L u k e n . O r g

The President will be making a speech today at the National Urban League, so I don’t expect much other than pandering. Education is in a real bind and frankly, there are already simple and innovative solutions out there. First, the biggest hinderance to education reform are the various teachers unions. Now, I’m not attacking them but just point things out.

Let’s follow the system in Denmark, where funding per child is not given directly to a school district, but instead is assigned to the parent or guardian, who in turn decides where to send their child, and applies those funds to that school. If the parent chooses a private, public, religious or secular school, their choice. What this fosters is a competitive environment and spurs innovation. Todays system lacks innovation and accountability simply because it doesn’t have to. Regardless of how it performs, people still get paid, with guarantees on salary, earlier retirement and job security.

There was a segment on 20/20 some years back that talked about the Denmark(?) system and how it worked. As a result of their initiative, public schools were on par with private schools, were just as innovative and had equal achievements. I would love to be able to choose what school our boys go to, and what curriculum they had.

Another issue is these bad a** kids and their parents who apparently don’t know what to do or simply don’t care. I scratch my head when I see a child that is on reduced lunch, but their parent shows up to a school event with custom nails, expensive handbags and clothing, driving a Mercedes. It happens more than not, where some parents use the schools as their dumping grounds. I once heard a parent tell a teacher “he’s your problem now….”, while dropping off their child. I am not making that one up….

Here in Wake County, NC., there is a real issue around school diversity and busing vs. local schools. Now personally, I support local schools vs. busing kids half way across the county to achieve diversity. People choose where they want to live and is primarily based on economic status and what they can achieve. Can’t fault people for that. To achieve equal opportunity for all kids, you should’t have to upset half the families by shuffling their kids to create diversity. New schools should not be built until all existing schools are maintained and upgraded to the standards of a new school. This keeps the facilities on par. Next, there is a fixed amount of funding per student.

Now, for poor behaving students in schools, I’m sorry but that is where parent involvement comes in. At some point, instead of looking outwards to resolve problems, you have to look inwards.

So with regards to segregation that the NAACP is talking about in Wake County schools, the most segregated time in the county is Sunday mornings. So if that can’t be resolved what makes you think anything else can be resolved. Just my opinion.

I would love to be able to get a letter in the mail with a voucher, then interview various schools, and send our boys to where WE feel would suit them best and derive the best value and education. Instead, we’re stuck with, here’s your assigned school, deal with it….

Washington CNN — President Obama will deliver a major education reform speech at the National Urban Leagues 100th Anniversary Convention in Washington Thursday morning.The president will discuss how his signature Race to the Top program and other initiatives are driving education reform across the country and focusing the nation on the goal of preparing students for college and careers, a statement from White House said.”Now, I know some argue that during a recession, we should focus solely on economic issues,” Obama says in prepared remarks released by the White House ahead of the address. “But education is an economic issue — if not the economic issue of our time.”The Obama education plan champions better teacher pay, but also asks for tangible results.”I want teachers to have higher salaries. I want them to have more support. I want them to be trained like the professionals they are — with rigorous residencies like the ones doctors go through,” Obama says. “All Im asking in return — as a president, and as a parent — is a measure of accountability.

via Obama to deliver major education reform address – CNN.com.

Well that was quick. Call us the United States of Amnesia. First, we bail out GM and bondholders get wiped out, or had their money taken away from them and handed to the auto unions to pay off favors. Many folks had GM bonds in their retirement or investment portfolios somewhere, so we essentially were robbed.

GM provided subprime loans to finance the sale of vehicles, to people who probably shouldn’t have been purchasing new vehicles. Why buy a used car when you can get a new one, even if you really can’t afford it. Part of GM’s collapse was due to it’s financial arm’s lending, it definitely contributed to the problem. Now they are back in that same business, spending ~$3.5B to buy a subprime financier. Let’s see if Congress or the President will have anything to say about it. Probably not because the tap dance will be about job creation, never mind if we decide to repeat history.

