Wet Weather

So, I have already been commenting about the weird weather we have been experiencing in Lubbock. It continues.  Today, there were some scattered showers, and it would be raining in one place in town, and you could be feeling the rain, but seeing the bright sunshine and white clouds in another part of town.

This morning, the weather caster I was listening to said she swore someone was holding an umbrella over the rain gage, because it had rained hard, but there was no rain in the rain gage.  I no longer have a rain gage, but I heard the heavy rain, but the few places in my backyard where the rain collects were minimally wet!  

One of the effects of this weird weather is in communications.  I have long said at work that if it rains, or the wind is high, our phone and computer communications are affected.  Now, years later, there are many other people at work who agree with that, or advance that as their own observation.

Usually, my home is not affected anymore.  Years ago, when I used the land line phone, when the weather was wet, I could hear "shadow conversations" when I used my phone.  When I complained to the phone company, they insisted there was nothing wrong with the lines outside of my house, so they would have to come in and rewire my house at great expenses.   Since I could not make out the actual words of these "shadow conversations" I chose not be held hostage by the phone company and let them charge me for what I knew to be their problem.

Sometimes, though, I have observed that when the weather is wet or windy, my network connection is inconsistent.  As I was playing Words with Friends tonight, sometimes when I tried to play a word, I would receive a message that my network connection was not working.  Usually, although not always, when I hit "play" again, the word went through.  That happens when the weather is wet or windy, it just is what It is. 

Phone Service

So, my phone service was restored yesterday.  I am pleased about that.  I do want to upgrade to a smartphone. I just wonder about using the same service, or changing.  I am undecided. However, that decision will be put off for a while.

Sprint Lack of Service

Well, once again I am having problems with service from Sprint at my house.  It started Friday night and was intermittent until tonight, when I could not get service at all at my house.

I went down the street about 6 blocks and parked in the post office parking lot and called Sprint. The first person I talked to, Charlie kept feeding me the guff about the towers working and nothing is wrong.  He kept telling me, as did the pre-recorded Spring announcements, that I needed to call back on another device so he could walk me through the updates for my phone.  I told him if I could not get service from this phone call, there would not be another.  I explained I had been through this before, but I would not be making another phone call regarding service.  Well, Charlie convinced me he would help me, but needed to have me shut off the phone and he would call me back. I think he did, but I missed his call.

Because I felt responsible for missing Charlie's call, I tried multiple times again to access service from Sprint. Their mobile menus are not easy to figure out, but finally, I accessed Robert who was calm, had a good sense of humor that calmed me down, helped with what he could, and acknowledged that other techs may not have agreed to report tower problems. He helped me to get a PIN I could remember, told me how to update my phone, and said the tower closest to my house was red tagged, which meant that there was a problem.  He said he in putted that my problem was located around my house. He said that it would take at least until Wednesday to repair, but if by Wednesday, there was not a fix, to call back. Robert had a good sense of humor and was very kind and pleasant.

I have been considering upgrading my phone to a smart phone. As I explained to Robert, why would I upgrade with Sprint if they do not provide me good service.  If I spend money to upgrade, and I continue not to get good service, I have just wasted my money.

I do not have a land line, so I need cell phone service. I want reliable service.  I have been considering upgrading to a smart phone, but  I resent that I am being forced to do that by the cell phone company.  It should be my choice. Not dictated by some company's change of technology.

I am so frustrated by this.  I just want a phone that works. If I do not get service restored by Wednesday, I will call Sprint back, but just to tell them they suck, and am going to change to a different provider. 

I want a smart phone, but why would I get a smart phone if I cannot get access to service at my home. That makes no sense. 

The missing phone.

I mislaid my phone the day after Christmas.  I ran into a friend at the library, and as we shared Christmas stories, I embarrassingly added that one.   As I was leaving for home after the library, she agreed to call me in a time frame, allowing me to get home.  What a great help that was: my phone was charged, and I found it right where I had put it, in the pocket of the folding chair I have in the kitchen!  I have what used to be a state of the art flip phone, but is now a non-smart phone.  It is small and slips into nooks, crannies and pockets quite frequently.

Cell Phone Service

I have been a Sprint Cell Phone customer since 2003, and generally have been pleased with the service. Until recently.  Some months ago, I did not have cell phone service, and contacted Spring on their website.  They acknowledged, after a lot of back and forth, that there was a cell out in my area, and they anticipated it would be repaired in 2-3 days, and gave me credit for the down time.

Tonight, once again, I am without cell phone service. When I got on line to report it, the technician I contacted tried to talk to me about upgrading my phone, and intimated that it was my phone that was the problem, not their service. But, when I asked about upgrades, the technician could give me no details. This person tried to send a SMS through, and it took three tries, and finally I got all three, but could not respond. After going back and forth multiple times, the technician finally agreed to contact engineering to check on service in my area, and said they would call me back tomorrow. What good is a call back if I do not have phone service. These people are nuts.

My phone is old, and while I hate the idea of planned obsolescence, I have had to deal with it before. As in when Suddenlink, my cable service, upgraded their service, and my modem became obsolete. Of course, if I rented a modem from them, they would have provided a new one. But, in the long run, buying one is cheaper than paying interminable rent.

So, tonight, I will hope that I am safe without a phone.  This makes me think I might want to investigate bundling a land line, just for emergency purposes if the cell goes out. 

Well, technology is nice when it works.