I believe living in the 21st century pretty much means you should be surfing the internet a little at least every day. At LEAST a couple of minutes a day, right? And usually, it should be on a high speed internet connection. 3G phone access shouldn't count!
So what's the first thing I think of doing when we move to Boston? Set up an internet account! With that thought process, I investigate what options I can choose from. The apartment complex gives you a piece of paper telling you what most renters use and it lists Comcast for cable tv and cable modem. So I check the pricing and tally up the pricing to be around $100 a month for both. WOW! Way too much for our budget. At that point, I check Verizon Fios' site to see if we're eligible for their fiber optic lines. After giving them a call, they inform me that they only offer DSL (wtf?) and Dish satellite (double wtf??) for tv services! What the heck is DSL and Dish doing on the Verizon Fios menu?? I want their fiber optic services! I quickly tell them I'm not interested and call Comcast back just to sign up for internet.
After spending 30mins on the phone with them, the phone salesman tells me that the former tenant hasn't cancelled their services and I can't sign up until he does. O-M-G. Is that why there's still a Comcast cable box and a modem in the corner of the apartment? I quickly plug in my laptop hoping for free internet but nope. Nothing comes up so I ask the salesman if she's sure the previous tenant hasn't cancelled. She confirmed he hasn't and told me that she tried to reach the phone number he left on record and he didn't answer. She then said I can ask the apartment manager to call in to override the previous tenant's services so I can start a new account. I call the manager and he's out until June 16th. >.< This is starting to get really annoying.
Back to step 1 and I do some more research on Fios. Instead of calling in and talking to the out-sourced Indian representatives with the thick accents, I check out their website instead. (Sorry, this is not racism. It's the truth that 99% of the human population have a problem understanding what they say! They probably have problems understanding each other when attempting to communicate in English!) What's this? They offer Directv as an option instead of Dish? SWEET! I LOVE Directv! I can also request getting their HR24 DVR as those are WAY faster than the HR23's I have back in Arcadia! I go through the process of ordering and they offer an awesome deal! Not only would their faster internet and Directv package be $30 cheaper, they give you Showtime for a whole year and a FREE wireless router/cable modem! That would mean I don't have to buy a modem (or rent Comcast's for $7 a month) and a router ($50+)! I like saving money! It means I could spend more money on other fun stuff!
At this point, Directv and Verizon Fios set up days to come install the stuff and I'm estatic cuz I miss watching the NBA finals, the Stanley Cup finals, Formula 1 and just plain surfing the net! First guy that comes is Omar from Directv. It's starting to rain, so I help him unload what needs to be installed from his van and we head to the top floor to see how we can access the roof. After we carry all the big ass equipment up there, the apartment complex's handyman Paul stops us and goes "Wait. What are you guys doing? You can't install that stuff on this roof cuz no one's allowed up there for insurance reasons. Sorry guys." FML ONE HUNDRED BILLION TIMES! My dreams were CRUSHED! I've been so giddy about getting tv and internet access that that's all I've been thinking about the night before. Anyway, I apologize to Omar, tip him a $20 for his troubles, call Verizon and DTV telling them the apartment complex won't let me install stuff so they say they'll refund me whatever they charged me.
I go back up and I remember why this handyman Paul was here. We called management and left a message saying our toilet was leaking cuz it wasn't seated properly so he showed up to fix it. He also replaces all the light bulbs with energy efficient ones and his buddy helps me properly install my AC unit in the window. At this point, I was chatting with Paul and he felt really bad about the Directv thing and my sob story about Comcast so he goes and checks where Comcast installs their main unit in the building and he "plugged" in a cable that goes to our apartment. I check access again and nope, still nothing. Anyway, Paul gives us some good news that our windows are old and he takes measurements of all the windows in the apartment and said he'll come back in a week with brand new spanking windows to make the place a little nicer looking. Yay!
Fast forward a couple of days and Mary says "Why don't you try plugging the cable modem again to see if we have access. Didn't Paul do something?" Fine fine, I'm bored. I might as well try again. I go to plug the modem back in and notice another cable line to use! I try it and voila! Access! Yay! I quickly order a router from Amazon so we'll have wireless in a couple of days. Then I thought, if the modem works, wouldn't cable work too? I just need to get a HDMI cable to test this out. So we go to Best Buy to "borrow" a HDMI cable (I love their return system!) and go home to try. SICK! We have cable tv! WHOA! This cable box is a DVR unit!!!! This is so awesome! So right now, I'm super excited about having a DVR unit to record shows, fast internet access, and not having to pay a single cent for this stuff! This is so cool! I just hope the previous tenant keeps paying for this stuff for a while before he notices that he's paying an extra $100 a month for services that I'M enjoying! LOL!
Anyway, I had a bunch of stories to type but this one stuck out the most cuz you have no idea how much I've missed watching the past sports events. Hope you guys enjoyed my essay!
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