General Motors Co. is getting back into subprime lending, a move that will give its dealers more options to lease and finance car sales but one which critics worry could drive the automaker into another financial pileup.GM said Thursday that it would purchase AmeriCredit Corp. in an all-cash transaction valued at about $3.5 billion, or $24.50 a share.The acquisition gives GM whats known as a “captive finance unit” or lending division that allows it more flexibility to offer lease and finance deals. It would fill the role once played by GMAC; the automaker sold all but a minority interest in that company in 2006.”Adding AmeriCredit to our team will improve our competitiveness in auto financing offerings, and I am very pleased to have them on board,” GM Chief Executive Edward E. Whitacre Jr. said.But the deal immediately drew fire from critics, who recalled how the Detroit automakers former addiction to providing easy credit and cut-rate financing contributed to GMs financial woes and eventually a federal bailout that cost taxpayers billions of dollars.

via GM deal to buy AmeriCredit gets it back into subprime lending – latimes.com.

You simply cannot make this stuff up. So congress votes o a healthcare bill, without actually reading the bill. Only to find out that it may adversely affect them and their staff. So if the plan negatively affects them directly because they didn’t read it and don’t know what’s in it, how does it affect me and my family?

This is what happens when you take a kneejerk reaction to a big and critical issue.

In a new report, the Congressional Research Service says the law may have significant unintended consequences for the “personal health insurance coverage” of senators, representatives and their staff members.For example, it says, the law may “remove members of Congress and Congressional staff” from their current coverage, in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, before any alternatives are available.The confusion raises the inevitable question: If they did not know exactly what they were doing to themselves, did lawmakers who wrote and passed the bill fully grasp the details of how it would influence the lives of other Americans?

via Washington Memo – Baffled by Health Plan? So Are Some Lawmakers – NYTimes.com.

This weeks best quote goes out to Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee.

It is arrogant to imagine that 100 senators are wise enough to reform comprehensively a health care system that constitutes 17 percent of the world’s largest economy and affects 300 million Americans of disparate backgrounds and circumstances

Exactly, especially when a majority of them do not have backgrounds in economics, finance or medicine. The industry knows best. What’s needed is oversight and basic regulation and a few simple rules. Those rules to come in another post shortly.

via On Health Bill, G.O.P.’s Road Is a New Map – NYTimes.com.

I thing Barnes and Noble has a winner here. This is definitely a Kindle killer. It’s as though B&N looked at all the flaws and complaints of the Kindle and ran with it. The interesting feature that I like is that you can share your ebooks with other people, and every book in B&N’s catalog has a free preview. Now match this with the built-in Wifi and 3-ish-G from  AT&T for always being connected, you’ve got a winner. I think I’m sensing a birthday or Christmas gift for myself.

But nothing is without a few issues. First, being an Android device, I’m a bit surprised to the thickness of the product being a 1/2 inch. I guess I was looking more towards that highly thin tablet the Capt. Piccard used to carry, wafer thin. Next, with the always connected ability of the device, why no browser? Or did I miss that? It comes with an MP3 player, might as well throw in a browser, not chewing up much data with that, even AT&T can handle that.

Next, and it’s not their fault, is that being an electronic device, it’s not airplane friendly. I fly quite a bit and have given up trying to use the ebook reader on my iPhone because of outdated rules of electronic devices on planes. have to be turned off when the door closes, and since a lot of flights are delayed, they close the doors and pull away from the gate (so they can claim on-time departure) then sit there for 20 or so minutes. That’s a lot of reading time I loose. Next, you take off and can’t turn on your device until you’re past 10,000 feet. Why not 8634 feet? What’s so magical about 10,000? And the worst part, when you’re within 150 miles of your destination or 30 minutes out, all devices must be off. So I’ve been carrying old fashioned paperbacks with me, and I keep loosing my place in the books. Would love to be able to use an electronic e-reader from start to finish, from the moment I sit down on to the time I get up. I’ll just have to sit in a window seat and keep a look out for the flight attendant I guess.

But with a $259 price tag, is it worth it? I think it’s maybe a little too steep but hey, gotta help America get back on track (although it’s probably made overseas).

Ok, so a quick followup, the first major kink in the armor. Leave it to the content providers to find a way to rub off the polish on the Nook. How, apparently the lending feature is restricted to just one time and even that feature is by the publishers choice. If I buy a hardcopy book, I can lend it as much as I want.

