Dec 06 2005
I got my SBC bill today for our two lines, LD, and DSL. Hmmm. Looks as if the DSL charge has gone up from what I remember. So, I log on to the SBC homepage and look at my account. Then I go to the DSL section and am confronted with several different plans, most of which I did not know existed. Back to my account to see which of these, if any, I am now on. Seems like I am on Express. Back to the list of fees and services for DSL. I am not surprised to see a different fee than I am paying, although it’s only a slight difference.

Next step: call the DSL 877 number. After the customer service person looks over my bill, he tells me that, yes, my DSL rate had gone up and that there had been some insert in a previous bill telling me all about it. Since I pay them directly, I guess I never looked.

He puts me on hold to see if there are any current packages available (Wanna bet?). When he comes back on, he tells me he can bundle lots of stuff together, get me unlimited LD (wondered when this would happen on land lines), double my DSL speed (now I’m Pro), and, with no strings attached except a $10 one-time upgrade charge, can save me $20 a month on my total SBC bill. Why not?

Another thing I noticed when I had logged on to the SBC web site: it’s no longer SBC. It’s “the new at&t” powered by SBC. For those of you my age, there was a time when Ma Bell, the old AT&T, had to divest itself of all the Baby Bells. Seems ironic this “new AT&T” owned by SBC. If you have followed the gyrations of AT&T over the years, you have seen several “new” versions of the company: mergers, divestitures, changes in philosophy, a general floundering around in a changing marketplace. Now what was a bulwark of portfolios of widows and seniors is now just a shell name.

And once again I am taught the lesson: for land lines, mobile phones, and anything else that charges monthly, it pays to call about twice a year or more to see what “packages” or deals they have that reduce what you pay them. Hey, they won’t call you.

Nov 21 2005 Ah, those enticing titles in spam I have received in the last week encouraged me to put some of them together into the following ode:

Impotency can easily be cured with no embarrassment
Don’t be inadequate anymore!
CHEAPEST WAY THAT WORKS TO BIGGER YOUR DICK next
You CAN have sex like you used to!
We have the convenience of ordering performance enhancers
72% of members got laid
Paul Silva efferent
Make all the stress go away
Connection dropped, sorry

Nov 21 2005

Actually, Wilderness is across the street from us to the south. First they leveled anything growing. Then they gave the subdivision its name.

This view is northward. It does my heart good to see suburbia choking in around us. You?

Nov 19 2005 I had not planned to go riding today, but it was sunny with the promise of reasonable temperatures and the prediction that tomorrow would be cloudy and colder. I cleaned up Rosie and headed for Babler State Park.

You could see the forest for the trees. You could see to the farthermost hills. Way off in the distance were the bluffs on the other side of the Missouri River. Beautiful horse farms and grand houses were clearly visible down in the valleys outside the park. Small ruins off the trail emerged from hiding behind summer brush. There are so many small stone sheds, buildings, rubble all over the park. I always wonder what they were when this was Dr. Babler’s estate.

I started about 10:00 and rode till just before noon. The fall/winter sun is at an angle that the trees cast long shadows. In the first hour, these shadows crossed the trail at right angles to my direction, giving the impression of railroad ties. As the sun arced a bit higher, the shadows were at an angle. With the brown leaves on the ground and the black tree shadows, it was like a rich layer cake.