[OT] Tragedy, narrowly averted

[Leonard Blaisdell]

Saturday night, my life changed. Our U-Verse DVR went out, and I lost
all my taped programs and the ability to tape, pause and fast-forward
any shows, on any TV. The satellite U-Verse TV still worked, barely.
I had to start fooling with the paradigm and remotes provided by Hulu,
Apple+, Netflix, Paramount+, Roku, Samsung, etcetera. I never bothered
to do that before. It sucks, but I learned a little.
Today, an AT&T tech showed up and reminded me that U-Verse is unsupported
technology, but he'd see what he had in his truck. What he had, after
some serious monkeying with my system, worked.
I'm back, Baby!

[ObFood] My wife has a gout-bout, so I made her a tuna sandwich and
served it with a pickle. I'm a good boy!

leo

[ItsJoanNotJoAnn]

Post by Leonard Blaisdell
Saturday night, my life changed. Our U-Verse DVR went out, and I lost
all my taped programs and the ability to tape, pause and fast-forward
any shows, on any TV. The satellite U-Verse TV still worked, barely.
I had to start fooling with the paradigm and remotes provided by Hulu,
Apple+, Netflix, Paramount+, Roku, Samsung, etcetera. I never bothered
to do that before. It sucks, but I learned a little.
Today, an AT&T tech showed up and reminded me that U-Verse is
unsupported
technology, but he'd see what he had in his truck. What he had, after
some serious monkeying with my system, worked.
I'm back, Baby!

None of your remotes can be programmed to operate everything??
But glad the AT&T guy got you back up and running again.

Sling TV announced a week ago unlimited storage, BUT any
movies will only be stored for nine (9) months. GRRRRRRRR
This is why this dinosaur still buys DVDs.

Post by Leonard Blaisdell
[ObFood] My wife has a gout-bout, so I made her a tuna sandwich and
served it with a pickle. I'm a good boy!
leo

That's got to be painful; does she take any medication
for it??

[gm]

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn

Post by Leonard Blaisdell
Saturday night, my life changed. Our U-Verse DVR went out, and I lost
all my taped programs and the ability to tape, pause and fast-forward
any shows, on any TV. The satellite U-Verse TV still worked, barely.
I had to start fooling with the paradigm and remotes provided by Hulu,
Apple+, Netflix, Paramount+, Roku, Samsung, etcetera. I never bothered
to do that before. It sucks, but I learned a little.
Today, an AT&T tech showed up and reminded me that U-Verse is
unsupported
technology, but he'd see what he had in his truck. What he had, after
some serious monkeying with my system, worked.
I'm back, Baby!

None of your remotes can be programmed to operate everything??
But glad the AT&T guy got you back up and running again.
Sling TV announced a week ago unlimited storage, BUT any
movies will only be stored for nine (9) months. GRRRRRRRR
This is why this dinosaur still buys DVDs.

Welp, I've got a very nice collection of about 400 (mainly) Blu - rays
of classics, many from premium labels such as Criterion, etcetera...

They've been packed away for several years now as I watch everything via
streaming, e.g. Amazon Prime, etc...

You are welcome to bring up a truck to get them, as they need a nice
home... :-D

I recently sprang for a YouTube Premium membership, two months free, and
then $13.95/month. Worth it, as NO more pesky ads...

I watch many podcasts, etc., so well worth the reasonable fee...

O:-)

--
GM

--

[D]

Post by gm

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn

Post by Leonard Blaisdell
Saturday night, my life changed. Our U-Verse DVR went out, and I lost
all my taped programs and the ability to tape, pause and fast-forward
any shows, on any TV. The satellite U-Verse TV still worked, barely.
I had to start fooling with the paradigm and remotes provided by Hulu,
Apple+, Netflix, Paramount+, Roku, Samsung, etcetera. I never bothered
to do that before. It sucks, but I learned a little.
Today, an AT&T tech showed up and reminded me that U-Verse is unsupported
technology, but he'd see what he had in his truck. What he had, after
some serious monkeying with my system, worked.
I'm back, Baby!

None of your remotes can be programmed to operate everything??
But glad the AT&T guy got you back up and running again.
Sling TV announced a week ago unlimited storage, BUT any
movies will only be stored for nine (9) months. GRRRRRRRR
This is why this dinosaur still buys DVDs.

Welp, I've got a very nice collection of about 400 (mainly) Blu - rays
of classics, many from premium labels such as Criterion, etcetera...
They've been packed away for several years now as I watch everything via
streaming, e.g. Amazon Prime, etc...
You are welcome to bring up a truck to get them, as they need a nice
home... :-D
I recently sprang for a YouTube Premium membership, two months free, and
then $13.95/month. Worth it, as NO more pesky ads...

Whoa!!! Hold on there cowboy.... did you realize that you are paying 1674
USD over 10 years assuming the price stays the same?

