Laura

Dental grumbles

Fri, 01 May 2026 20:19:27 GMT

Maybe not everyone wants to read about this. Short form: had a previously root-canaled tooth break, have now had it extracted, am fine.

( Long form is...a saga. )

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I am vexed at this vaccine. Or rather, trying to get it.

Fri, 24 Oct 2025 21:42:16 GMT

Walk into my local CVS with an appointment reserved for RSV vaccine. Get ignored for 25 minutes due to confusion (I think) on the part of the pharmacist not realizing I was there despite having checked in and the tech having told him I was there. Get told my appointment was canceled because I don't qualify for the RSV vaccine.

I blink at him. "I'm over 50; I have conditions that make me vulnerable; my doctor told me to get it."

He says I have to be over 60 for that to count. Which, you know, does not match what the CDC's page says even now.... https://www.cdc.gov/rsv/vaccines/index.html

At any rate, he says I have to have a prescription. So I go home and send a message to my doctor, who sends in a prescription. I schedule an appointment. I get a text message that my appointment was canceled. I immediately rebook for that Saturday (having had a Monday appointment).

I go in anyway to ask what's up. I get told they do not have the vaccine in stock. (I wonder whether, if they'd had it in stock, they'd have given it to me the first time....) At this point I say I will wait and see and if they still don't have it Saturday will try elsewhere.

I should have just canceled that and scheduled elsewhere, because of course they still didn't have it, but the weekend got hectic. I could try to find somewhere to get it THIS weekend, but Scott will be out of town for a business trip for three days this week and I don't want to be dragging from a vaccine.

So, my current plan is to find some place with it in stock and schedule for next Saturday, after he's back.

I am reminding myself that this is NOT a seasonal vaccine and is currently considered a once-and-done vaccine, but geez, I'd just like to get it done so it's not hovering on my "to do someday soon-ish" list.

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Doing something can be better than not-doing it perfectly.

Tue, 07 Feb 2017 02:23:46 GMT

This is a thing that happens, and that I wish would not. Someone says "hey, write to your Congress critter about" or "I wrote to my Congress critter about" or "If you are writing to your Congress critter about things, here is a note of ways that make it more effective".

And then someone comes along and says "BUT you should call them to be effective."

This is true. It is a good response to "what is the best way to contact my Congress critter?" or _perhaps_ to "I am going to contact my Congress critter about X". And maybe with a "did you know?" to the first or second above, maybe. To the third it is not germane.

I mostly write my Congress critters. I save calling for the most urgent things because it's damnably inconvenient and takes time for me also. If I only call, then I will contact them about WAY fewer things.

And I'm very VERY TIRED of this to be frank. I have heard it several times. I know. And it comes across as criticism.

Which frankly?

If I didn't actually care as much as I do, and I took the "this is the Best Way to do it and you're wasting your time doing it that other way" message to heart, I might just _stop doing it_.

It is entirely possible that there are people you have told "should" be calling who have decided their writing isn't enough, but who lack the time, spoons, or willingness to call...and who are now thus doing neither.

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Politics

Sun, 29 Jan 2017 04:42:30 GMT

( What it says, not too long )

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You know, it's just a webcomic....

Wed, 11 Jan 2017 04:35:49 GMT

...and thus in the grand scheme of things this is nothing. But Kevin & Kell, which I normally enjoy quite a bit, is annoying me with the current Lindesfarne-is-pregnant storyline.

First, she throws up, and that's what clues her in that she's pregnant. Because, you know, she couldn't just have the stomach flu or anything...and everyone pregnant throws up. (Pro tip: nope. I never did, with either boy, although there were times when I decidedly didn't feel well, _after_ I knew I was pregnant both times.) I realize this CAN happen and DOES happen to some women, but it really annoys me that it's such a *thing* to do it that way.

Second, they blame it on her quills. You're telling me that a college-educated scientist who was carefully planning to delay children (it's come up before!) was not using ANY form of birth control except condoms? Knowing she was a quilled species???

Third, clues go out everywhere and they realize their relatives are going to all find out, so they announce it and let everyone come over and hug her and horn in on her business.

This last is moderately realistic, and REALLY ANNOYING. This kind of BS claiming of a right to be over-involved in someone's private life, is not okay. And they shouldn't have to share the news before they've even seen a doctor, if they don't want to. Not one person appears to feel bad about this mess. Even Lindesfarne. It'd be more realistic if she was spitting quills.

I'll be interested to see if they lose the baby. They won't, of course; it's a webcomic, and that'd be too deep. And also, the artist would be accused of using a harsh reality for cheap attention. But at the same time, that concern is exactly why so many women don't share their status until later in the pregnancy....

