Re: Since the list is so quiet....

Oh Judy . . do you wish us to struggle w/your antiquated system? Yes
you do . . and, darnit, you still want that dial-up. And don't worry
about old folks taking up gum printing . . . I'm now old and I have
not YET got to it. Yes, you are backward but more in the recalcitrant
aspect of Ludditism: solely for the 'old daze'. However, this is the
technological, not the Industrial revolution and I don't want you to
run around in circles (revolution . . . get it?).

I do realize my harangue might fall upon deaf ears but simply put
check out various other providers such as the "new" AT&T and see what
their DSL costs. Fortunately we are 100% optic fiber here and I am on
Comcast (don't like 'em politically) cable, which flies like a
gazelle across the Serengeti. My life is simply better with a better
connection for the dial-up was similar to the physical problem known
as constipation.

A 'new' provider will come to the house and check all the outlets and
make sure the system is working. One caution regarding something like
DSL is that further you are from a nodal point the quality of service
and speed diminishes. Have them TELL YOU how close you are. If you
are not near such a junction or service point, dial-up might still be
smart.

And, finally, you are like your namesake, willing to sneak into the
enemy camp, slay the top dog and return to home safe to rally the
troops. That camp does have some modern ways that might be okay.
Suffice it to say my simile does not fully hold.

Your 'old' pal,
Jack Fulton

On August2006, at 9:38 PM, Judy Seigel wrote:

>
> Since the list is so quiet, I figured I might be able to appeal to
> the leashed brain power & expertise for advice on a problem that
> arrives suddenly after more than 10 years of dial up... So I'm
> hopelessly backward, but that's well known -- who else would take
> up gum printing in old age?
>
> My problem is -- I'm still doing e-mail by dial up --which actually
> has many advantages, including that I get to spend the oodles of
> money saved on more intellectual pursuits (although the real reason
> I do it is (a) stubborness... and (b) simplicity, I have enough
> systems, services, contrivances, and "service providers" in this
> house for an army). Besides which I can really excuse myself from
> web hopping, which makes me old before my time.... So what's the
> problem?
>
> A couple of weeks ago I started getting an intermittent "no dial
> tone" message from my attempts via terminal emulator (Z-term) to
> log on... though I could lift up the phone and get a dial tone.
> Trying an hour or two later, I did get a tone, so I figured there
> was just too much traffic... somewhere.
>
> But today I couldn't get a dial tone all day, so tonight (12:30-ish
> AM) I plugged into an extension of my husband's office phone which
> is nearby (I mean sometimes I HAVE to use touch tone, since my
> dearly beloved white antique wall phone is rotary... And, I'll have
> you know, I could get $45 for that on e-bay. I think folks use them
> as planters, or ash trays, or something.)
>
> So there is a dial tone out there & the problem is... something in
> the old phone? (Sob !)... That's intermittent? The demons got
> tired of Carmen and found me? Sliding down the telephone wire?
>
> But how could my rotary phone be working, give me a dial tone and
> calls in and out but say it has no dial tone for a connection? And
> some time later, with the same configuration, same connections,
> etc., decides to work, then maybe the next week won't? A loose
> connection? A flaky thumb plug?
>
> Verizon has lately been taking an overdose of dumb pills and was
> absolutely no use at all... they for instance left me one of those
> robot messages to say a non-working outlet was due to my faulty
> phone, when it belonged to somebody else in the house who had
> already had it fixed -- by verizon.
>
> So verizon said this problem was caused by my service provider, but
> it seems rather to be lodged in my old phone, a split personality
> of some sort. Anyway, I suppose that old phone which doesn't hear
> as well as I do any more is due to be replaced (ash tray anyone?).
> Can you still buy a landline phone? Anyway, thanks for listening,
> if anyone has a suggestion, that would be even better...
>
> Judy
Received on 08/09/06-11:01:20 PM Z