A Dead Horse?

"Claude S. Sutton" <claudesutton@suttonmachine.com> wrote in
news:pan.2007.10.25.01.30.48.845809@suttonmachine. com:

> My favorite, if it is still there, is 82 Queen. Can those
people ever
> prepare a dinner fit for the King.
>
>

You must try "Robert's", a little place on Meeting Street.
Robert has an electronically played grand piano I maintain in the
tiny dining room. Make sure you have a reservation or you won't
get in. He only feeds a limited number to maintain quality. His
daughter, well trained in many culinary schools, is executive
chef.

Robert, a big-chested baritone with a booming voice and full
beard to match, will come sing for you during dinner, accompanied
by the piano. It's quite a show in his chef's uniform.

82 Queen is also good, of course.

After you've eaten a heavy meal, visit:
http://americascuisine.com/charlesto...estaurants.htm
and cruise around. It's not a good idea to visit these pages
hungry. (They always drool on the keyboard..yecch)

There's $50 in gift certificates for free if you sign up for the
newsletter.

Damn! I shouldn't have even answered this on an empty stomach!
I have to live here!...(c; Hmm...we could have lunch at The
Boathouse on East Bay, then hang around the market or watch a
game at Vickery's until dinner at 82 Queen or Locklears....

Larry
--
How anyone can stay skinny in Charleston remains a mystery....

It's just after noon. Met me at Red's Ice House on Shem Creek in
Mt Pleasant. We'll have some libation, pet a few dogs and watch
the shrimp boats unload when they come in. Red's is a local
hangout and meeting place. Dogs and kids cheerfully accepted.
From up in the treehouse, you can see the ships coming in the
ship channel. Red has a regular living room up there, complete
with bar, of course, to make everyone feel at home.
It's not an 82 Queen kinda place....way too laid back for that.
Girls coming off the boats rafting up at the dock are STILL
wearing those little bikinis this time of year!...(c; I'll bring
the boat!

"Claude S. Sutton" <claudesutton@suttonmachine.com> wrote in
news:pan.2007.10.25.01.11.25.235047@suttonmachine. com:

> So if you can get an email or web site to which we can register
> complains, please let me know.
>
>

I don't believe it exists. I like standing in front of someone
looking down at their desk. I'm harder to ignore when I'm within
punching range...(c;

Larry
--
You can tell there's extremely
intelligent life in the universe
because they have never called Earth.

On 2007-10-25, Larry <noone@home.com> wrote:

> I'm going to my local Alltel HQ here in Charleston, SC, with a
> printout of your post to show them when they tell me it's my
> phone....etc, etc, the usual nonsense. I'll try to get some
> answers and post back to you what I find out, if anything.

If Alltel doesn't work out for you, you may want to try Sprint. Their customer
service started sucking ass back in '05, but their network is supposed to be
quite good. I know that where they had coverage, it was good for me between
'01 and '05 when I was a customer.


--
Steve Sobol, Victorville, CA PGP:0xE3AE35ED www.SteveSobol.com

SoCal Fire news at the Los Angeles Times Breaking News Blog:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/breakingnews/

I'm going to my local Alltel HQ here in Charleston, SC, with a
> printout of your post to show them when they tell me it's my
> phone....etc, etc, the usual nonsense. I'll try to get some
> answers and post back to you what I find out, if anything.
>
>
>
> Larry


Larry:

Late last night, I found an email address that looked like it might be
good for service.

This is the reply I got to my complaint:

please contact Data Support, 1-800-255-8351, Option 3(3x), to
address this matter. WIth the data core migration in process and the
developing Sprint data roaming agreement, your issue will require some
further troubleshooting and investigation. Thank you.

At least, I got a reply by 8:15 this morning. Most take days.

So I dialed it and waited and waited while I heard every kind of add for
every kind of cell service.

Pressing 3 made no difference.

I finally hung up.

I hope your personal visit gets better results.

If they can't get "3" to work.........?

CSSJR

--
If we do not wish to lose our freedom, we must learn to tolerate our
neighbor's right to freedom even though he might express that freedom
in a manner we consider to be eccentric.

Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in
news:slrnfi0cuv.24k.sjsobol@amethyst.justthe.net:

> If Alltel doesn't work out for you, you may want to try Sprint.
Their
> customer service started sucking ass back in '05, but their
network is
> supposed to be quite good. I know that where they had coverage,
it was
> good for me between '01 and '05 when I was a customer.
>
>

As with most PCS carriers, Sprint only works in the cities and
along the two interstate highways in SC. To see how really bad
it is, go to sprint.com, click Coverage and put 29418 into the
zip code box. Sprint's map could be called "islands" of coverage
on a sea of fringe. Where you see the "fair" areas on the map,
mark them NO SERVICE in your mind. "Good" is usable in between
the way-too-far-apart 2-mile-range PCS towers. This is in an
area that is as flat as your tabletop. Areas marked "Signal
Strength information unavailable" mark them ALLTEL
COUNTRY...where I have to work. Alltel is the 800B carrier with
a very filled out AMPS/CDMA system they bought from 360
Communications years ago.