Apparently I need to take a break from the comic for a while. Since I'm glaring at it instead of getting a few seconds' amusement out of it.

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Xfinity bites. And I don't even HAVE their service.

Tue, 05 Jul 2016 22:20:24 GMT

It's not like XFinity/Comcast has the best rep to begin with, but I will name them, given how this call ended.

Things of which I am tired: companies that send a "confirmation email" that you must accept to prove the email is yours, that provide /no way/ to respond "heck no, I have never heard of you, take this email out of your system". (In many cases from a known, clearly-legitimate business name, but someone has put my email on their account, whether due to a typo or just because they made something up to avoid using their own.)

Are you SERIOUS? You do not need my street address in order to get my EMAIL address out of your SYSTEM, I do NOT have an account with you.

And if you had any chance that I would, you are rapidly killing it. (Not that you did.)

...annnnd they say they can't escalate me to a supervisor nor anywhere else nor remove my email unless I give them my PHYSICAL address.

Seems unkind to their other customers to go mark everything they send me, in my gmail account, that in no way should be in their system, as spam. And yet, it would be so satisfying, I think I just may do it.

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So, we went to Disneyland for Christmas.

Fri, 01 Jan 2016 17:12:04 GMT

So, we went to Disneyland for Christmas this year. (This was partially a whim and partially not - we had savings for, and plans for, an eventual Disney trip. I'd been waiting until the boys were old enough to enjoy it, and when our Christmas plans shifted a bit we said 'why not?' I'd meant to do 5/8 for the ages, but 4/almost-7 seemed close enough.) The one bad thing about timing is that Ian is 41 inches tall at the moment, or perhaps 41.5 with shoes on, and that makes him a half-inch too short for several rides. He was very disappointed by this once or twice, but honestly, mostly he didn't miss it. I think the Grizzly River Run is the one thing he really regretted it on, and if he had ANY idea how cold Andrew and I were...well, he'd still have regretted it, because four-year-old excitement and practicality do NOT mix. Heh.

I am not going to try to describe the Christmas decor in the hotels, Downtown Disney, or the parks. It was GORGEOUS and AWESOME and I will have pictures up later and let them handle it because seriously, awesome to look at, probably boring to read about.

I'm including steps/miles walked, as registered by my phone, because they amuse me.

I'm cribbing some of this from text messages sent to other people to jog my memory, so some of you may recognize parts of this. :) Day by day, because I'm not sure I can keep it coherent even so.

MONDAY (11,112 steps; 5.22 miles):

( Travel, hotel, and Downtown Disney )

TUESDAY (16,475 steps; 7.34 miles):

( Disneyland )

WEDNESDAY (18,098 steps; 8.39 miles):

( Breakfast with Mickey and Friends; Disney California Adventure; Laura's health (bah) )

THURSDAY (18,364 steps; 8.26 miles):

( Chip & Dale, DCA, Disneyland, and the Rainforest Cafe; one lost item )

FRIDAY (18,759 steps; 8.27 miles):

( Goofy's Kitchen, Disneyland, and DCA )

SATURDAY (6,919 steps; 3.32 miles):

( In which small children having their routine disrupted catches up with us, and we go home. )

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I am very, very, VERY annoyed with one of the local Buddhist temples.

Sat, 27 Jun 2015 01:12:40 GMT

(Sorry for those of you who already saw this on Facebook.)

They are just across the street from the school where Drew has summer camp. There are two summer camp groups there that I know of, the YMCA and the Club K.

Today, the Buddhist temple had a big event (yesterday too, except it did not have as big an impact as it did today). Their parking lot filled up and they directed overflow parking to the school. I hope with permission, but I really have no idea. I got what looked to be a parking space that had recently been vacated in the front, just as I was hyperventilating about being able to park at all, because _EVERYTHING_ I could see was parked up - not just the parking spaces, including the handicapped spots, but also the no-parking drop-off zone in front of the school.

When we left, they had parked up the curbs around the central turning area and even the right turn lane almost to the exit from the driveway.

( More details and blathering and what I emailed and so on )

I have resisted creating one-time-use tags of "common courtesy isn't" and "a little kindness please?" and "how about being mindful of others?" and so on. :P

And of course, the more-than-90-degree heat (and the fact that I have to hike to a back side door, which is NOT related to the parking situation and is normal for pickup here, it's just a longish walk when it's hot) didn't help my reaction. :P

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Road issues, you have to be kidding me edition.