Instead of doing that... why don't you just rip your DVD:s, and watch them
for free, when ever you like? You can build a little kodi-system, and
exactly replicate the Netflix experience. =)

When the internet goes down, my house will be the only house (well, except
for my business partners) where we still can enjoy music and video,
because we have our own local solutions!

Post by gm
I watch many podcasts, etc., so well worth the reasonable fee...
O:-)
--
GM
--

[ItsJoanNotJoAnn]

Post by gm

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn
Sling TV announced a week ago unlimited storage, BUT any
movies will only be stored for nine (9) months. GRRRRRRRR
This is why this dinosaur still buys DVDs.

Welp, I've got a very nice collection of about 400 (mainly) Blu - rays
of classics, many from premium labels such as Criterion, etcetera...
They've been packed away for several years now as I watch everything via
streaming, e.g. Amazon Prime, etc...
You are welcome to bring up a truck to get them, as they need a nice
home... :-D
I recently sprang for a YouTube Premium membership, two months free, and
then $13.95/month. Worth it, as NO more pesky ads...
I watch many podcasts, etc., so well worth the reasonable fee...
O:-)
--
GM

I looked at YouTube when I opted for Sling, but their
price was higher at the time, not as many show choices
and their retention period was shorter.

P.S. A yearly membership for YouTube is cheaper.

[Leonard Blaisdell]

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn
None of your remotes can be programmed to operate everything??
But glad the AT&T guy got you back up and running again.

No. Is that possible? I have a bunch of remotes, all different. I've
never found a new one that works with U-Verse, and I've tried.
AT&T wants U-Verse to go away. If you're not a current customer, you
can't buy it. I was lucky to get another DVR. The tech said it was
probably refurbished. He was certainly right.

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn

Post by Leonard Blaisdell
[ObFood] My wife has a gout-bout, so I made her a tuna sandwich and
served it with a pickle. I'm a good boy!

That's got to be painful; does she take any medication
for it??

She takes colchicine when needed. I take allopurinol every day.
Becoming a vegetarian might work. The Hell with that!

[Bruce]

On 6 Feb 2025 09:12:07 GMT, Leonard Blaisdell

Post by Leonard Blaisdell

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn
None of your remotes can be programmed to operate everything??
But glad the AT&T guy got you back up and running again.

No. Is that possible? I have a bunch of remotes, all different. I've
never found a new one that works with U-Verse, and I've tried.
AT&T wants U-Verse to go away. If you're not a current customer, you
can't buy it. I was lucky to get another DVR. The tech said it was
probably refurbished. He was certainly right.

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn

Post by Leonard Blaisdell
[ObFood] My wife has a gout-bout, so I made her a tuna sandwich and
served it with a pickle. I'm a good boy!

That's got to be painful; does she take any medication
for it??

She takes colchicine when needed. I take allopurinol every day.
Becoming a vegetarian might work. The Hell with that!

Don't underestimate the effect of even mild stress on gout.

[Dave Smith]

Post by Leonard Blaisdell
No. Is that possible? I have a bunch of remotes, all different. I've
never found a new one that works with U-Verse, and I've tried.
AT&T wants U-Verse to go away. If you're not a current customer, you
can't buy it. I was lucky to get another DVR. The tech said it was
probably refurbished. He was certainly right.

I have four. One is for my TV, one for the satellite, one for the DVD
player and one for the sound bar. Pressing the satellite remote will
turn on the receiver, the TV and the sound bar. The sound bar defaults
to a mode other than the optic cable it is connected with. My wife
cannot watch that TV unless I am home to turn it on for her.

[Cindy Hamilton]

Post by Dave Smith

Post by Leonard Blaisdell
No. Is that possible? I have a bunch of remotes, all different. I've
never found a new one that works with U-Verse, and I've tried.
AT&T wants U-Verse to go away. If you're not a current customer, you
can't buy it. I was lucky to get another DVR. The tech said it was
probably refurbished. He was certainly right.

I have four. One is for my TV, one for the satellite, one for the DVD
player and one for the sound bar. Pressing the satellite remote will
turn on the receiver, the TV and the sound bar. The sound bar defaults
to a mode other than the optic cable it is connected with. My wife
cannot watch that TV unless I am home to turn it on for her.

Our TV is connected via Ethernet to our cable modem. One remote
for the TV and soundbar (both are Samsung); another remote for
the DVD player, which we rarely use.

Is your wife ineducable?

[Dave Smith]

Post by Cindy Hamilton

Post by Dave Smith
I have four. One is for my TV, one for the satellite, one for the DVD
player and one for the sound bar. Pressing the satellite remote will
turn on the receiver, the TV and the sound bar. The sound bar defaults
to a mode other than the optic cable it is connected with. My wife
cannot watch that TV unless I am home to turn it on for her.

