bye bye AOL

We first joined AOL in 1995. Over the years it has been very good for us. However, lately things have not worked as well. Finally, last week the DSL modem stopped talking to the computer, and no one seemed to be able to help. It was finally time.

I have cancelled AOL. Am I there last customer? Probably not. But I am definitely part of a trend, and AOL knows it too. There was no argument when I asked to cancel. They even have it as one of their menu choices on their customer service 800 number. One of the reasons I had never cancelled before was that I didn't want to lose my screen name. Guess what -- that's no longer an issue. You can keep your aol mail and screen name, and access both through www.aol.com. You can also get web mail through your aol screen name. So I will still be on AIM with my Erica screen name, and I won't be laying out over 50$ a month for DSL and AOL.

I am not ready to switch to FIOS yet. I know that's silly, but I am concerned about not having phones when the power goes out. If Verizon could give me television over my FIOS, then I would switch, but otherwise.... So I went to Verizon DSL. I don't want to be wedded to cable either at this point. Did I get the best deal? who knows, but it came with a free modem and wireless router so I will be able to access the internet from my laptop at home -- finally!

Now I just need to make sure that I am not providing internet access for the whole neighborhood. Anyone want to volunteer to help secure my network?