Now click the checkbox "Sprint Mobile Broadband Network" under
the map. Uncheck "Clear Voice and data service...." Notice how
the map has NO COLORS orange and red. Sprint has no broadband in
SC. It's like a 2400 baud modem...zzzzZZZZZ.

Now, uncheck that and check both Recent Towers and Future Towers
at the bottom. Notice there are ZERO improvements and additional
towers planned or built in years. What we have is all there is.

Unfortunately for Sprint customers, the roaming agreements with
Alltel and Verizon, the 800 Mhz carriers here, seem to have been
recinded as all the PRLs on CDMA have specific exclusions to
prevent the phones from roaming onto the other systems to improve
service and coverage the company isn't providing. They'd rather
you go without service than cost them a few pennies in the dead
zones.....not my idea of who to sign a contract with.

Sprint's ok for the girlies they always seem to be selling to.
Girlies don't need real service everywhere, just in the malls.
Sprint's got the malls covered...(c;

Verizon has Broadband coverage but was FORCED by the NYS atty
general to take "unlimited" off their ads because it's NOT
anywhere near "unlimited", being only available for emails and
webspam browsing up to 5GB/month for $60...a real ripoff.

Alltel is $10/mo for unlimited to a smartphone or $25/mo to use
the smartphone as a Bluetooth modem for my Nokia N800 internet
tablet, less than half what VZW wants for email/webpage ONLY.

Those are the choices. The choice is Alltel....even if it drops.


Larry
--
GO WIMAX GO! THE SOONER THE BETTER!!

"Claude S. Sutton" <claudesutton@suttonmachine.com> wrote in
news:pan.2007.10.25.01.30.48.845809@suttonmachine. com:

> when I sold the plane

Too soon! We got a brand new FBO, now! You'd think you were in
Palm Springs. It's really nice....and pricey, of course...(c;

I live on the Ashley River over on the other side of the AFB from
the FBO.

Larry
--
You can tell there's extremely
intelligent life in the universe
because they have never called Earth.

"Claude S. Sutton" <claudesutton@suttonmachine.com> wrote in
news:pan.2007.10.25.12.35.47.620850@suttonmachine. com:

> please contact Data Support, 1-800-255-8351, Option 3(3x), to
>

This is just the same Alltel TSR number we always get by dialing
611. They're swamped at 1PM ET at the moment. I'll hang on it
for a while through Skype. The options are 3then3then3.

It's interesting they are going to data roam with Sprint. That
was worth the effort to find out, right there! Maybe we'll be
able to roam our data to Sprint if it keeps dropping, the few
places Sprint has decent service around here.

I'm still holding....zzzZZZZZZzzzz....(c;


Larry
--
You can tell there's extremely
intelligent life in the universe
because they have never called Earth.

O
> We need to find out how widespread this is! I'll start a new
> thread asking users whos data is dropping and phones rebooting
> during data calls to post and let's see how many we can compile
> to use as background material for our complaint. That gets rid
> of "it's your equipment" excuses straight away.
>
> Larry

Stopped in the office for a minute, on the way to the shop to pay the
troops so I can't sit here holding a phone all afternoon.

Tomorrow is a more relaxed day for me and I will see what I can find out
then.

Interesting in that my connections were driving me crazy from late
afternoon yesterday until about 9:30 last night and have been very good
since.

I have not had a drop all morning and the speeds are like DSL.

What makes it so aggravating is that I know it will soon go down the tube.

CSSJR

CSSJR

--
If we do not wish to lose our freedom, we must learn to tolerate our
neighbor's right to freedom even though he might express that freedom
in a manner we consider to be eccentric.