Our TV is connected via Ethernet to our cable modem. One remote
for the TV and soundbar (both are Samsung); another remote for
the DVD player, which we rarely use.
Is your wife ineducable?

I will let you come to your own conclusions. Let's just say we have has
this setup for about 4 years now and if I am not home she watched her
programs on the other TV.

[songbird]

Cindy Hamilton wrote:
...

Post by Cindy Hamilton
Is your wife ineducable?

some people are stubborn or spoiled or just set in their
ways. glad to say that at present none of the issues we
are dealing with here are impossible to work around.

heat system going out is not fun, but we're just calling
it camping until it gets fixed/replaced. hopefully we'll
get a 2nd quote this afternoon or early next week and can
get on with the next part of the adventure soon... and in
the meantime waiting on propane delivery and have several
rather cold evenings in the forecast. thank goodness we
have both electricity and propane.


songbird

[songbird]

Dave Smith wrote:
...remotes...

Post by Dave Smith
I have four. One is for my TV, one for the satellite, one for the DVD
player and one for the sound bar. Pressing the satellite remote will
turn on the receiver, the TV and the sound bar. The sound bar defaults
to a mode other than the optic cable it is connected with. My wife
cannot watch that TV unless I am home to turn it on for her.

Mom is similar, she hates dealing with any button pushing
even if it means pushing just a few.

i was trying to tell her the other day about how to use
the microwave to cook something without having it boil over
or need to be watched during the amount of time desired.
takes all of a few steps and buttons to press. nope. she
won't do it. we've had the same microwave for 5 years or
so. nope...

there's three remotes for the dvd player, the digital tv
converter box and the tv, but you don't need all of those as
i do have the universal remote set up well enough for most
things that you only need that one. it's just that once in
a while a certain button is needed and doesn't work on the
universal remote.

what really doesn't help at all is that when Mom gets
frustrated with something that is appearing to not work she
will bang it on the chair and that for sure doesn't help
anything at all, but i've not been able to get her to stop
destroying things. i get worried that if she ever goes
into dementia that she may start smashing things on me or
whatever, so i'm trying to contantly get her to relax and
be more patient because i don't want to have to take things
away from her or have her put into a care facility, but i
also can't tolerate being beat upon so... all this may be
moot and i sure hope so for the future - perhaps i'll go
nuts before she does but of course the best thing would be
for all of us to kick the bucket in our sleep, peacefully
and where we wish for that to happen and not in some
institution where nobody gives a shit at all. we recently
had a friend's remaining parent pass away. looks like he
sat down to take a break and maybe a bit of a nap and
passed away in his recliner and that was how she found him
that afternoon. i'd say that's a darned near perfect end.


songbird

[Mike Duffy]

Post by songbird
...remotes...

I have four. [...]. My wife cannot watch that TV
unless I am home to turn it on for her.

Mom is similar, she hates dealing with any button pushing
even if it means pushing just a few.

Every time we have a power failure, there is a series of
21 button pushes that need to be entered in order to silence
the alarm while it re-charges the on-board Ni-Cads.

Despite that I say it aloud, my wife has never picked it up.

[ItsJoanNotJoAnn]

Post by Leonard Blaisdell

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn
None of your remotes can be programmed to operate everything??
But glad the AT&T guy got you back up and running again.

No. Is that possible? I have a bunch of remotes, all different. I've
never found a new one that works with U-Verse, and I've tried.
AT&T wants U-Verse to go away. If you're not a current customer, you
can't buy it. I was lucky to get another DVR. The tech said it was
probably refurbished. He was certainly right.

I was using the Roku remote to control the TV/Sling but TV
decided to go to electronics heaven a year ago. I opted
for another Toshiba but this one is a Fire TV, and I let
it take control of Roku, Sling, Prime Video, Sirius,
everything. BUT I did not opt for a Fire Stick, I kept
the Roku stick and plugged it in. This remote controls
all the programs on the TV and any apps I might add.

Post by Leonard Blaisdell

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn

Post by Leonard Blaisdell
[ObFood] My wife has a gout-bout, so I made her a tuna sandwich and
served it with a pickle. I'm a good boy!

That's got to be painful; does she take any medication
for it??

She takes colchicine when needed. I take allopurinol every day.
Becoming a vegetarian might work. The Hell with that!

I hope she's better now.

[D]

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn

Post by Leonard Blaisdell
Saturday night, my life changed. Our U-Verse DVR went out, and I lost
all my taped programs and the ability to tape, pause and fast-forward
any shows, on any TV. The satellite U-Verse TV still worked, barely.
I had to start fooling with the paradigm and remotes provided by Hulu,
Apple+, Netflix, Paramount+, Roku, Samsung, etcetera. I never bothered
to do that before. It sucks, but I learned a little.
Today, an AT&T tech showed up and reminded me that U-Verse is
unsupported
technology, but he'd see what he had in his truck. What he had, after
some serious monkeying with my system, worked.
I'm back, Baby!