Unfortunately, the “world’s most advanced e-book reader” limits the LendMe feature to one 14-day period per book, ever, and that’s only if the publisher gives permission. You also can’t read the title yourself during the loaner period.

Nook, eBook Reader, eBook Device – Barnes & Noble.

Today, I officially declare my candidacy for congress. Nothing personal but first off, I can care less about you people, I’m not going there to represent you. I’m going for the perks. All I need is to get elected and get sworn in. I promise that right after that, I’ll bring some pork project to Wake County, then resign.  It’s a win-win for us all. You eventually get who you want after I leave, and I get all the perks.

First off, the health plan, why not run for Congress. Take a look at this. This is totally worth lying and kissing babies for.

Personal doctors on call 24/7. Coverage that knows no caps. No exemptions for pre-existing conditions.Those are the sorts of benefits members of Congress currently enjoy on the taxpayer’s dime, and the kinds of benefits Americans on a government-run public health care plan will never see if Obamacare passes.“One thing is certain: Congress will exempt itself from whatever lousy health care system it forces on we little people,” said Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute. “Congress will get better insurance than you do because politicians always get a better deal under government-run health care.”While it’s not news that Congressional health insurance plans are posh, CBS News recently uncovered the details of plans – right as the details of the Baucus health care bill are being hashed out.Members of Congress can choose from five different plans, and have access to both the VIP Bethesda Naval Hospital and a reserved spot Ward 72 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, an elite division usually reserved for military members. Their everyday medical concerns can be taken care of at a doctors office located inside of Congress.Their premiums are the same as those of insurance plans with half the benefits, and the plans last a lifetime; not until Medicare kicks in do ex-Members or loose their Congressional health benefits. Congress has repeatedly voted down any provision that would switch their insurance plans to the lower-grade public option if Obamacare goes through.

That’s just great, regardless what I subject my constituents to whom I’m supposed to represent, I get a premium plan loaded with perks. I also hear that the lifetime pension is a great deal too. So just serve a single two-year term and collect money the rest of my life.

And in related humorous news, check out how it’s going in Britian with their health system. It’s soon to collapse under it’s own weight.

THE National Health Service has spent £1.5m paying for hundreds of its staff to have private health treatment so they can leapfrog their own waiting lists. More than 3,000 staff, including doctors and nurses, have gone private at the taxpayers’ expense in the past three years because the queues at the clinics and hospitals where they work are too long.

via Gateway Pundit.

Ah..the south. At times it’s just a reminder of just how far we have to go. The last sentence just kills me, talk about a self-fullfining prophecy. He should start with himself, then there would be one less problem.

NEW ORLEANS — At least two civil and constitutional rights groups in Louisiana are calling for a justice of the peace to resign after he refused to issue a marriage license for an interracial couple.The head of the American Civil Liberties Union in Louisiana and the Center for Constitutional Rights and Justice said Keith Bardwell should quit immediately.Bardwell is a white justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish in southeastern Louisiana. He refused earlier this month to issue a license or marry Beth Humphrey, who is white, and Terence McKay, who is black.Bardwell said he always asks if a couple is interracial and, if they are, refers them to another justice of the peace.He says children of such unions face troubling futures.

via The Associated Press: Groups upset man wouldnt marry interracial couple.

So some history, a few years ago, NC bent over backwards in attracting Dell to come to NC. All kinds of tax breaks and incentives were given to them. So now, the recession hit, they are closing the plant, 900 workers are gone and NC is out literally millions of dollars that they gave Dell. I’ve never liked the idea of a states bidding for business with lucrative incentives like tax breaks. They never work in the states or public good’s favor. Frankly, I think it should be illegal for states to gamble away tax payers money like that. A company should locate a facility based on the merits of the state, the available talent pool, utility costs, land costs, etc. Not by how much money a state can stuff in their pocket. It’s been an ongoing trend here in NC and I just think it’s worth the cost in the long term.

