Mice in the ceiling. I hear you racing.
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Poison in the ventilation system, getting worse. Trouble breathing. Open window to dilute poison, then go outside to get fresh air. Poison blasted at me from behind a corner. Get away. Poison again. Throat burning. Stay alert, watch for poison, keep my distance, keep my mask handy…
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I’m so sorry, I should have included the /sarcasm tag in my post. I was using the ironic/sarcastic meaning of the phrase, where “seems legit” = “this is an obvious con and/or BS”.
I just meant that it sounded like they were giving you the run-around to keep from sending you a new device, and that the “try it in the park” bit sounded especially egregious. I feel like if it doesn’t work at your house, it kind of doesn’t matter if it works at the park (unless that’s where you plan to use it most of the time 
).
Best of luck getting it resolved.
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Oh, that definitely ran through my head at the time! (I thought I was being overly grouchy.) But… I know just enough of computers to consider that just might have been an issue. And testing it in the park meant I could say, “I did everything you told me to and it still doesn’t work, now you fix it,” and make it stick.
Though it’s getting “better”… I fired off a grouchy-but-still-polite email Saturday night about the connection issue and the lack of help. Today I got a reply asking me for device and SIM card ID numbers. I sent them (without any further comment.) The answering email was full of stock-phrased sympathy for my frustration and all kinds of promises that they’d have it fixed soon. They’re putting one of their senior technicians on it, don’tcha know. But since senior technicians collaborate to solve problems, it could still take another one to two days to find the solution… 
I have my suspicions. I believe they’re sending out used, reconditioned equipment. Which is fine-- if it worked. It would explain why the first unit gave the Sprint # when it failed (due to a botched repair), and the second unit attempts to connect me to Boost Mobile. I’m still highly tempted to drop Netzero and sign up with Boost… but I’m wondering just how far this “technical support” is going to go. 
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The T-Mobile signal at my house is terrible. The signal IN MY ROOM is particularly terrible, forcing me to wander around the house when somebody calls me on the phone.
Online resources for mapping cell towers and carriers seem to have improved a lot. AntennaSearch.com says the tower that’s both closest (about 1600 feet) and most elevated above the horizon (by 2.7 degrees) is operated by Sprint (dba “STC Five”), so I guess I should be looking at Sprint, Boost, or Virgin.
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>sigh< Finally managed to resolve the WiFi sitch (NetZero managed to activate the hotspot, and I’m still with them for now, since I’m still wavering between signing up with Boost or Calyx.) Which I guess is good, since my cell phone just died today. 
My poor ol’ Samsung Galaxy s4 was only four years old… I suspect the charging port (and/or battery) went bad. It might be fixable, if I can find a place to do that (the ones I can walk to are closed today or don’t repair that model.) I’ve got a line on two shops to talk to tomorrow. As much as I’d like something new, the prices are too much for my budget at the moment. So I’m hoping for a fix… and glad I’ve still got net access, and phone via the house’s landline. So I’m not completely cut off from the world. 
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Have you tried just sticking a new battery in. You can pop the back off and replace them with no trouble.
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I thought I might have another battery, but I don’t have it handy. I should be able to get one off Amazon pretty easily. But, looking at the “tongue” part of the micro-USB port… it looks misaligned, as if one end has bent inward just a little. It will probably take a couple of days to get it checked out, and I can manage without it. It’s just… annoying to realize how much we come to depend on the silly little things!
edit for minor spelling error: come, not cone
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If you try getting a replacement battery, try and get a set of two with their own recharger. That way you could recharge the batteries outside of the phone with the recharger, no matter the state of the USB port. (At least, that’s what I did.)
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The USB port on my Galaxy S3 got flaky a couple of years ago. I got the spare batteries and a wall charger and pretty much always have one charged and ready when the one in the phone runs low. I haven’t had to use the USB port in years, and as a bonus I’m never tethered and waiting for a charge. 
I tried the wireless recharger too and it did work fine, good if your USB port is borked, but you still have to leave your phone laying on it to recharge. I prefer just switching out the battery.
(That’s the reason I’d never want one of the phones where you can’t change the battery.)
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I was planning on getting some sleep tonight, seeing as I haven’t been able to get enough sleep, it’s important. But nooo… someone has to spread poisonous fumes through the ventilation, and I have to avoid the room until it’s cleared out.
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I’ve had such rotten luck on replaceable phone batteries lately. Bought 2 for my Lumia before giving up that there were no decent batteries for that model.
That was a more mainstream phone so your luck may be better.
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Our kitten, Potato, has a nasty penchant for playing in the toilet, whereas my kid has a bad habit of forgetting to flush properly. This morning I woke up to ‘shitty-pawed kitty’ and was NOT HAPPY.
Though Potato was probably even less happy with the resulting bath she received…
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Make sure you and your kid check the toilet before sitting down, too. You don’t want a nasty surprise of realising too late that a toy (or something else Potato has gotten hold of) was abandoned there. Even more fun is when you don’t notice… And it’s amazing how much damage an obstructive Q-tip or Popsicle stick can do (and how impossible to clear it can be).
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I don’t have cats any more, but this was my nightmare when I did. OMG.
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Oh, she doesn’t put things into the toilet; she just likes playing with/drinking the water… no matter if it’s clean or not.
O_o
I’m more likely to find wet toilet paper that she’s dragged out of it, which is a different but equally unpleasant problem.
Keeping the lid down at all times when the toilet isn’t in use is a new rule in our household, freshly written in stone.
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My Schnauzer’s one bad habit is Toilet paper. Fortunately, fresh off the roll is how she likes it.
If the bathroom door is left open and we go out, odds are we will see a long stream of paper from the bathroom, down the hall, into the bedroom, back to her crate.
And if you were lazy and didn’t replace the roll and just put the new roll on top of the empty dispenser. Well, that just makes snacking all the easier for her.
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So not a labrador?
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I have to keep the paper towels out of reach, or Ruby attacks them with teeth, and front and hind claws.
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