None of your remotes can be programmed to operate everything??
But glad the AT&T guy got you back up and running again.
Sling TV announced a week ago unlimited storage, BUT any
movies will only be stored for nine (9) months. GRRRRRRRR
This is why this dinosaur still buys DVDs.

Post by Leonard Blaisdell
[ObFood] My wife has a gout-bout, so I made her a tuna sandwich and
served it with a pickle. I'm a good boy!
leo

That's got to be painful; does she take any medication
for it??

I once read that ingesting massive amounts of vitamin C (we're talking
Linus Pauling amounts here) would cure gout. This is not scientifically
proven, so caveat emptor!

[gm]

Post by Leonard Blaisdell
Saturday night, my life changed. Our U-Verse DVR went out, and I lost
all my taped programs and the ability to tape, pause and fast-forward
any shows, on any TV. The satellite U-Verse TV still worked, barely.
I had to start fooling with the paradigm and remotes provided by Hulu,
Apple+, Netflix, Paramount+, Roku, Samsung, etcetera. I never bothered
to do that before. It sucks, but I learned a little.
Today, an AT&T tech showed up and reminded me that U-Verse is
unsupported
technology, but he'd see what he had in his truck. What he had, after
some serious monkeying with my system, worked.
I'm back, Baby!
[ObFood] My wife has a gout-bout, so I made her a tuna sandwich and
served it with a pickle. I'm a good boy!

Before I started on Allopurinol, tuna was generally a "no - go" for me,
as it's relatively high in purines... sardines would *really* trigger an
an attack...!!!

Hope Dear Wife feels better...!!!

--
GM

--

[Leonard Blaisdell]

Post by gm
Before I started on Allopurinol, tuna was generally a "no - go" for me,
as it's relatively high in purines... sardines would *really* trigger an
an attack...!!!

Oh, I know. We're a gout-house. I've been on allopurinol for ten years.
I suffered for ten years before that. She's just getting started.

Post by gm
Hope Dear Wife feels better...!!!

She will. Thank you!

leo

[gm]

Post by Leonard Blaisdell

Post by gm
Before I started on Allopurinol, tuna was generally a "no - go" for me,
as it's relatively high in purines... sardines would *really* trigger an
an attack...!!!

Oh, I know. We're a gout-house. I've been on allopurinol for ten years.
I suffered for ten years before that. She's just getting started.

Post by gm
Hope Dear Wife feels better...!!!

She will. Thank you!

Hope she starts on the Allo... colchicine generally caused me "gastric
distress"...

:-)

--
GM

--

[D]

Post by Leonard Blaisdell
Saturday night, my life changed. Our U-Verse DVR went out, and I lost
all my taped programs and the ability to tape, pause and fast-forward
any shows, on any TV. The satellite U-Verse TV still worked, barely.
I had to start fooling with the paradigm and remotes provided by Hulu,
Apple+, Netflix, Paramount+, Roku, Samsung, etcetera. I never bothered
to do that before. It sucks, but I learned a little.
Today, an AT&T tech showed up and reminded me that U-Verse is unsupported
technology, but he'd see what he had in his truck. What he had, after
some serious monkeying with my system, worked.
I'm back, Baby!

This is service! Only AT&T could deliver such service. I'm happy for you!
=) But let that be a warning, maybe in a few years, your media setup might
not survive another experience like this.

Post by Leonard Blaisdell
[ObFood] My wife has a gout-bout, so I made her a tuna sandwich and
served it with a pickle. I'm a good boy!

Yes! You will be richly rewarded in the bedroom tonight!

Post by Leonard Blaisdell
leo

[Cindy Hamilton]

Post by Leonard Blaisdell
Saturday night, my life changed. Our U-Verse DVR went out, and I lost
all my taped programs and the ability to tape, pause and fast-forward
any shows, on any TV. The satellite U-Verse TV still worked, barely.
I had to start fooling with the paradigm and remotes provided by Hulu,
Apple+, Netflix, Paramount+, Roku, Samsung, etcetera. I never bothered
to do that before. It sucks, but I learned a little.
Today, an AT&T tech showed up and reminded me that U-Verse is unsupported
technology, but he'd see what he had in his truck. What he had, after
some serious monkeying with my system, worked.
I'm back, Baby!

Congratulations. I've been exclusively streaming on my smart TV
since 2018. A single remote does it all. We like it a lot better
than linear TV. We don't watch any sports, but I'm given to
understand there are live streaming services for that.

[D]

Post by Cindy Hamilton

Post by Leonard Blaisdell
Saturday night, my life changed. Our U-Verse DVR went out, and I lost
all my taped programs and the ability to tape, pause and fast-forward
any shows, on any TV. The satellite U-Verse TV still worked, barely.
I had to start fooling with the paradigm and remotes provided by Hulu,
Apple+, Netflix, Paramount+, Roku, Samsung, etcetera. I never bothered
to do that before. It sucks, but I learned a little.
Today, an AT&T tech showed up and reminded me that U-Verse is unsupported
technology, but he'd see what he had in his truck. What he had, after
some serious monkeying with my system, worked.
I'm back, Baby!

