A poster child for my ISP

We have had Verizon DSL service ever since it was offered here. I have had very few, i. e. near zero, problems. Not totally trouble free, but over five years... near zero. I am happy. I would be loathe to change.

If you've ever signed up for DSL, then you know the drill: they're going to check your line to see if you're close enough to the office. Since I share a back fence with the local office (live downtown and you too can be zoned commercial), I was fairly certain I'd pass. That accomplished, we were in business.

Then last Friday night, the trouble began. My service became erratic and the light which should be steady on the modem would blink. And blink. For an hour. Then be steady. Blink. Not going to do.

By Sunday, with static on the house phones beginning, I figured that a new modem (my first choice to fix the deal) wasn't the answer. Alas, I had difficulty getting/staying on the line with customer service. I finally used my cell phone and after an hour of do-this and do-that (none of which worked), the patient customer service rep (he really was very nice) made a ticket and promised someone outside the house to check the lines the next day.

Monday morning, I'm waiting. Up drives William the Wonderful and checks the lines. He needs to check on the pole. A few minutes later, he's back. The problem is Verizon's with the lines. They need to be replaced from several poles back. Reason: the friendly, neighborhood squirrels have nearly chewed them in half. Tongue in cheek, I told him I regularly fed them so I just couldn't imagine why they would do that. He rolled his eyes.

Two hours later (did I mention it was drizzling most of this time?), the new line is strung and William the W and I are pinging my connection. A few hints about not stacking the modem and router and a strong suggestion to upgrade the equipment (I'll be calling next week) and W the W was gone.

Then yesterday, I read a article in the Wall Street Journal where the author was talking about the service from Verizon on lines. He too was complimentary. I'd like to think this was the norm, although I've heard complaints.

Here's to never having to edit this post.