care of that online. Then began the Great Siege.

Update, 12/29/08: The Rest of the Story – Whoa! First first: finally got the new phone running, with my old number, no less. Huge relief!

I started this post on Christmas Day. Life, plus fatigue, intervened to keep it incomplete. Among other distractions (such as, well, Christmas) I’m about to finish the rewrite on the latest Annja book and ship it off: yay.

Anyway, back to the narrative and synopsizing: I called and waited and called and waited. Couldn’t even start the process the night I got the new phone – Tuesday – because TracFone customer service only operates 9AM-9PM, in what time zone I never ascertained. Wait, I thought it was like morning in Mumbai when it’s nighttime here. Also, WTF? A phone co without 24/7/366 (check your calendar) service?

Oh, well/ TracFone’s a cheap service. I’m told Verizon actually has a local service center and holds your hand; it also costs a boatload more. I understand that when one goes discount one must make certain concessions.

But not this many. When I tried to fire up the new phone and transfer my minutes, beginning Wednesday (just what I wanted to do Christmas Eve!) was when the fun truly began. It kept not activating and not activating; I kept calling and nice Indian people, some with fairly thick accents, politely put me off.

Then I was told the SIM card for the new phone had been associated with the old phone – which had somehow been reactivated, listed as stolen, and locked. Thus the new SIM card, which came with my brand-new phone, was locked and could not be activated at all – basically bricked.

Right. I don’t get it, either.

The upshot was that I needed yet another SIM card. Either I could exchange the phone – lots of luck, since this was the only one I could find at a decent price – or wait 3-5 days for a new SIM to be shipped to me. Arrgh!

Subsequently, in response to an email complaint I sent them about the whole mess, I was told it could take 7 days to get me the new card. Good times!

But Saturday brought a bit of relief in the form of an email to the effect that the card had been shipped DHL and was due 12/29, this being today. And lo! It landed on my doorstep about 11;30 AM.

Dreading what I must now undergo I dragged my heels before calling in. Per the instructions from the last CSR I asked immediately to escalate to a supervisor, which seemed to miff the woman who took the call. Shortly I was speaking to a pleasant young woman who called herself Hannah (or Anna) Marie. Speaking English with a much-less perceptible accent would appear to be a mark of supervisor status. Anyway we got the process started – and she told me I might have to wait 72 hours for the phone to activate with my old number.

As you might imagine I chirped a bit about that. I’ll add that I kept calm and didn’t swear or rave – yeah, I know: hard to believe. But I always try to deal with people in these situations calmly and politely. 1) I’ve been there – I did phone tech support in 2000-2001; 2) It’s the decent thing to do; 3) and most important: Victor’s First Law of Fine Dining: Be Polite to Your Server Unless You Enjoy Piss-Flavored Soup. I think we understand one another.

However a bit of squeaking persuaded Hannah Marie to guide me through a process whereby I’d enter lengthy number-strings she read to me, and in return I wouldn’t have to wait three more days to use a phone I bought last week. Which seemed a decent exchange.

Most importantly, as indicated above: it works!

So yes, folks, I’m mobile once more. And yes, Ms. Sara, I do indeed have the same number. Thanks for asking.

Oh – had a fine Christmas; hope you did the same. Hung out with my pal Joe most of the day. Did solo Christmas dinner at Furrs, which was deeply okay: I got the things I craved, these being turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy, and corn. Not the best Christmas dinner I’ve had but far better than the fancy hotel buffet I spent three times as much for a couple years ago. I was happy. Then I went to Steve and Kathy’s house, which they kindly opened for the usual SF bunch suspects (they’re really excellent people), and we hung out and watched a Futurama Robot Claus episode (“Santa Claus is gunning you down!”) and the Robot Chicken Christmas Special and my all-time favorite Christmas movie (what else but Die Hard?) Which still totally rules, twenty years on.

We also exchanged presents. I, one thing or another, had none yet to give (but I will, once this darned book’s delivered.) I got many wonderful presents indeed from my fine friends. Plus I got to spend Christmas with my voluntary extended family. Which is what meant the most to me.

(If that sounds hokey, let it. I’m fifty-four years old and live alone but for my pets, who are also my family. When my life crashed in ruins in 2000 my animals, my friends, and my fans very literally kept me alive with their emotional support. So that sort of thing means a lot to me.)

So now I’m back and I’m bad. Or at least I can keep touch with friends I’m trying to meet up with and call AAA if my car breaks down, knock wood it won’t. Other than that I’m probably no worse than before. Now I’m gonna go finish the darn book and take a few deep breaths.

Happy New Year, everybody!