Mindspring...
 

No matter how sick you are of hearing me whine about Mindspring,
you're not half as sick of them as I am.

I can't stay connected for more than 30 seconds or so.
I signed up with a local ISP, RapidFire.net,
but they disconnect me every ten minutes and I can't have that.

Since Saturday, I've spent 20 hours on the phone with the "specialists" at
Mindspring Techinical Support, which means every teenager in Atlanta or Phoenix
who wants a minimum-wage job is now a "technician," here to help me.

They blame me, my computer, my modem, SW Bell, AT&T etc.
They want to blame everything and everyone but their expanding-too-fast
greedy-sons-of-bitchin' selves for these problems.

The week JFK Jr. went down, they bought Netcom.
That started this non-stop pile-up, then they went on Pigboy's show screaming for
new customers, all the while promising "no busy signals, no problems,"
which is a trick they learned probably from Rush.

Find your weakest point, (customer service) and take the offensive with it
and blame everything that moves for all the problems caused by raging greed.

Not only can't I connect, (it'll take days to get this one message up)
but I'm so goddamn angry and frustrated it's hard to be funny.

What would Betty Bowers do?

I'll bet Betty would do the same thing I did.
I called Southwestern Bell and ordered an ASDL line.

That means in a week, I'll be permanantly connected to the Internet
24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

They're promising a connection speed between 350,000 - 1,500,000 kps.
...all this for $39 a month, which is what I'm paying now for TWO
ISPs because Mindspring is so Koresh-damn undependable I have to pay another
twenty a month for a second ISP for when Mindspring goes down.

24/7 for $39?

Be still, my heart.

They said I'd have to sign a contract for a year.
Hey, SWB, I do contracts very well.

So, in a few days, things should get back to normal.
So much is happening, too.

Dutch,
the Gore move,
Jesse,
Pat Buchanan,
the Dung painting
Pigboy's never-ending personal slurs
and the latest trip report.
 

I'll be back in a few days with my new super-line
OR when Mindspring, the greedy bastards, pull their collective heads out.