A Pilgrim in the Land of FIOS

What a day! I spent 30-45 minutes with Charming Charles of Dallas, a super techie from the kingdom of FIOS, who, bless his heart, took all the time we needed to connect my laptop to the same programs I have on my PC. Of course, it never dawned on me to have this done when FIOS Triple Freedom was originally installed. Who thinks of these things?

Anyway, I met Charles only because I had tried to perform the same function on my own. (Not only did I not succeed at that but I ended up enrolling in a different Verizon program I’m not sure I wanted. But it wasn’t a fatal mistake it just wasn’t what I was looking for.)

I did try those on-line Help menus but they were a total waste of time. Why is it that the FAQs never include my Q? Which means the suggested answers never answer my question. You really have to brace yourself to slog through voice mail menus ad nauseam in order to reach someone like Charles who actually understands your objectives and can help you do it.

It took three transfers before I got to Charles but in the final analysis it was worth the wait. Not only was he patient and knowledgeable but he also was an amusing phone companion while all the connecting was going on. It was fun.

When all was said and done it was a pleasant afternoon. The wife had gone shopping and the time I had set aside to get this task done was well spent, thanks to Charles. Long may he serve the Lords of FIOSity.

There’s more, if you’re up for it.

My son insists on dragging his parents into the digital age, bless him. His latest gift was a Sony Digital Photo Frame. You load your photos and it plays them back in a variety of ways, the most popular being a slide show.

Trouble is he just left us with it and of course I couldn’t get it to work because I didn’t have the right equipment. The good news is that he did and a week later, he and his #1 Son made a house call and the Photo Frame is now in digital heaven seamlessly sliding from one family photo to another to our mutual pleasure.

If there is any lesson in all of this, it’s that we muddlers still need personal contact with SOMEONE to safely navigate the digital world.

Stay tuned.