Dell Inc. DELL will close a North Carolina plant, putting some 905 employees out of work, as the personal-computer maker continues its restructuring.The company is in the midst of cutting $4 billion in costs the next two years as Dell deals with slumping profits and still-weak demand, especially among its key corporate customers.

via UPDATE: Dell To Close N.C. Plant, Affecting 905 Workers – WSJ.com.

Honestly, I thought this was going to be an Onion article. Just goes to show, we still have  a ways to go for broadband around the world. I personally think it has more to do with the South African government and their not so friendly free market ideas that stifle innovation and investment. Not to mention the corruption that keeps things held back. That could never happen here.

Carrier pigeons are being used to transfer data between offices because bosses believe it is quicker than broadband. Computer experts at a South African firm said it took six hours to transfer four gigabytes of encrypted data from Durban to a call centre 50 miles away near Pietermaritzburg.

Staff at Unlimited Group, a financial services company, today attached a memory card to the leg of a pigeon called Winston who took just over an hour for the trip.

via Pigeon post faster than South Africas Telkom | Mail Online.

Well, AT&T has gone to the extreme, introducing “Seth” the blogger. I’m assuming he’s supposed to be the face of AT&T’s new campaign to plead with their subscriber space about their shortcomings regarding network capacity.

Seth goes on to say that they are working really hard, around the clock, and spending BILLIONS (with a raised pinky finger) to improve their network. So first question, didn’t they expect the increased traffic when introducing the world’s first fully smart, smartphone? Or essentially a computer that also makes voice calls? A device that is solely dependent on network connectivity based on the applications it has? If they can start this campaign then they can also rebate their customers on a monthly basis for the reduced level of service they provide, until they catch up. Sorry, but I’m not feeling too much compassion for them right now.

Next, I find it ironic that they on one hand, would reach out to their customer base and say they are doing all they can while on the other hand, do everything they can to restrict user functionality and features such as GoogleVoice, and the many other applications that they feel would erode their revenue stream. I don’t hear an apology for their anti-competitive practices, complex billing, or never-ending voice response units used in customer service that leads to nowhere.

No AT&T, sorry, not feeling the sorrow for you. You knew exactly what you were getting into, which is why you’ve signed an exclusivity deal to have the iPhone, and even paid Apple a monthly fee per phone. You knew what the market segment was going to do and you chose not to invest in the most critical part, but chose to address it after it became an issue, knowing customers would put up with it because they simply had no other choice if they wanted an iPhone. Well, hopefully, choice is coming, if the FCC acts accordingly. iPhone should soon be available on other carriers such as T-Mobile, Verizon and maybe even Sprint in a couple of years. Then you will be measured on features, cost and customer experience, not on the fact that you’re the only provider and we’re stuck with you. Better days and better choices are coming. You have an opportunity to correct things and make amends with your customer base by then, but I doubt it. For you, it’s about how many  customers you can retain while providing the least amount of service. You’ll work the numbers and tweak it till it’s just right.

via YouTube – AT&T Network 101 & MMS Availability Update.

First, the Windows 7 upgrade matrix, table, chart.

And now, the Mac Snow Leopard Upgrade Chart

Any more Questions???

Just a day after Apple kills off Google Voice and GV Mobile (probably at teh behestof AT&T), their network is suffering a massive outage in the northeast. Could this be Karma? More bars in more places? More like more flatlining in more places. This is yet another example why the exclusivity deals are bad, and I don’t fault people for unlocking their phones. It seems that all AT&T wants to do is collect money, and provide as little service as possible. I’m looking forward to the day when the phone is available on other networks. Sprint, T-Mobile or Verizon.

With recent earnings reports, it’s clearly stated that AT&T’s growth is dedicated solely to the iPhone for the wireless division. Heck, it’s the only reason why I’m with them, so they need to keep the phone exclusive. They know that when it comes available on other networks, there will be a mass exodus, including me, even if I have to pay the termination fee. And with them doing things like blocking innovative applications, it only hastens my desire for a quick exit from them.

AT&T T appears to be suffering a massive outage in its data network in the Northeast, and some parts of the Midwest, according to Twitter reports. And our iPhones are offline, too.

Whatever the excuse is, in this era of always-on mobile communications, its not acceptable.

via AT&T Suffers Massive Mobile Data Outage In Northeast, Midwest T.

