Author: R J Adams

Eleven days ago our TV, Broadband, and phone service went dead after an ice storm took out the supply cable that runs between two poles at the side of the house.

I contacted the cable company by cellphone and was told they would come and fix it. Two days later, I rang again and was told they were scheduled to come out that very day.

Of course, they didn’t.

Next day, I rang again, and was told they were scheduled to come out that very day.

Of course, they didn’t.

Next day, I rang again, and was told they were scheduled to come out that very day.

Of course, they didn’t.

This continued for eight days, until Friday, December 8th, when the lady again apologised for the delay and said they were quite definitely scheduled to be out that day, and they certainly would fix it before the weekend.

Of course, they didn’t.

The next day, I cleaned up both ends of the cable, soldered them together and restored my TV, Broadband, and phone service.

The cable is now lying, draped along my yard path, curving elegantly skywards to the pole at the far end of my yard.

Today, eleven days after the storm, three cable company vehicles arrived outside my house. One was towing a large cable drum.

“Aha!” I thought, “At last, they’ve come to fix my cable.”

The three vehicles all took turns to reverse into my drive and turn around (we live in a ‘dead-end’ road) before stopping in front of the house. One man left his vehicle, walked across the road to a property opposite, then returned a few moments later. After a quick discussion, all three vehicles proceeded to drive away.

That was two hours ago. They have not returned.

Do I care? Not in the least. My TV, Broadband, and phone service are working perfectly. As for the cable draped down the path, it may be a problem come spring when I venture back out of doors. If they haven’t returned by then I’ll probably give them a call. Though they may notice when I don’t pay my bill.

The name of the cable company? Insight Comunications of Illinois.

Avoid them like the plague.

Filed under: Really crap companies

Pinochet is dead. Will anyone mourn? If ever there was a time to hang out bunting and celebrate, it is now. For many, solace will be the thought of Augusto Pinochet burning in Hell for eternity. He will not, for Hell is a myth. But if ever anyone deserved it, he did.

In a news report headlined: “White House remembers “difficult” Pinochet era” a White House spokesman said, “Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile represented one of the most difficult periods in that nation’s history……..Our thoughts today are with the victims of his reign and their families. We commend the people of Chile for building a society based on freedom, the rule of law, and respect for human rights.”

Commendable, considering the United States fully supported Pinochet’s military coup that overthrew a democratically elected government, and then went on to murder over three thousand people, many taken from their homes and never seen again.

Pinochet later went on to steal over $27 million dollars, a matter still being investigated at the time of his death. Cocaine smuggling was another possible sideline of the General, though it has never been proved.

US policy doesn’t change much over the years. Democracy was a convenient weapon to use against a Middle Eastern dictator in 2003, when he thumbed his nose at American foreign policy; it was conveniently forgotten by Richard Nixon in 1973 when Augusto Pinochet wrested political control of Chile, with US backing, from the democratically elected Marxist government. It has been accomodatingly overlooked once again in 2006 when the US, along with its “allies” cut funding to the democratically elected Hamas government in Palestine, because it failed to meet US criteria. That decision was taken knowing full well it would cause further untold hardship to the Palestinian people and result in the eventual collapse of the Hamas government.

US foreign policy over the years has been brutal, cold and uncaring. Yet, in many ways it has only reflected the attitudes of many Americans, though certainly not all, who care little what happens in the rest of the world provided their own small part of that world remains safe, secure and unaffected by anything that occurs outside US boundaries.

So long as nations like the United States are content to support murdererous dictators like Augusto Pinochet and scuttle democratic processes when such actions are considered in the “US interest”, the world will continue to be rocked by wars, genocides, and mass murder.

Filed under: Friends of the US

Sparrow Chat is up and running again! At long last, the internet is restored. Do we raise our glasses and toast the good services of our cable provider for this resumption?

No.

“Insight Communications”, having promised faithfully that a repair man would be out the same day, on each of the eight daily occasions I have rung them since our power was restored on December 2nd, still have not been observed anywhere in our neighborhood.

Having finally reached the very limit of my patience….and a bit beyond…….this morning the weather had improved sufficiently for me to don twenty layers of clothing and venture out to assess the damage.

The offending cable had parted just before it reached the house. Grabbing a ladder, pliers, and a soldering iron, I headed skywards, and within ten minutes the ends had been spliced and we were “on-air” once more.

Had I realized it was so simple, I’d have done it a week ago!

God alone knows when the official repairman will get around to calling. Frankly. I don’t care anymore.

As the old adage has it:- “If you want a job doing properly – do it yourself.”

Over the last week I have written a number of posts. I have now published them in descending order for ease of reading. They are all dated “December 1st”, to kid WordPress into publishing them in the right order, and are set out below.

It’s good to be back.

Filed under: DIY