Chuck Newton: I Am Back - Hold The Applause

I am back after moving my home and my office (my home office) to a smaller facility. It has been an experience, not all of it good. The point I discovered too well is that whether virtual or connected, it is extremely difficult to juggle working out of a cheap motel with your wife, son and dog, while simultaneously trying to renovate a new home from top to bottom, and trying to pay enough attention to your practice that you do not go broke or lose your law license in the process. However, I am beginning to like the results.

I cannot say that all of the work is done, but the bulk of it is finished. I am blogging to you from the new worldwide home office in The Woodlands, Texas. From a two story five bedroom house to a one story house less than half the size of the first, my family and I have had to concentrate on how to keep small spaces big. My home office is in a space half the size it use to be. My wife and I started this process by purging everything and anything that was not absolutely needed. We also updated to less burdensome tech. For example, we got rid of the 10 year old TV that use to invade our house, and in its place is a 46 inch Samsung 1080p LCD TV on the wall in the living area. I can plug my notebook computer into it if I wish and use it as a giant monitor. The house is now completely wired and is also wireless. We built out a closet in a nook in the hall to house the mechanics to avoid wire sprawl and unsightly tech lying around the house. We are turning what was essentially a home office into an office/home, where my wife and I can dock our computers or carry then throughout the house. We can work at the kitchen table, move to in front of the TV, or to the back porch and tlook at the lush little back yard. And yet, the smaller home office is still available for the limited times you need two monitors to work from, a scanner or printer. I, for example, felt that I needed all of these today as I drafted a pre-trial order along with findings of fact and conclusions of law for a trial I have approaching shortly after Thanksgiving.

The downside to any home office is broadband or, more precisely, the awful providers with which we must deal. In The Woodlands, you basically have one and a half choices - Comcast or AT&T. Neither are saintly. I thought I had my fill with Comcast. The organization is just short of demoralizing for its customers and employees. There are few in the organization that will not lie to you, ignore you, provide you the wrong equipment, and all with an f-you attitude that will leave you absolutely depressed. But, what are you going to do? The U.S. Supreme Court has said they do not have to share its pipes with anybody. The company is almost a monopoly and it simply do not care.

I did eventually go back to Comcast for reasons I will explain in a minute, but this is a perfect example of that with which we must deal. The gentleman (and I use that term lightly) comes to my house to establish the cable. Now there is no reason that he needs in my house in that the person moving out had Comcast and I have Comcast and Comcast advertises that you can do this online and have service established at your new house before you move in. But, Comcast is also concerned about what you might be doing with their cable once it enters you house. They do not want you to have more than three outlets in use without being charged more, so they pretend they must enter your home to test the set. How else could they charge you for their "business class" Internet service if you have a home office. Fair enough, I guess, but in setting up the system the gentleman leave the wrong DVR (which he also does not test or hook up for the $50.00 I had to pay for his 5 minute visit). I only discover this once we install the surround sound system and the new TV. So, I go running to Comcast to get it replaced. There a guy named Bill (who must be on downers he is so nonresponsive) somehow tells me that it is my fault. Now you would have thought the mistake could have been explained in a neutral way, such as there was a miscommunication, but the intent is to agitate (possibly in the hope that I will slap him back into consciousness). And, I can understand this because in front of me at this location were 5 people all lining up to spit venom at Bill because they hate Comcast as much as I. It cannot be a pleasant job working on the front lines for a company that literally nobody likes and which most everybody has to use. The stockholders might be happy campers, but that does not apply to anybody else.

Now Bill reads what I have written down and hands me a different HD DVR. I get back to my house only to discovery that DVR does not work either only now Comcast storefront is closed down. In my rush I notice he did not provide me what I had written down and requested. So, the next morning I dirve miles out of my way to see Bill and I tell him that he gave me the wrong DVR. His response was (and I am not kidding) "I know." I said, "what do you mean you know"? Bill stated we did not have what I wanted and that I would have to drive to an office closer to Houston to pick one up, or it can be delivered to me but that could take two weeks". To which I asked, "But why on earth would you deliberately give me the wrong device instead of telling me this yesterday?" His response was, "It's my job". I guess it is the cable company version of spitting on your food when you complain to a waiter.

