Wednesday, July 21, 2004
The more I set up my new place, the more I don't regret getting a land line phone, cable, or internet at my last place.
Friday, I talked with the resident manager at my new apartment. The intercom system here runs through the phone and doesn't work on cellphones. So I called up and got the cheapest land package they have. I'm still going to use my cellphone for most things. Just use the landline for the intercom and when I can't use my cellphone or don't want to explain why I'm using a pittsburgh area code when I'm living in Jersey. Anyway, the phone guy is coming tomorrow to hook up the line.
I also signed up for cable and internet via cable modem. I got my cable modem self-installation kit yesterday. It was left at the front desk of the apartments. I got upstairs. The manual was on a cd-rom in pdf format. I, unfortunately, never bothered to download the adobe reader. So I was stuck in a situation where I had to download something from the internet to be able to read the manual on how to hook the computer up to the internet. Luckily for me, the building has wireless internet in certain public areas. I took the laptop down to the one room and watched tv as I downloaded the reader. Came back upstairs and hooked up the cable. I got it up. I brought the smaller of my tvs back with me this weekend so I'd have something to test the cable on if it got installed. I hooked it up and got just static. I called and left a message at the cable company inquiring when my cable would be turned on.
I got a call today from the cable company saying that my cable should already be turned on and I don't need a converter box. So they scheduled a service call for tomorrow to see why all I'm getting is static. I spent lunch on the phone taking care of errands, so I ended up working later. I came out of work to find the parking lot full of cars with people parking for a concert at the nearby amphitheatre. There were still tailgaters even though it was a hour after the start of the concert. It's weird to see people tailgating outside where I work.
As I was walking to the apartment, the voice mail indicator went off on my phone, despite my phone never ringing. I tried calling voice mail, but couldn't connect. Trying calling a few people. I couldn't get through to anybody. Not having phone service is a bad thing when you're trying to conduct a move and the phone is the only way for the front desk to let me know if someone, say a phone or cable guy, is there. I got online and verizon has a chat with customer service feature, but she couldn't fix it and said it must be a hardware issue and I should take it to the verizon store, which was closed for the night by that point.
I went to try the cable again and it works now. But the old tv only gets up to channel 125, which is good for basic cable but not digital. I look at the channel guide and it says that for digital, a converter box is needed.
My phone service actually came on long enough to let me know I had text messages, so I knew it was not a hardware problem.
Finally, the phone service came on for good, hopefully. I called the cable company and left a message saying that the cable is working but I wanted digital cable and their paper says digital cable requires a converter box.
Also, I'm getting all the non-payperview premium channel when all i signed up for was hbo and showtime, but that could just be a special.
So, as it stands now, the phone guy is coming before noon tomorrow. The cable guy is coming between 11am and 5pm, unless they get my message and let me know I dont' need a box, which means I'll be paying for digital cable for ten days with a tv that can't get those channels. And sometime between then, I need to find time to go to work.
Friday, I talked with the resident manager at my new apartment. The intercom system here runs through the phone and doesn't work on cellphones. So I called up and got the cheapest land package they have. I'm still going to use my cellphone for most things. Just use the landline for the intercom and when I can't use my cellphone or don't want to explain why I'm using a pittsburgh area code when I'm living in Jersey. Anyway, the phone guy is coming tomorrow to hook up the line.
I also signed up for cable and internet via cable modem. I got my cable modem self-installation kit yesterday. It was left at the front desk of the apartments. I got upstairs. The manual was on a cd-rom in pdf format. I, unfortunately, never bothered to download the adobe reader. So I was stuck in a situation where I had to download something from the internet to be able to read the manual on how to hook the computer up to the internet. Luckily for me, the building has wireless internet in certain public areas. I took the laptop down to the one room and watched tv as I downloaded the reader. Came back upstairs and hooked up the cable. I got it up. I brought the smaller of my tvs back with me this weekend so I'd have something to test the cable on if it got installed. I hooked it up and got just static. I called and left a message at the cable company inquiring when my cable would be turned on.
I got a call today from the cable company saying that my cable should already be turned on and I don't need a converter box. So they scheduled a service call for tomorrow to see why all I'm getting is static. I spent lunch on the phone taking care of errands, so I ended up working later. I came out of work to find the parking lot full of cars with people parking for a concert at the nearby amphitheatre. There were still tailgaters even though it was a hour after the start of the concert. It's weird to see people tailgating outside where I work.
As I was walking to the apartment, the voice mail indicator went off on my phone, despite my phone never ringing. I tried calling voice mail, but couldn't connect. Trying calling a few people. I couldn't get through to anybody. Not having phone service is a bad thing when you're trying to conduct a move and the phone is the only way for the front desk to let me know if someone, say a phone or cable guy, is there. I got online and verizon has a chat with customer service feature, but she couldn't fix it and said it must be a hardware issue and I should take it to the verizon store, which was closed for the night by that point.
I went to try the cable again and it works now. But the old tv only gets up to channel 125, which is good for basic cable but not digital. I look at the channel guide and it says that for digital, a converter box is needed.
My phone service actually came on long enough to let me know I had text messages, so I knew it was not a hardware problem.
Finally, the phone service came on for good, hopefully. I called the cable company and left a message saying that the cable is working but I wanted digital cable and their paper says digital cable requires a converter box.
Also, I'm getting all the non-payperview premium channel when all i signed up for was hbo and showtime, but that could just be a special.
So, as it stands now, the phone guy is coming before noon tomorrow. The cable guy is coming between 11am and 5pm, unless they get my message and let me know I dont' need a box, which means I'll be paying for digital cable for ten days with a tv that can't get those channels. And sometime between then, I need to find time to go to work.
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