Congratulations. I've been exclusively streaming on my smart TV
since 2018. A single remote does it all. We like it a lot better
than linear TV. We don't watch any sports, but I'm given to
understand there are live streaming services for that.

I use torrents, yt-dlp to download ad free youtube videos, and my trusty
kodi installed on a radxa zero to play it on the tv.

I haven't had regular TV for about 7 years or so. I only see it
(thankfully) when I visit my father. It is almost not possible to watch it
due to the ads, and the extremely low quality of the programs.

[dsi1]

Post by Leonard Blaisdell
Saturday night, my life changed. Our U-Verse DVR went out, and I lost
all my taped programs and the ability to tape, pause and fast-forward
any shows, on any TV. The satellite U-Verse TV still worked, barely.
I had to start fooling with the paradigm and remotes provided by Hulu,
Apple+, Netflix, Paramount+, Roku, Samsung, etcetera. I never bothered
to do that before. It sucks, but I learned a little.
Today, an AT&T tech showed up and reminded me that U-Verse is
unsupported
technology, but he'd see what he had in his truck. What he had, after
some serious monkeying with my system, worked.
I'm back, Baby!
[ObFood] My wife has a gout-bout, so I made her a tuna sandwich and
served it with a pickle. I'm a good boy!
leo

Those tech-com companies hate people like you. That tech will probably
lose his job over this. Sqertz will probably send AT&T an anonymous
email ratting him out.

One of my clients has a POTS telephone that will randomly drop signal so
she can't understand the person she's talking to. The telephone company
will just shrug and say they don't know what's the problem and they
can't do anything about it. They want her to upgrade her service. I'm
not sure why she doesn't surrender and let the system have its way with
her. It's 2025 and we don't need no copper wire no more!

[ItsJoanNotJoAnn]

Post by dsi1
One of my clients has a POTS telephone that will randomly drop signal so
she can't understand the person she's talking to. The telephone company
will just shrug and say they don't know what's the problem and they
can't do anything about it. They want her to upgrade her service. I'm
not sure why she doesn't surrender and let the system have its way with
her. It's 2025 and we don't need no copper wire no more!

I was on POTS and then I noticed was not receiving a.n.y.
phone calls. That was actually nice, but then family and
friends were trying to reach me. I was still able to make
outgoing calls though.

AT&T came out and wiring on pole was just in tatters. If
I wanted to receive calls then I'd have to convert to digital.
Digital is ok, but if power goes out, so does the phone, so
does the internet and of course anything electrical in the
house. A few annoying glitches such as having to have the
system reset does not improve my opinion of digital service.
Service techs 'unplugging' me at the junction box is annoying
as well.

[dsi1]

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn

Post by dsi1
One of my clients has a POTS telephone that will randomly drop signal so
she can't understand the person she's talking to. The telephone company
will just shrug and say they don't know what's the problem and they
can't do anything about it. They want her to upgrade her service. I'm
not sure why she doesn't surrender and let the system have its way with
her. It's 2025 and we don't need no copper wire no more!

I was on POTS and then I noticed was not receiving a.n.y.
phone calls. That was actually nice, but then family and
friends were trying to reach me. I was still able to make
outgoing calls though.
AT&T came out and wiring on pole was just in tatters. If
I wanted to receive calls then I'd have to convert to digital.
Digital is ok, but if power goes out, so does the phone, so
does the internet and of course anything electrical in the
house. A few annoying glitches such as having to have the
system reset does not improve my opinion of digital service.
Service techs 'unplugging' me at the junction box is annoying
as well.

Sending analog signals through copper wires goes back to the earliest
days of telecommunications. It's like piston engines had their start
with bicycles and steam locomotives. People will scarcely believe that
we used such things in 2025.

[Bruce]

Post by dsi1

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn

Post by dsi1
One of my clients has a POTS telephone that will randomly drop signal so
she can't understand the person she's talking to. The telephone company
will just shrug and say they don't know what's the problem and they
can't do anything about it. They want her to upgrade her service. I'm
not sure why she doesn't surrender and let the system have its way with
her. It's 2025 and we don't need no copper wire no more!

I was on POTS and then I noticed was not receiving a.n.y.
phone calls. That was actually nice, but then family and
friends were trying to reach me. I was still able to make
outgoing calls though.
AT&T came out and wiring on pole was just in tatters. If
I wanted to receive calls then I'd have to convert to digital.
Digital is ok, but if power goes out, so does the phone, so
does the internet and of course anything electrical in the
house. A few annoying glitches such as having to have the
system reset does not improve my opinion of digital service.
Service techs 'unplugging' me at the junction box is annoying
as well.

