Pandora's Box

The Best Laid Plans....

I have photos. I have stories. I have insights and observations and I want to share them all with you. Unfortunately....

It started when we got home from Ft. Lauderdale last night. The clock on the mantle read nearly 9pm, but we were still operating on Eastern Daylight Time; midnight was encroaching and we were exhausted. Still, knowing that the best way to fight jet lag is to get on the new schedule as soon as possible, we unpacked, and watered flowers, and brought in the huge box sitting on the front doormat

Remember Pandora? I wish I had last night. I opened the damn thing and found Comcast's new box and cables and wires and easy instructions all of which are designed to speed up my internet access. I think. All I really know is that Comcast is exerting all kinds of pressure to get me to install the new system. There was a message on the answering machine, reminding me to order my equipment.

That should have been another clue. The delivery system is obviously not communicating with the enrollment department. Once again, I ignored the sign. I paid the price.

I was smart enough to wait until morning before tackling the project. Up at 6:46... or 9:46.... or something.... I did my morning yoga practice and brought back bagel sandwiches for breakfast and read The Sunday Paper and then I opened the box.

The instruction booklet is red and white and filled with smiling faces. Theirs were the only ones in the room. The next clue that this was not the simple process promised by the brochure came when I had to find the serial number. The print is miniscule, there were more than a dozen numbers and letters, and it took me two tries to get it right. Get what right, you wonder? The first step is to put the numbers in an easily accessible place. The only reason to need those numbers is if you are calling because there's a problem.... and Comcast wants me to keep them close at hand.

I really ought to pay more attention to the signs the universe is sending,.

I recorded the numbers, I unfurled the cable, I “finger tightened” it to the wall and to the new box. I attached the power cord to the box and the surge protector. I looked for one of the five choices of codes next to a blinking light on the front of the device. None of them were there. I checked. Twice. My box had none of the combinations in the instruction booklet. It did, after a while, have a blinking light.

This was good news. I was to wait until the light stopped blinking before moving to the next step. I waited. I waited. It blinked, pausing every once in a while, then beginning again, continuing to annoy me as I spent 24 minutes on hold with Comcast Customer Service before they cut me off and then 14 more minutes before a young woman in a foreign land asked me irrelevant questions.... blinking.

I wondered if it was supposed to turn off entirely or stay lit. Not knowing what to expect just added to my angst. I hate this kind of problem. I wondered why I had ignored TBG's plea to pay Comcast to come and install it. “That's why we have some money. This is not your area of expertise. These things make you crazy.” All true. All ignored.

The live chat person was in the middle of asking me the same irrelevant questions posed by the phone agent when that poor recipient of my vitriol... I really tried to keep it in check but I was rapidly losing patience with the whole situation... when she finally realized that she could get rid of me by scheduling an appointment. That was what I had been asking for. I didn't want her to help me install the kit. I wanted it done for me. Somehow, she needed time to hear what I was asking.

I don't know why it was so hard. I started both the online chat and the phone conversation the same way: “I have this new installation package and I need to make an appointment to have someone come at and connect it.”

They are coming tomorrow between 1 and 2... a nice, one hour window. They could have come at 8am, but I am going to class in the morning. That's pretty good response time, given that today is Sunday and tomorrow is a holiday, so I'm holding out some hope that this will all be resolved.

For now, I'm off to sponge on the library's wi-fi; cutting and pasting this text document into The Burrow and sending it off into the ether for you.
*****
Comcast called me before I went to sleep to be sure I still wanted my appointment.  They called again this morning, reconfirming their reconfirmation.  Daniel the Technician, an Army Signal Corpsman and all around nice guy, agreed with me that the instructions did not resemble the actions which needed to be taken.  He fixed all manner of things, made sure that every device we own was connected to the new modem-cum-wireless-router which is what the new gizmo seems to be.  The old Linksys router is curled up on the carpet, ready to go out to the "maybe someday I'll use these electronic thingies" bag in the garage.

Everything is working and I feel fine.  I can't believe I'm saying this, but here it is: Thank you, Comcast.  Thank you very much.