I get the new DVR home, hook it up, and it operates for exactly 24 hours before it does not work any longer. I drive back toward Houston to get a new one. I get it hooked up and then have a three day struggle with Comcast over the channels I cannot pick up. It takes a service call (another $50.00) to learn that the signal needs to be boosted from the box for the neighborhood. Comcast knows this because they hook my cable up to an electronic devise that informs them of how much power I am getting. Of course, I ask why the Comcast technician who "installed" the signal did not check the cable when checking out my new digs to make sure the cable worked properly? After all, that was what he was sent over to do. I was told, "that's not his job".

So, Comcast is all about whose job it is to do something, and in the case of Bill his job is to lie and deceive people.

Of course, we hooked up the modem and that did not work. That took another service call.

I almost went with AT&T. I am not sure why SBC decided to keep the AT&T name. They said it had a great deal of name recognition, which is true. But, do not all of us remember AT&T from its monopolistic days when it lorded over the country like the Russian Politburo? Growing up in Texarkana, Texas we had a party line until I was 12 years old because AT&T did not want to bring us into the modern era. Faxes were delayed for decades because of AT&T. They collected tax money, which they were allowed to keep for the promise of upgrading broadband, which they never did do. Today, most of the Asian market has broadband or Internet speeds 10 to 100 times faster than we do. We live in the Internet dark ages thanks to AT&T, as well as others. But, ultimately, AT&T will tell you anything to get you to sign a contract these days.

I went to see an AT&T "specialist". We spent most of our time together discussing how he can sell his annuity established to provide for his brain injury he suffered in an accident. He told me some of the money will not be paid out when he is 70 years old, when he does "not need it". He wanted to buy a Corvette. I told him to take my word for it, he does not need a Corvette, but he might really need some of the money when he is 70.

After looking up my address he told me that the new fiber optic TV and broadband was indeed available for my house. He told me that AT&T could provide their "elite" broadband service that meets or exceed cable speeds using DSL. I was told AT&T has a quirky system where they must install a regular phone line for $12 per month and then wait 5 days to install the DSL, but they could get the land line installed within 2 days and the DSL in 7 days. I thought about it and then turned in my box to Comcast. I went to meet with the specialist again. He had me sign a bunch of paperwork obligating me to 12 months worth of services for a set price. Then he told me he was wrong and they do not have the new fiber optic lines in my neighborhood. He told me I would have to go with satellite TV until they get my neighborhood converted to fiber optic cable. Despite the fact that it took Dish TV two weeks to get to my old neighbors after the lightning storm last Spring caused the system to go down, I said okay. Then I was told they do not have the "elite" DSL service in my area, and they will have to provide me their "pro" service, but I will find it is adequate for what I wish to do. Now getting skeptical, I again agreed. Anything I thought to avoid Comcast. Then I was told AT&T could not hook up my required land line for at least 16 days, and with the required delay in establishing DSL, I would not have broadband until after Thanksgiving. With that I took the three stikes you are out policy, took my signed contracts from his hands, and ripped them up. I told him to leave the annuity alone, and left. So, now I do not have DSL or AT&T, and the young man in all likelihood has a Corvette.

I had to go crawling back to Comcast believing that the devil I know is obviously better than the devil I do not know. So, now I have been with Comcast about a week and I have only thought about killing myself only a few times.

Apart from all of this, and spending almost twice as much on renovating the house as I originally thought, I am settling into what I hope will be a very enjoyable stay. I have finally gotten the POD out of my driveway, the tile people, the painters, the electricians, the other wiring experts, out of my house, and for the first time on Thursday, Jane and I (and the legal beagle) had the house to ourselves. That is until my oldest daughter called to say someone had let the air out of her tire at school and I had to leave to deal with that issue.

I will post pictures of my new home office soon, probably on Grant Griffiths' Home Office Warrior site first. I think I promised him I would do so after I ragged on him about all of his exposed computer cables and wires when he was kind enough to share a photo of his office. It is troubling when you are the first one to drop your pants, only to have someone else make fun of you. So, Grant, the pictures will be coming your way soon.