Sending analog signals through copper wires goes back to the earliest
days of telecommunications. It's like piston engines had their start
with bicycles and steam locomotives. People will scarcely believe that
we used such things in 2025.

Don't you believe that people once used smoke signals?

[ItsJoanNotJoAnn]

Post by dsi1

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn

Post by dsi1
One of my clients has a POTS telephone that will randomly drop signal so
she can't understand the person she's talking to. The telephone company
will just shrug and say they don't know what's the problem and they
can't do anything about it. They want her to upgrade her service. I'm
not sure why she doesn't surrender and let the system have its way with
her. It's 2025 and we don't need no copper wire no more!

I was on POTS and then I noticed was not receiving a.n.y.
phone calls. That was actually nice, but then family and
friends were trying to reach me. I was still able to make
outgoing calls though.
AT&T came out and wiring on pole was just in tatters. If
I wanted to receive calls then I'd have to convert to digital.
Digital is ok, but if power goes out, so does the phone, so
does the internet and of course anything electrical in the
house. A few annoying glitches such as having to have the
system reset does not improve my opinion of digital service.
Service techs 'unplugging' me at the junction box is annoying
as well.

Sending analog signals through copper wires goes back to the earliest
days of telecommunications. It's like piston engines had their start
with bicycles and steam locomotives. People will scarcely believe that
we used such things in 2025.

But those signals through copper wiring r.a.r.e.l.y. failed
unlike the new, bright, and shiny digital service. Even with
a cell phone as a backup system or you only phone you have to
scramble around to find a place to charge THAT if you don't
have a USB port in your car when power is lost.

[dsi1]

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn

Post by dsi1

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn

Post by dsi1
One of my clients has a POTS telephone that will randomly drop signal so
she can't understand the person she's talking to. The telephone company
will just shrug and say they don't know what's the problem and they
can't do anything about it. They want her to upgrade her service. I'm
not sure why she doesn't surrender and let the system have its way with
her. It's 2025 and we don't need no copper wire no more!

I was on POTS and then I noticed was not receiving a.n.y.
phone calls. That was actually nice, but then family and
friends were trying to reach me. I was still able to make
outgoing calls though.
AT&T came out and wiring on pole was just in tatters. If
I wanted to receive calls then I'd have to convert to digital.
Digital is ok, but if power goes out, so does the phone, so
does the internet and of course anything electrical in the
house. A few annoying glitches such as having to have the
system reset does not improve my opinion of digital service.
Service techs 'unplugging' me at the junction box is annoying
as well.

Sending analog signals through copper wires goes back to the earliest
days of telecommunications. It's like piston engines had their start
with bicycles and steam locomotives. People will scarcely believe that
we used such things in 2025.

But those signals through copper wiring r.a.r.e.l.y. failed
unlike the new, bright, and shiny digital service. Even with
a cell phone as a backup system or you only phone you have to
scramble around to find a place to charge THAT if you don't
have a USB port in your car when power is lost.

A hardwired connection would be pretty darn reliable but it's
impractical. What are the chances that your hardwired copper connection
on your end will be 100% analog to who you're trying to reach? In the
future, that would be unlikely.

In the future, charging a cell phone might not be a problem - you just
plug your phone into your electric car.

When the electricity went down in Hawaii due to high winds, the cell
phones worked for about a day and a half - until the cell towers drained
all their batteries. In the future, the US will have a huge reserve of
stored electricity in millions of electric cars. We'll be better
prepared for power outages.

[Leonard Blaisdell]

Post by dsi1
In the future, charging a cell phone might not be a problem - you just
plug your phone into your electric car.

My 2013 Tacoma has a USB-A port that will charge a phone.
My 2025 Subaru has a plug-in that charges and will directly connect my
iPhone and its functions directly into the car.
You would have to ask my wife what all it does. I'm clueless. Maps?
Directions? Voice? Hell, I don't know. :(

[songbird]

ItsJoanNotJoAnn wrote:
...re copper wires...

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn
But those signals through copper wiring r.a.r.e.l.y. failed
unlike the new, bright, and shiny digital service. Even with
a cell phone as a backup system or you only phone you have to
scramble around to find a place to charge THAT if you don't
have a USB port in your car when power is lost.

doesn't everyone have a cigarrette lighter conversion cable?

actually many cars don't seem to have cig lighters any more
so that can be noted as a huge improvement in the quality of
life for millions of people.

our copper wire line was always a PITA for as long as we had
it. i was relieved when we finally got rid of it and moved on
to the cell service. my internet comes via another system as
we are out in the sticks - that's a whole different kettle of
fish...


songbird

[Dave Smith]

Post by songbird
doesn't everyone have a cigarrette lighter conversion cable?
actually many cars don't seem to have cig lighters any more
so that can be noted as a huge improvement in the quality of
life for millions of people.
our copper wire line was always a PITA for as long as we had
it. i was relieved when we finally got rid of it and moved on
to the cell service. my internet comes via another system as
we are out in the sticks - that's a whole different kettle of
fish...

