My bizarre ADSL saga continues; Covad, however, ain't so bad
Written: Oct 21 '99 (Updated Oct 21 '99)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Just because someone works for a huge monolithic corporate entity doesn't mean they can't also be a really nice person
Cons: still don't have my &*@*^#! ADSL!
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| lanebecker's Full Review: Covad |
When last we spoke (see my previous epinion, on Flashcom...), I was in a mildly frustrated and utterly confused space as regards what I've come to think of as "The Hook-Up." (As in "I got to get me The Hook-Up," repeated over and over, like a mantra...)
A recap, for those of you who like to come in after the movie has already started: Flashcom taunted me with promises of beautiful, fast, asymmetric service, only to rescind those promises left and right and up and down when it actually came (pardon the pun) down to the wire. But just as I'd given up hope, Covad -- middleman, provider of cabling but not content -- out of the blue sent me an email message promising (again) speed, glorious speed. And I bought it. I drank the Electric Kool-Aid Acid. My painful, months-long ADSL non-experiences up to that point forgotten, I waited at the appointed time on the appointed day in the appointed place for the nice, appointed service installation person from Covad to arrive.
This is the story of that day, and what transpired between the hours of 3pm and 7pm, October 19, 1999.
But first, some background info. In the message that Covad sent out, I was told that I would need to make certain that I knew where my "phone box" was, in case the Covad person needed access to it. Well, folks, I moved out of gentle suburbia and into the wilds of Brooklyn brownstones several months ago, and, lemme tell ya, if there's one word that ain't used to describe New York and its environs, it's "accessible." So I went on a hunt to locate my phone box. Checked the basement; no. Checked the backyard, once my landlord (Louisa, a nice lady) let me back there; no. I'm stumped. Ask Louisa; she can't recall. Several hours later, it hits her: it's in the _neighbor's_ backyard. How wacky is that? Apparently, Bell Atlantic was trying to save on boxes, or something, and reasoned that since all these brownstones are all squished together anyway, one box for every two brownstones ought to be enough for anybody.
Unless, of course, "anybody" wants ADSL.
Fortunately, the neighbor is quite pleasant, and more than willing to let me and whomever shows up to install the line tromp through her house and into her backyard, to do God knows what. Don't let anybody ever tell you New Yorkers aren't nice people; that's a lie, a bald-faced lie, designed to keep _other people_ (like you, Dear Reader), from moving here and further cluttering the place up. But once you get here they're resigned to you, and they treat you quite well. Anyway.
I figure I'm good to go, got all my ducks in the proverbial row, and I'm on the front steps waiting for Mr. or Ms. Covad to arrive.
Mr. Covad shows up, right on time. Far earlier than I expected him to, actually; having been given a window of "from 3 to 7" before, I've learned that installer types generally show up a lot closer to the 7 than the 3. But Mr. Covad shows up at 3:30, and even calls ahead to let me know. Mr. Covad already seems like a really nice guy, and punctual, too.
But here's where I make my fatal error. Because, folks, I at this point let my defenses all the way down, and I faltered: I let myself get excited about the possibility that it might just work out after all. And that was the beginning of the end.
First of all, Mr. Covad doesn't seem to care about the phone box. At all. But we take a look at it, just in case, along with my mildly bemused neighbor. "Nope," he says, cryptically, "That's not it." Then he turns to me: "Didn't Bell Atlantic install the line already?"
Ok, kids -- this is the first time that I've heard, at any point in this saga, that Bell Atlantic was involved _at all_ in this installation process. Dealing with two monolithic corporate bureaucracies -- Flashcom and Covad -- had already proved difficult enough! And now we were going to throw another much bigger and potentially far worse company into the mix? Jumping Jesus on a pogo stick! Why me?
My memory is sort of in a blur from here until Mr. Covad left, but one thing I do have to say is this: Mr. Covad was quite a gent. He didn't blow me off when he discovered his company's error. In fact, he did everything he could to get the wiring up and running, right up to the place where Bell Atlantic has to install the line, despite the fact that he was under no real obligation to do so. And he was very chipper about it. And he promised to get right on Bell Atlantic's butt for me, since he figured that they would probably listen to him a little faster than they would listen to me ("But only," he added, "A little.") Nice guy.
End result: At the moment, here, next to my computer, I have a DSL modem with 4 lights and an attractive industrial design. Of those four lights, two are currently on, but two are not. Of the lights that are on, one, clearly labeled as the power light, is red. The other -- well, I don't really know what it does, but it's shining a cheerful green. Before he left, Mr. Covad informed me that, once the other two lights were also glowing green, I would "have The Hook-Up." But before that could happen, I would have to wait for Bell Atlantic...
I think we all see where this is going, right?
Epilogue: Moments ago, I received an email message from Covad. Mr. or Ms. B. Atlantic will be here on "10/25/99." No time specified, which leaves me a little nervous, as you can imagine. For one thing, I gotta go talk to the neighbor again...
What will happen from here on in? Time will tell, Dear Reader -- but expect a third installment of my saga, sometime soon after "10/25/99," as I epine on Bell Atlantic's performance. Stay tuned!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
lanebecker
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Member: Lane Becker
Location: Austin, TX
Reviews written: 9
Trusted by: 61 members
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