"Claude S. Sutton" <claudesutton@suttonmachine.com> wrote in
news:pan.2007.10.25.12.35.47.620850@suttonmachine. com:

> I'm going to my local Alltel HQ here in Charleston, SC, with a
>> printout of your post to show them when they tell me it's my
>> phone....etc, etc, the usual nonsense. I'll try to get some
>> answers and post back to you what I find out, if anything.
>>
>>
>>
>> Larry
>
>
> Larry:
>
> Late last night, I found an email address that looked like it
might be
> good for service.
>
> This is the reply I got to my complaint:
>
> please contact Data Support, 1-800-255-8351, Option 3(3x), to
> address this matter. WIth the data core migration in process
and the
> developing Sprint data roaming agreement, your issue will
require some
> further troubleshooting and investigation. Thank you.
>
> At least, I got a reply by 8:15 this morning. Most take days.
>
> So I dialed it and waited and waited while I heard every kind
of add for
> every kind of cell service.
>
> Pressing 3 made no difference.
>
> I finally hung up.
>
> I hope your personal visit gets better results.
>
> If they can't get "3" to work.........?
>
> CSSJR
>

Thanks for the information! I'll put Skype on it on the Nokia
N800 on broadband and wait them out. Let's try ALL the access
numbers, not just 3. I don't press and wait. I press SALES,
which always gets answered, then try to hold them on the line
until a human answers at troubleshooting. That works better,
sort of like the idea of standing over their desk looking down
being less ignorable...(c;

We need to find out how widespread this is! I'll start a new
thread asking users whos data is dropping and phones rebooting
during data calls to post and let's see how many we can compile
to use as background material for our complaint. That gets rid
of "it's your equipment" excuses straight away.

Larry
--
When I visited Mexico City, I didn't have to press 1 for Spanish.

"Claude S. Sutton" <claudesutton@suttonmachine.com> wrote in
news:pan.2007.10.25.02.26.44.953345@suttonmachine. com:

> As I said, I have been their customer since before they were
Alltel.
> Back when a cell phone was a foot long and like a brick on your
belt
> and half the public looked at you with scorn, like "You MUST be
> important", snicker, sneer.
>
>

My first "mobile phone" was a Motorola 2-way UHF to an operator
at a phone answering service. It was just a 2-way FM radio. The
operator took your call, as if she were your personal secretary
to the caller, then called you on the radio and told you who was
calling. If you didn't want to talk to them, she took a message
and relayed it back to you. If you wanted the call, she
interconnected her radio system to the phone line and you PTT to
your party until finished. She disconnected when you clicked
your mic 3 times.

Then, came IMTS from Bell$outh of Dialpage. 152 Mhz, big, full-
duplex Motorola with a little duplexer in your trunk, antenna on
the roof. 4 channels on B$, 4 channels on Dialpage. I could use
either. Rotary dial and real telephone handset under the dash,
just like Peter Gunn had in his car on TV. Car had its own
number and continuously monitored, with a transistor receiver but
a tube transmitter, 152.48 Mhz, the data channel, listening for
its tone set. When it was triggered, it blew the car horn, if
you forgot to flip the switch to internal, making the guy in
front of you mad as hell as he thought you were blowing at him!
The bell ran inside the car, you picked up the regular telephone
handset and talked full duplex, a real improvement over before.
Dialing out was trouble. You pressed one channel button after
another listening for a "dial tone" in the handset (or on the
speakerphone). When you found one, that meant that channel
wasn't busy and you could call out. Go offhook, wait for the
motor-generator in the trunk to get up to speed so you had high
voltage to feed the transmitter tubes for a few seconds, then go
on-the-air and start rotary dialing the number you wanted. When
you started to wind up the dial, a tone went over the air and
alerted the equipment you were dialing, when you released it, the
tone was interrupted once for each number the dial passed,
telling the equipment how far up you wound the dial so it would
know what number that was. When it had a full set, it made an
automatic interconnect....sometimes....usually....(c; When you
hung up the handset, your powerful transmitter dropped, allowing
the overheated car generator to recharge the batteries. GOD HELP
YOU IF YOU CALLED OUT WITHOUT THE ENGINE RUNNING! Transmitting
only drew about 60A at 12V...(c; Calls NEVER dropped, once made
because you had a SERIOUS tranmitter running SERIOUS power to a
SERIOUS antenna on a frequency ALL TO YOURSELF.

Then, Cellular One of Charleston, a franchise of Cellular One,
put up 2 towers on AMPS at 500'....nice beautiful tall self-
supporting towers full of panel antennas on 800 Mhz. We were all
in love with "cellular". I bought the 3rd carphone installed in
Charleston. You took your car to the shop, sat in the plush
customer lounge drinking the free coffee or cokes while enjoying
the day's pastries or Krispy Kreems (mornings only) and watched
cable TV.....or made AMPS calls from the demo units on all the
tables, those fancy new $3200 cellphone brick portables that just
MADE US DROOL! AMPS worked GREAT!...no more waiting for a
CHANNEL! And, unlike IMTS, it was CHEEP!

The rest is history......and I'm proud to have been a customer to
it...(c;

I've been drooling ever since....(c;

Larry
--
Carphones were always CHICK MAGNETS!
"Here, Honey. Let me lean over those beautiful <><> and dial
that for you"...(c;
After she'd been on for 3 minutes, you started thinking "is she
worth THIS much money?"