They don't have the cigarette lighters anymore but they have the power
sockets. My CRV has two of them. I use on for my dash cam and I have a
second to use with my GPS or to recharge my phone.

[Mike Duffy]

Post by Dave Smith
They don't have the cigarette lighters anymore but
they have the power sockets. My CRV has two of them.

You can still buy them elsewhere. But read your car manual.
If you are lucky(?), the one on the dash will be wired with
8 gauge wire & a 30 amp fuse to support a lighter, but the
other sockets in the back & cargo area will not.

You should also use the heavy guage socket for the
little gizmo that keeps your coffee hot.

[Cindy Hamilton]

Post by songbird
...re copper wires...

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn
But those signals through copper wiring r.a.r.e.l.y. failed
unlike the new, bright, and shiny digital service. Even with
a cell phone as a backup system or you only phone you have to
scramble around to find a place to charge THAT if you don't
have a USB port in your car when power is lost.

doesn't everyone have a cigarrette lighter conversion cable?

It's been a couple of decades since I've had a car with a cigarette
lighter. They've all had a 100-W power outlet.

We've had a USB port in our car radios nearly as long.

And for a little over a decade, we've had a natural-gas-powered
automatic standby generator. In that time, we've never had a
power outage much longer than 15 seconds -- the time it takes the
gennie to decide it needs to fire up.

Post by songbird
our copper wire line was always a PITA for as long as we had
it. i was relieved when we finally got rid of it and moved on
to the cell service. my internet comes via another system as
we are out in the sticks - that's a whole different kettle of
fish...

We used to have DSL. It acted up every time there was a
thunderstorm. My husband got the specialized screwdriver that
enabled him to open the box and reset the NID.

[songbird]

Cindy Hamilton wrote:
...landline copper...

Post by Cindy Hamilton
We used to have DSL. It acted up every time there was a
thunderstorm. My husband got the specialized screwdriver that
enabled him to open the box and reset the NID.

when i lived in town nearby DSL was very nice and i was glad
to pay a few extra to have a new phone line run for my apartment
so i could avoid having a long wire running across the floor.
it cost me all of $45 to have the phone company do that.

moving back out to the country was a rather harsh adjustement
as i had to go back to a dialup line for computer access for
some years until i got the radio network receiver setup. it is
not as reliable as the DSL but it works.

i was really spoiled when i lived and worked on campus at
the university and they had an excellent local network even
way back then - up until i got the DSL in town i'd never had
as fast or reliable of a connection.


songbird

[songbird]

ItsJoanNotJoAnn wrote:
...

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn
I was on POTS and then I noticed was not receiving a.n.y.
phone calls. That was actually nice, but then family and
friends were trying to reach me. I was still able to make
outgoing calls though.

we had so many issues with our landline for years that
finally we just went to cell phone service (for less
expense). getting Mom to deal with that is sometimes a
challenge but using a simple flip phone is doable for her
and she does most things with it ok now. we don't do
pictures and she leaves me to deal with texts (and i
discourage friends from texting but some still do it at
times).

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn
AT&T came out and wiring on pole was just in tatters. If
I wanted to receive calls then I'd have to convert to digital.
Digital is ok, but if power goes out, so does the phone, so
does the internet and of course anything electrical in the
house. A few annoying glitches such as having to have the
system reset does not improve my opinion of digital service.
Service techs 'unplugging' me at the junction box is annoying
as well.

the final time with the landline was when Mom picked up the
phone to call someone and it wasn't working. she smashed the
phone on the counter. obviously telling her that that didn't
help anything made no impression on her as she will still
bang things when they don't work. i'm trying to get her to
stop this behavior but i'm not sure that's going to happen.

as for power supply reliability they do make these things
called battery backups for power and they do work pretty well.
i have one here for my computer since we do have power issues
from time to time and it is good to have a controlled shut
down of the computer instead of it crashing when the power
goes out or some glitch happens in the power supply. this
UPS can also be used to run a light for an evening or two and
at one point i also used it to run the refridgerator for an
hour to help keep the freezer cool enough. it all worked as
it should have and the UPS only cost $150. on the side the
other nice thing is that the UPS has a built in watt meter so
i can get an idea of what amount of power various things are
drawing (even if it might not be spot on accurate it is close
enough) so if i want to watch what is happening i can turn on
that display and watch the number of watts change. therapy
for OCD at times can be a rather simple thing. :)


songbird

[D]

Post by songbird
the final time with the landline was when Mom picked up the
phone to call someone and it wasn't working. she smashed the
phone on the counter. obviously telling her that that didn't
help anything made no impression on her as she will still
bang things when they don't work. i'm trying to get her to
stop this behavior but i'm not sure that's going to happen.

