# 419: The Price was Right ... or Was It?

Well, heck. The price was right and almost too good to be true.

Six or so months ago I decided to take advantage of a new Internet service. The price was extraordinarily low and as I’m always looking for deals (I’m the yard and estate sale queen!) I called to get some info about it. The sales agent was very polite and patient and answered all my questions, assuring me this new service was most definitely available in my zip code area. OK! I signed on, pre-paying for one year in order to get the best deal. The wireless router/modem unit arrived. I followed the get-connected-in-3-easy-steps instructions and Voila! I was connected just like that! I had fast speed for both download and upload.

But last week, I started not being able to connect and when I did connect the speeds were erratic … high then low, then not at all. I did multiple speed tests, sometimes waiting five to ten minutes for the page to load. The tests showed download speeds of 3Mbps and upload speeds of 0.4Mpbs!

What happened to the fast connections that I had had for all the proceeding months? I called customer service multiple times and after speaking with four different agents over five days finally got an answer of sorts.

Apparently, I should never have been sold the service because it isn’t available in my area and the agent couldn’t tell me exactly how I had been able to get the service up to this time. There were plans to expand service to my area, I was told, but there was no telling whether that would be in a week, a month or years into the future. There were many apologies for their error in selling this to me and I was told that I will be due a refund. (I’ll keep you updated about if indeed I do get that.)

I called up a techie friend who told me what service to sign up with for a reliable connection and a good price. Then using my phone as a hotspot, I went to the provider’s website and saw there was a 4th of July sale going on at not too much more than I had been paying. I’ve signed up, picked an installation date and time, and on Friday of this week my Internet service will move over to it. In the meantime I’ll be limping along, not knowing whether I’ll have a fast rabbit connection spike or one that is a snail in slow-motion.

I’m going to take the rest of this week off and will see you next week hopefully with a steady and reliable connection. Until then, I’ve included a recipe open to all for an easy-peasy ice cream that needs NO ice cream maker to keep you chill.

Don’t forget my 5th Anniversary 50% Off Sale that is going on now. That’s just $30 a year which works out to $2.50 a month or 65 cents a week FOREVER and I truly hope that you find my newsletter worth 65 cents a week which is way less than a latte!

And finally, I want to tell you that I really appreciate your comments and thoughts about the newsletter. Some have written to tell me that you want more videos but others don’t want videos. Some have shared that you are here only for recipes and don’t want any stories or thoughts. Even though I can’t please everyone with each and every post, I hope you’ll stick around while I keep doing some of everything.

xo
Kate

Tips Are ALWAYS Welcome!

How to Cook a Coyote
by Betty Fussell

Betty Fussell has always been pretty darn amazing and still is at ninety-nine. Some twenty years ago, when she was on book-tour in Seattle, I got to have dinner with her. (Wuzband three knew her and the three of us shared the table before she spoke at Town Hall in Seattle.) Betty is in a group with the likes of Julia Child and M.F.K. Fisher. Now pretty much blind, she says that How to Cook a Coyote is her final book.

She moved from NYC to Santa Barbara and lives at Casa Dorinda which I knew as the Bliss Estate. I had hoped I might run into her at the Saturday farmers market when I was there recently. Alas, I did not although I did see the didgeridoo woman who makes an appearance in the book.

Betty’s life has been rich and full and her joyful voice is still vibrant in this quick read. She does include a recipe for Coyote Pie, too.

P.S. I’ve got internet connection now so I’m pressing the publish button before it slips away!