Oops

I'm aiming to move into the house at the end of the month. Aiming. It sorta requires the contractor to be done with work in the house, and he hasn't been able to give me a definite "yes" on that. (But when I went by the house tonight, at about 7:15, to select a grout color, there were two guys working there installing my pantry. Warmed my heart to see people working there after standard working hours; looks like the contractor is actually making an effort to get the job done on time. Yay him.

So, now I'm starting to be concerned about the actual details of moving in. I've got the mover set for the 31st, which is, coincidentally, my last day at the shithole. So I really want everything except, say, a change of clothes, my toothbrush, and the cat out of the shithole on the 30th. (Am planning to take the 30th off to accomplish this.) It dawns that I'll want to move my computer on the 30th as well, which means I damn well better have internet access at the house by then.

The seller had Verizon DSL, so I'll get Verizon DSL. I know the house is wired for it. So, I went to Verizon's website and ordered up some DSL. Verizon did not require me to buy their phone service, nor did they appear to require that I actually have phone service (didn't require a number, and just said I needed a jack). This seems cool -- I've got good cell phone service (thru Verizon) and the magicjack through my computer, so there really doesn't seem to be a need for phone service. So, I ordered DSL.

Then I got all nervous that maybe they think I have phone service anyway. So I googled it. Googling was not entirely helpful here -- the most I could figure out was that: (1) A few years back, Verizon was one of the precious few carriers that let you have DSL without phone service ("naked DSL"); and (2) It wasn't available everywhere. Couldn't find anything particularly current on it. (Although I did find a page indicating earthlink did naked DSL, but only in Verizon's service areas, something which I considered to be a good sign.) And Verizon didn't have any live human beings answering the phone when I tried ringing customer service.

So I figured we'll just see what happens when I get the modem and plug it in the wall on March 30. Worst case scenario, I'll call Verizon and get their cheapest phone package.

OK, on to the next thing... the house has an ADT alarm system. I've received about a dozen different offers in the mail from "ADT Authorized Sellers" offering all sorts of deals on setting up a security system (if I do it within 10 days!!!) as long as I set up a 2-year monitoring plan with ADT. Of course, the cost of the monitoring plan varies from, like, $33.99 to $45.99. So I thought I'd check the ADT website and see how much their cheapest monitoring plan is in comparison to all these so-called deals.

And it's only when I'm about 20 minutes into poking around the ADT website that I realize that, yes, the alarm system needs a phone line. Now, they do have a cellular system available (for a higher installation fee and a higher monthly monitoring fee), but, if I do that, well, my cost-savings from not having a phone line start to get gobbled up pretty quick.

Yes, the world might not be ready for me to not have a phone line.