My Sudden Disappearance

[Tdarcos]

It took a few days but eventually it was noticed I stopped posting here. So I got some worried E-mails from Ben asking what was wrong, which I couldn't answer.

I've been without Internet connectivity for six days. The old cable modem failed and the landlord owns the cable modem. The landlord orders the service and I pay him for the Internet because by him ordering it with the Cable TV the Internet service is cheaper than if I order it directly. So the guy he got to check out the modem says it's bad, and after 4 days he got someone else to come over and do it.

I guess I can understand the point, Comcast charges for the Internet connection and they also charge an additional monthly fee for the cable modem, which you can buy your own and use that instead.

But it just meant I had to wait until the new guy came by to put it in. Then I had to drain 300 e-mails out of my mailbox that accumulated in the six days. Oh, plus my home phone service was out.

I use Magic Jack, for which I just paid the full renewal fee of $69 to renew the phone number for five years, because they're going to raise the rate from $19.95 a year to $29.95, so by prepaying now I get the rate for the whole time. Since I've been using Magic Jack for about 3 years, I decided to take the 5-year plan.

It's not bad, and for less than $2 a month I get the equivalent of 98-99% of a land-line phone for less than 5% of the cost. Occasionally I'll get a bad call or a few minor glitches, but again, 98% of the time or better it's as good as "regular" phone service that costs in the neighborhood of $40 a month.

When we had the earthquake here, cell lines were jammed, but because Magic Jack is internet provided, I was able to call my sister's home phone (which is a regular phone line) from the Magic Jack phone, and get through.

The service allows calls anywhere in the U.S. and Canada, won't allow international calls - unless you purchase international minutes - and you can't end up getting charged for strange toll calls like those "special" numbers in Caribbean area codes that cost $9.50 for one minute or other such numbers. There are no toll charges or extra charges. You just pay once a year, the equivalent of less than one typical monthly bill.