OPENING IN MAY techNoloGy The sunsets over Lake Champlain are stunning from my new apartment; I watched my first one while on the phone with a FairPoint customer-service rep, turning my modem on and off, glancing back and forth between the blinking green light — a bad sign — and the receding sun. No luck. But the next day, I got the call I had been waiting for: Dan, a FairPoint technician, was on his way to help. Except he had instructions to help “Marla on College Street.” I ’fessed up to not being Marla and tried to sweet-talk him into coming to my condo instead. Dan declined — policy prohibited it — but he was perplexed by the mix-up and said he’d get to the bottom of it.
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03.19.14-03.26.14
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3/17/14 1:57 PM
FEATURE 35
True to his word, Dan called back a few hours later. Marla, it turned out, was vacationing in California and probably couldn’t care less whether her internet was working. Dan had unearthed my ticket from the office basement (don’t ask; I didn’t), but he would still have to go through the central office to get permission to help me. A day later, Dan showed up and fixed the phone line — for now. I’m fuzzy on the particulars, but the line’s days are apparently numbered. I had to wade through FairPoint’s Terms of Service agreement to determine that I’m on the hook if it stops working. Had I opted for BT, cutting-edge, hairthin cable made of pure glass would have delivered internet to my door. As nice as Dan was, I wouldn’t have had to wait for someone in North Carolina to authorize his visit. Stinginess steered me away from BT, though, and now I’m locked into another contract with FairPoint, entrusting my internet connection to a frayed telephone line. When the contract expires next March, I’ll be one year older — perhaps a little less miserly and ready, at last, to go local. m
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