This is not a problem! Skinner teaches us powerful methods for training
her. You must reward her when she behaves well, and punish her when she
bahves badly. Then her behaviour will quickly change! =)

[Leonard Blaisdell]

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn
AT&T came out and wiring on pole was just in tatters. If
I wanted to receive calls then I'd have to convert to digital.
Digital is ok, but if power goes out, so does the phone, so
does the internet and of course anything electrical in the
house. A few annoying glitches such as having to have the
system reset does not improve my opinion of digital service.
Service techs 'unplugging' me at the junction box is annoying
as well.

I waste quite a bit of money on communications that I don't use, but
POTS isn't a part of that. Either call us on the POTS line, or we're
unlikely to answer.
Our iPhone acts as a server for our iDevices and lives in my wife's
purse where it is hardly ever answered. Since the iPhone is a "hot
spot", it can be anywhere in the U.S. and still function as a server for
the devices at home.
I think that when I told the ATT tech that I wasn't interested in
Direct TV, which ATT is promoting, and ATT would lose roughly two
hundred bucks a month if the problem wasn't fixed, that may have been
motivation for the short-term miracle. :)
AT&T will phase U-Verse out in the next few years. All I have to do is
learn new stuff. I don't want to!
I'm also thinking about getting a couple of the newfangled TV antennas.
Have I bored you enough?

[Cindy Hamilton]

Post by Leonard Blaisdell
I'm also thinking about getting a couple of the newfangled TV antennas.

My mother has one of those. I had to tape it to a window because
it couldn't see through her aluminum siding.

[Leonard Blaisdell]

Post by Cindy Hamilton

Post by Leonard Blaisdell
I'm also thinking about getting a couple of the newfangled TV antennas.

My mother has one of those. I had to tape it to a window because
it couldn't see through her aluminum siding.

My siding is asbestos shingles. No mesothelioma after forty five years.
I'll let the next owners deal with it. They work good!
That's enough. Thanks for getting up early! I'm going to bed.

[Cindy Hamilton]

Post by Leonard Blaisdell

Post by Cindy Hamilton

Post by Leonard Blaisdell
I'm also thinking about getting a couple of the newfangled TV antennas.

My mother has one of those. I had to tape it to a window because
it couldn't see through her aluminum siding.

My siding is asbestos shingles. No mesothelioma after forty five years.
I'll let the next owners deal with it. They work good!
That's enough. Thanks for getting up early! I'm going to bed.

I'm pretty sure she has asbestos siding under the aluminum. Not
that I know for sure; I was just a kid when I moved out. (That's
my story, and I'm sticking to it.)

[Michael Trew]

Post by dsi1
One of my clients has a POTS telephone that will randomly drop signal so
she can't understand the person she's talking to. The telephone company
will just shrug and say they don't know what's the problem and they
can't do anything about it. They want her to upgrade her service. I'm
not sure why she doesn't surrender and let the system have its way with
her. It's 2025 and we don't need no copper wire no more!

I received a letter in the mail a few weeks ago "about my phone
service". I still have a traditional land line with unlimited local
calling. Uh oh, looks official... They said that, pending legislation,
they are "grandfathering" analog phone service in a number of mid-west
states and beyond. I can keep my phone line as-is, but I guess they
won't be selling phone service to new customers.

My guess, after it's no longer regulated, they'll tell me to go pound
salt if I call and say there's an issue with static on the line. They
probably plan to let the existing service lines rot into the ground.
Luckily, my phone works fine, for now. I'll be sad when I can no longer
use my harvest gold rotary wall phone.

[dsi1]

Post by Michael Trew

Post by dsi1
One of my clients has a POTS telephone that will randomly drop signal so
she can't understand the person she's talking to. The telephone company
will just shrug and say they don't know what's the problem and they
can't do anything about it. They want her to upgrade her service. I'm
not sure why she doesn't surrender and let the system have its way with
her. It's 2025 and we don't need no copper wire no more!

I received a letter in the mail a few weeks ago "about my phone
service". I still have a traditional land line with unlimited local
calling. Uh oh, looks official... They said that, pending legislation,
they are "grandfathering" analog phone service in a number of mid-west
states and beyond. I can keep my phone line as-is, but I guess they
won't be selling phone service to new customers.
My guess, after it's no longer regulated, they'll tell me to go pound
salt if I call and say there's an issue with static on the line. They
probably plan to let the existing service lines rot into the ground.
Luckily, my phone works fine, for now. I'll be sad when I can no longer
use my harvest gold rotary wall phone.

I used to dial numbers by tapping on the phone cradle button. Evidently,
it was fun. Those old phone receivers had a funny phone plastic smell to
them. I used to like the phones with the extra long cords. The phones we
had were light grey or pale blue. They never came in groovy colors like
harvest gold. That's about all I can remember about those things.