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   MSGID: 133.fidonet_memories@1:19/33 2da4bfc2   
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   PID: Synchronet 3.21a-Win32 master/04856e14d Nov 10 2025 MSC 1944   
   TID: SBBSecho 3.32-Win32 master/04856e14d Nov 10 2025 MSC 1944   
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   FORMAT: flowed   
   Ed,   
      
    EV> The email address I have for Joe is:   
      
    EV> joemackey108@comcast.net   
      
    EV> The last email I got from Joe was in December 2021 .   
      
     That's the email address I had for him, but I don't recall how   
   long ago it was when I heard from him. He told me that he had been   
   diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, which at that point, is   
   a death sentence. My late father only lasted 6 weeks after he was   
   diagnosed with it.   
      
    EV> In March of 2022 I began having DSL problems and was suggested   
    EV> I drop DSL  and get Fiber internet   
    EV> I dropped DSL and learned the Fiber Modem didn't work here , so   
    EV> I dropped the Fiber too.   
      
    EV> Two years later I got a cellphone plan.   
      
     When my late Mom had AT&T DSL, every time there was a thunderstorm   
   or power outage, the DSL modem failed. That meant no landline (not   
   even 911) and no internet.   
      
     I came over to her place (which is where I am now, as all of my   
   family is dead and gone now), and got on the phone with them. AT&T   
   was giving me the runaround, and when I said "I want to talk to your   
   supervisor"...they promptly cut me off!!   
      
     So, I dialed them back (having to use my cellphone), and when they   
   said "this call will be monitored and recorded", I growled "It d@mn   
   sure better after what the last representative did to me".   
      
     I apologized to my Mom afterwards (she was 90 at the time) for   
   using foul language...and said "I can't blame you...I heard    
   everything!!". They were going to make her wait 3 weeks to get a    
   new DSL modem, so I read them the riot act...in spades!!   
      
     So, they sent a technician by the next morning, and when I told    
   him what happened, he was furious. He said "They do this crap all    
   the time"...and got my Mom a new DSL modem, and his card, with his    
   private cell number. He told us "if it fails, call the number on    
   the card (do NOT call AT&T), and either myself or one of my crew    
   will have a replacement here within 24 hours".   
      
     Several months after her death, when an AT&T representative tried    
   to sell my phone and DSL service, I told them what happened, and    
   snarled "I wouldn't take your crappy service, if you gave it to me    
   for nothing!!".   
      
     I am with Consumer Cellular, and being an AARP member, I get a   
   5% discount on my bill. Since I also have insurance, and am making   
   a monthly payment plan on my Samsung Galaxy A16 phone (which I've   
   used as an internet hotspot), with unlimited talk, text, and 10 GB   
   of data, I pay $55 a month. That will go down once I pay off the   
   phone, in about another year.   
      
     It is rare that I use 10 GB of data, as mostly, I'm piggybacking   
   off of the Xfinity Wi-Fi.   
      
   73,   
      
   Daryl, N5VLZ   
      
   ... As a computer, I find your faith in technology amusing.   
   === MultiMail/Win v0.52   
   --- SBBSecho 3.32-Win32   
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