Cash for Clunkers are driving people into the showroom. the new problem is that there may not be enough cars since Detroit has scaled back. This got me thinking about how to create a permanent incentive for car purchases. How about no sales tax on purchasing a qualified efficient vehicle and no property tax on that same vehicle for the first four years? Wow, what an incentive, but that would be to practical. Providing real solutions to job creation would be out of the question.

Which leads to the never-ending debate. Either a national consumption tax or a flat income tax, one or the other. How about an experiment, alternate between the two on an annual basis for the net few years then compare it to the current system to see how it fares. I don’t think politicians would like that because it would obviously be successful and they would loose their biggest power tool, the tax code.

Car dealerships all over the country are bracing for a spike in sales thanks to the “Cash for Clunkers” program. However, some car dealers said they fear the program could end up being a victim of its own success.

The Federal Government is offering a credit of up $4,500 off the purchase of a fuel efficient and environmentally sound car or truck in exchange for old cars.

via Cash for Clunkers Driving Cars off Dealerships Lots – NewsOn6.com – Tulsa, OK – News, Weather, Video and Sports – KOTV.com | .

So, here is the promised update on the switch from Time Warner Cable to AT&T’s uVerse. So goodbye to TWC. I got uVerse and then gave TWC that dreaded call. “Hello, I’m calling to cancel my service” Imagine the gasp of air by the operator to the sheer horror of my sentence. I explained to him that I was sorry that he ended up with my call and that there was nothing he could do to change my mind, and that I hope it didn’t hit his resolution quota too hard. He asked why I was terminating and I explained that I moved to AT&T uVerse. He says he wished I would have called earlier before I made the decision and that he would have been able to do something. I informed him that I called a couple of months ago when the cable was being laid, and I called again when I received the postcard with my availability. “I gave you guys many chances to do something”. So anyway, I cancelled.

So moving on to the AT&T installation and it’s service. I had an install date that was to be on a Monday. The previous Saturday a technician came out and spent an hour validating that my phone line was qualified. Then took another hour to determine that my phone line was connected to a different box than what they had on record. Two hours, understandably, it was CWA Union guy. Nothing is efficient with them. I spend the next 15 minutes with him hearing him complain about AT&T, how they want to cut his pay by $15 per hour to match the uVerse technicians who do the installations inside the home, and how it looks like in late August or September, there will be a strike. Which got me to thinking, just how much did this guy get for two hours worth of “work”, tracing and doing a signal test on a wire?

So moving on along to the installation. The Monday got moved to Tuesday and the uVerse guy came by. This guy had me up and running in less than 45 minutes, no installation problems or issues. Obviously he wasn’t a union guy. DVR’s up and running, programed, residential gateway configured and explained, just went smoothly.

So now on to the service itself. Wow, many more HD channels than TWC and as far as the broadband speed, I’m averaging over 16Mb/s down and almost of my 1.5Mb/s up. My Mozy backups finish in a couple of hours instead of the dreaded two day notification using TWC’s max upload of ~450K that I was getting.

No on to some sad news. Right now I’m doing this post via my wireless broadband because I’m suffering my first uVerse outage. That’s to be expected I guess. No TV or network, and so Vonage is down also. Calling AT&T is more of a challenge than calling TWC which surprised me. I get the impression that while TWC is just clumsy with their support and is not up to date, AT&T is up to date but just very efficient in trying not to provide service. Case in point, their endless looping of their voice response system.

And I learned something new which is troubling. I went to watch a recorded show but realized you can’t without the service fully working. Apparently, you have to have a connection even if you want to watch a recorded show. The system needs to connect to Skynet to notify them of what you are watching. I found a thread about that on DSLReports here. That’s really troubling, they are monitoring your every move, even when you watch your recorded shows.

At some point, I would love to drop TV altogether. Just an Internet connection and use Hulu, Netflix, and over the air broadcasts. But for now, we’ll see how it goes. It’s been rock solid for over a month, up until the last two hours anyway.

