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So my father in law has been going on for years about how great Ameritech/ SBC/ AT&T’s new broadband service is gonna be once it was activated. I personally like the idea of having fiber to the curb, so I’ve been looking forward to it for a while.

A few months back they sent a rep out to let us know they were offering ‘U-verse’ in our area. I wasn’t home at the time, so Jackie got information and said I’d get back to them. I didn’t bother since we’re looking for a house. I figure I can look them up after we find a house.

Well, they came back Wednesday. They had already been by when I got home, and Jackie told them to come back later. I hadn’t been in the door more than 20 minutes when they knocked again. I then listened to them go through their spiel about how they were going to save me money by charging me more per month than I was paying already. ($30 phone+ $30 DSL + $15 static IP < $59 TV + $30 fiber)

I managed to get them to understand that I didn't want the TV or telephone service- just the internet connection. I also asked them one question that proved to be their undoing:

"How much will a static IP cost?"

I asked that question 10 minutes into the 2 hour conversation- most of the time was spent with the rep on hold with AT&T's customer support, who gave the following responses:

* What's an IP?
* What's a static IP?
* You mean dynamic IP?
* Yes, we have those, it's an extra $15/mo for DSL
* We don't have those.
* You can change the setting in your router so your computer has the same address.
* We don't have those in Michigan.

The first five we receive several times, the 6th I was told by one of their "technicians" who didn't get that I wanted the router's external ip to be static so I could host this site. Finally the rep called a friend of his who was a "technology director" and found out they didn't offer them in Michigan. I told them that was a dealbreaker and bid them farewell.

Two hours later, they came back- apparently he called someone else and was told that U-verse does in fact have static IPs, and they're $15/mo. That would bring the total price to $45/mo (once I cancelled the TV portion), where as now I'm paying $45/mo + $30/mo for a phoneline I don't use. Quite a deal, right? Sign me up. He tells me that the form he has doesn't cover the static IP and I'll have to call in the morning to have them append that to my order.

So the next day I call to have this set up- and guess what? After 3 hours standing outside talking and now 30 minutes on the phone, they decide they do not in fact have static IPs available for U-verse customers. I ask the phone lady to call the rep I talked to and figure out who's right. after another 5 minutes on hold, she says his source was mistaken, and he will correct whoever he talked to.

So I cancel the service I just signed up for because it didn't provide the only feature I requested. I'm not sure what's more disappointing:

• The fact that NO ONE seemed to know what a static IP was
• The sales rep was given the run around just like us customers
• They apparently don’t offer this very simple service
• The fact that most of the support people couldn’t find this information
• They charge $15/mo whereas Jasnet charged a one-time $15 fee
• That the sales rep probably misled me to get the sale so he could get a comission

So, if anyone knows of an ISP in Madison Heights, MI that offers a static IP, decent upload speed, no blocked ports all at a decent price, please let me know.

So jackie and I were thinking, “when we do get a house, what will we need?” so we’re gonna make a list.

• 55 gallon outdoor garbage can
• shovel
• snow shovel
• rake
• lawnmower
• Drill
• office chair

So I’ve been quiet the last few weeks- mainly because I’ve been keeping busy. As a lot of you know, I have many little side projects that I never seem to get done. So here’s a quick update:

- Ruma has been put into stasis since the other devs don’t have the free time and neither do I. if anyone wants to take up development of it, I’ll be happy to give them access.

- opensourcecook.com got about halfway done and then I lost interest. I just couldn’t get into designing the input forms for jackie, and she wasn’t looking forward to having to manually re-enter her recipes.

- Ian now has a guitar so, I’m trying to teach him how to be gentle with it. It’s a $30 first act guitar, so not a huge loss if he destroys it.

- I’ve been working on an rpg battle engine in ruby and tinkering with gosu a bit. I doubt it’ll go anywhere, but usually once every 6 months I debate creating it. I’m about to burn out on that as well.

The big news is jackie and I have been looking for a house for about 2 months now and we put an offer in on a house that’s about 10 minutes from work. The people have accepted our offer, but since it’s for less than what they owe, they have to get the bank to agree to a short sale. If they don’t want to take the loss, we’re sorta screwed and may end up looking elsewhere.

Since it’s our first house, we’re getting a FHA loan to help us get the best deal. The big issue here is they can demand things be fixed (like a leaky roof) before they give the go-ahead. Since it’s a short sale, the bank may not be willing to take more of a loss on the cost to have the repairs made.

I’m fairly optimistic about this house- it’ll require very little work to give it livable (from what we see) and hopefully nothing will be wrong with it. I’d almost like to hear that the roof has another 5 years left on it since that’s our biggest concern. If it needs to be replaced the sellers may do it themselves to save costs and do a shoddy job.

The best part about this particular house is it has an unfinished basement, and I’ll be able to build a large office to house all my hobbies. That’ll make jackie happy since they usually are messy or take up a lot of space. The bigger the office, the longer it’ll take for the hobbies to spill into the rest of the house

Regardless of the outcome, a house in in the plans, so I added a new house category.