This is FIOS, This is Big!

[When someone says,] "To be honest..." or "To tell the truth..." or "Let me be straight with you" doesn't that mean that all the rest of the stuff they've said was pure crap? (after Wake Up and Smell the Coffee by Andrew Frothingham and Tripp Evans, 11 October)

Listening to other compulsive[s] ... helps us to see ourselves and our own situation more objectively. (Food For Thought, 15 October)

People are taught to speak, but their major concern should be how to keep silent. (Anonymous in A Calender of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy, 14 October)

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Ever since we had FIOS installed I've worried about a problem with the battery backup that's attached to the wall in the basement walk-in closet. The power outlet for the two-box system is mounted in the wall a few inches away. I noticed that the installer had trouble with the installation. The alarm kept going off. Yesterday, while working on a project to put away things that had accumulated on the bar I put two small boxes back on the bottom shelf in front of the battery pack. I must have touched the battery pack. The alarm went off and we lost the video and sound to the television sets. I called the FIOS help line to discuss what needed to be done. The help desk gave me very good service. He suggested that I run an extension cord to the battery pack. I did that and it worked. Then he said I needed to check the outlet with a hair dryer. Funny it never occured to me that the outlet could be bad. So much for being a great Systems Analyst. As soon as I tried the hair dryer in both sockets of the outlet I realized that the outlet was bad. I had a replacement outlet on hand and knew the steps to make the change. Once I accepted the fact that I'd have to move the shelf to make the repair things went smoothly. I didn't reach that conclusion before first laying on the floor trying to do the job the lazy man's way. At the end of the project I was still shaking my head and asking, "Why didn't either of the two FIOS installers tell me that outlet was bad?" I know the answer, they didn't want to deal with it.

In the evening I discovered that Lt. Jerry Long, one of the officers I served with in the 11th Transportation Battalion in Cat Lai, Vietnam, posted his recollections and photographs on the Internet. I also found another account from a member of 1099th boat company which I didn't have time to read. I plan to revisit these webpages.

Mr. Dickie