Alright, this one is just way too funny not to post. It’s a take from the movie Downfall, where Hitler goes ballistic because he finds out he’s loosing the war. But in this version, the subtitles are about Hitler blowing a gasket because he finds out Sarah Palin resigned and now had nobody for his fundraiser.

The best lines from this clip are “the GOP has lost itss balls and now its’ ovaries as well” and “that’s what Alaska gets for electing a MILF instead of a Stalin”.

via YouTube – Hitler Finds Out Sarah Palin Resigns.

Our president better stop hanging around French president Nicolas Sarkozi, he’s starting to pick up some bad habits and he doesn’t look tough enough to take on Michelle when he gets back home.

So after some fun poking at the President (hoping that it’s still allowed) here’s the video clip clearing it up. Note that Nick is still a horn dog.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07102009/news/nationalnews/tail_to_the_chief_178552.htm

0709_obama_11032342_h8320192_landov.jpg 500×442 pixels.

Whether it be radical Islamists or Christian fanatics, Dream Theater’s lyrics for the song “In the Name of God” comes to mind. Apologies but I just had to post it, hope I’m not violating their work but these are just deep and to the point.

How can this be?
Why is he the chosen one?

Saint gone astray
With a scepter and a gun

Learn to believe
In the mighty and the strong

Come bleed the beast
Follow me it won’t be long

Listen when the prophet
Speaks to you
Killing in the name of God

Passion
Twisting faith into violence
In the name of God

Straight is the path
Leading to your salvation
Slaying the weak
Ethnic elimination

Any day we’ll all be
Swept away
You’ll be saved
As long as you obey

Lies
Tools of the devil inside
Written in Holy disguise
Meant to deceive and divide
Us all

Listen when the prophet
Speaks to you
Killing in the name of God

Passion
Twisting faith into violence
In the name of God

Blurring the lines
Between virtue and sin
They can’t tell
Where God ends
And mankind begins

They know no other
Life but this
From the cradle
They are claimed

Listen when the prophet
Speaks to you
Killing in the name of God

Passion
Twisting faith into violence
In the name of God

Hundreds of believers
Lured into a doomsday cult
All would perish
In the name of God

Self-proclaimed messiah
Led his servants
To their death
Eighty murdered
In the name of God

Forty sons and daughters
Un-consenting plural wives
Perversions
In the name of God

Underground religion
Turning toward
The mainstream light
Blind devotion
In the name of God

Justifying violence
Citing from the Holy Book
Teaching hatred
In the name of God

Listen when the prophet
Speaks to you
Killing in the name of God

Passion
Twisting faith into violence
In the name of God

Religious beliefs
Fanatic obsession
Does following faith
Lead us to violence?

Unyielding crusade
Divine revelation
Does following faith
Lead us to violence?

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.

Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!

I was watching the evening news last night and they were doing a fact check on Obama’s claim that he created 150,000 jobs. Christina Romer who chairs the Council of Eeconomic Advisors and is Obama’s top economic advisor said the following:  “When we have the tax cuts that we’ve had and the spending that we’ve had, historically it has shown that jobs has been created”. And that the number is a statistical figure so it can be presented as fact. So the point is that the numbers aren’t factual, but statistical, so can be presented as fact. I pondered over that but then something hit me.

Whoa, did she just say that tax cuts creates jobs? Well….. we won’t see her on camera anymore. The notion that tax cuts spurs the economy is the antithesis to the idea that government must do all to create jobs. At best, the government can create temporary jobs, mainly on infrastructure and those jobs are not sustainable. Tax cuts essentially make people who have all that excess cash, invest in things to make more money which creates jobs, which is sustainable. If government creates jobs by increasing the size of the government, then mathematically, there will eventually be less private sector jobs to support the government payroll. Take a look at the state of New Jersey. Private job payrolls are falling while government job payroll is increasing. The result? Increased taxes to support government and an exodus from the state. But back to my original point. The chief economic advisor states that tax cuts creates jobs. Following that rationale, the more taxes are cut, the more jobs are created? Is that possible?

Direct video link here…

Well, here we go. I figured I’d document this because you know there will be a story. About six weeks ago, I noticed fiber being laid to my neighborhood. I asked the construction guy and he confirmed that it indeed was AT&T U-Verse. Imaging my joy as I immediately summarized that I would be fred from the shackles of TWC.

So a couple of weeks ago I get a flyer in the mail advertising that U-Verse is here and available in my neighborhood. I immediately run inside, go online to their site and check the availability of my address. Wham-o, it’s available !! So of course I immediately order U-Verse, just the broadband and television. Not phone, I use Vonage. I get an install date of June 8th, from noon to 2pm.

So on Saturday the 6th, the doorbell rings and it’s an AT&T guy. He says, “Hi, I’m from AT&T”. I say “wow, you’re a bit early”. he laughs and tells me that he is here for a pre-site survey and qualification. Wait, you’re not sure if I’m qualified? Your website says so. He explains that he needs to check the quality of the line and that I’m within 3000 feet of the DSLAM. Well, I’m a couple of hundred feet from it (it’s behind our subdivision) and it’s a new neighborhood, lines couldn’t have rotted that fast. About an hour later the doorbell rings again and he’s looking real sad. I know that look. It’s the look of “we have a problem and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it” look on his face. He proceeds to explain.

First the simplified explanation. My phone line is connected to that little phone box about four houses down, instead of the box that is actually between my house and my neighbors. Go figure. That in itself isn’t a problem. The problem is that in their many databases, it shows me connected to the wrong box. He explains that it is simply a matter of doing a change of record, a relatively simple data entry tasks that takes about two minutes, and that he could do it himself, but he would get in trouble because that’s not his role. Also the maintenance dept. is closed on Saturdays. And that this process usually takes up to 48 hours.

Now for the wild part. He begins to confide in me about the internals of AT&T. YOu see, he’s a union guy, and the U-Verse division is non-union and they hate each other and don’t get along, and they’re not treated well. Also, if you’re going to get U-Verse, better get it now because it looks like a strike is coming in August because the evil AT&T wants to pay the union guys $15 less per hour to put their payscale in line with the non-union U-Verse folks. So the union guys do all the exterior work and the non-union guys do all the internal work for U-Verse. And it’s not fair. Well…thanks for that primer. I think because I’m a minority he thought I was in full agreement with him, but that’s another post in the political category.

So, on to yesterday. A complete no-show. So, on to this morning. I call…. navigate the voice response unit trying to avoid getting trapped in the VRU flowchart of death. I finally get a voice that’s backed by a temperature of ~98.6, a blood pressure of 122 over 80, and a heart rate of 86 beats per minute. After providing all the relevant information about my first born, sexual preference and what I ate last night, I could tell that her vitals were quickly going out of whack after I mentioned that yesterdays’ U-Verse installation was a U-Verse stranded at the alter event. So three people and two long on hold transfers later, I get the selected scripted apology based on the computerized detection of the stress level in my voice (that’s actually a real system, btw). So, the change of record was done yesterday (probably between noon and 2pm) and I was told that someone was “probably” going to call me today about it. Ok, whatever. So I’ve been prioritized and have a new appointment between 8am and 10am tomorrow morning. So stay tuned for part II of this post, it should be a fun filled day but I have faith and Im looking forward to U-Verse eventually…. possibly….. hopefully.

Well, well. I think its time that I traveled back to my homeland, my native United Kingdom, and head up to the highlands of Scotland to reclaim my family land and rebuild the family castle. Next, head back down to England and check out some of the tributes to some of the great Nelsons’ in the family, such as Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson. I’m in a cynical mood this evening….

Where did the English Nelson family come from? What is the English coat of arms/family crest? When did the Nelson family first arrive in the United States? Where did the various branches of the family go? What is the history of the family name?

The name Nelson is of Anglo-Saxon origin and came from Nell, an Irish name. Nelson means “the son of Nell.” It came to England by a rather circuitous route. Adopted by Norse Viking settlers in Ireland in the first millennium, it traveled to Scotland and Norway. From there it traveled to France with the Normans who settled there in the 9th century after dispossession of their lands in Norway and Scotland by the respective kings of those realms. Eventually, of course, the Normans, led by Duke William of Normandy, invaded England and defeated the Saxons at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. At this point the name entered England proper.

via Nelson Family Crest.