Fri, 29 Aug 2014 02:03:39 GMT

A revision of our road construction map: ( behind a cut, because image )

The red section is still closed and will be until October 21 according to their current estimates. The blue section is where there will be street that wasn't there before.

The orange section is no longer ACTIVELY being worked, and the steel plate has been removed. The square, 3-4 feet on a side, that it covered, however, is not fully filled in, but is sunken several inches...and has been left that way for a week or more. Apparently that's our new reality. It COMPLETELY fills the lane of travel, the right lane of Courtside, at that intersection. It's not dangerous except to very low cars and maybe motorcycles/bikes, but it's annoying and no one wants to go through it. So we go around. I figure it's only a matter of time before that causes an accident.

Tonight, hopefully not for too long, they closed Town Center Loop between Courtside and the Wilsonville Road. That is the purple spot on the map...and meant we couldn't head home that way and I had to loop around a long way to get back. Fun! Anyway, the closure at Courtside blocks the right lane inbound to the neighborhood, so they had a flagger there moving us through since it was one car at a time.

Maybe they'd just like to close our neighborhood?? Seriously, why could whatever they are doing on Town Center Loop there not have been done earlier this month _before_ Vlahos closed at least?

Ah well. If worst comes to worst, we can park in the next neighborhood over (NO shared roads) and walk in on the trail that crosses the wetlands. And the fact that I even briefly consider that is sign of how stressful/annoying this is, but I didn't know until I got alllll the way back around the loop whether or not Courtside WAS open, since I couldn't see that far from the block between the Wilsonville Road and Town Center Loop.

I know, road construction season, but this is a wee bit ridiculous. :P

At least I'm getting good stories out of it?

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I am SO DONE with the pointless sad news.

Tue, 05 Aug 2014 03:11:24 GMT

No, seriously...I don't need to know about kids who died in hot cars in other states. It doesn't help my life in any way, and there is nothing I can do to help with that problem. I certainly need to know about the risks and not to leave my kids in hot cars, but a) I know that and b) the sad stories don't really help.

I don't need to know about a great number of things the news tells me about. I need to know about things that affect my life or that I might be able to help with. (For example, when they were looking for a local woman who had done something fairly horrible - I will skip the details, because you don't need to know them! - having everyone aware just in case they saw her was important. Now that they've captured her, having us know not to keep an eye out, also useful. But do I really care about further coverage of what she did and the court process? NO I DON'T. Unless someone sets up a fund for a particular person...that I would want to know about.)

I also don't need to know about the feel-good humanitarian stories, but I don't mind those because they give something, if only the light pleasure of knowing there's still good in the world. Individual horror stories that can't be changed or addressed, and don't personally affect me other than by existing on the news, however, neither give me anything, nor permit me to give anything.

I wish there were not quite so MANY of them in the local headlines right now. I am tired of being tired. (SIX out of 10 leading stories at the moment. And you could make a case for one more, but I think it's more irrelevant than directly bad...but it wouldn't be IN the news if the woman at the center of the non-news hadn't been at the center of another story in prior years....)

Bleh.

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Seriously, Wiscon, WTF?

Wed, 23 Jul 2014 15:30:59 GMT

Context link, in case anyone is unaware, with trigger warning because harassment *and* stupidity in the response thereto: http://radishreviews.com/2014/07/21/wiscon-the-frenkel-decision/

( Cut for excessive capitalization and bolding, and some near-swearing )

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Things: What have you found most surprising about having kids?

Fri, 24 Jan 2014 05:23:09 GMT

How quickly they learn, and how capable they are. I keep thinking of them as less-able than is actually the truth, often especially true with Drew (sometimes, I remember when Ian hits the same milestone, what I learned from Drew). Drew can sign his name. He can read, a bit. I should start teaching him basic kitchen skills (other than unlocking the water dispenser and soaking my floor and carpet, which is more of an annoy Mommy skill).

Ian is incredibly verbal. He can string concepts together usefully. And he's up and down the stairs and opening the gate and getting into the ca--

--binet where the VCR is, which I have just removed him from. Again.

How much they damage/disassemble the house is a close runner up, even given I expected it.

More topics welcome, if you want.

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Bleh. I want my internet back.

Sun, 03 Nov 2013 01:08:16 GMT

I can get to Dreamwidth to whine about it. Facebook loads its header bar and then freezes. The shop I want to get to is unreachable. Tracert shows a sudden spate of requests timing out somewhere after I've been handed off to at&t and before I get to tfbnw (if I get there at all, sometimes I don't).

I know, on the scale of 'real problems' this doesn't register. It's not nearly as important or entertaining as having to duct tape the cover on the furnace (because the clip to hold it in place apparently broke), and that's anything but exciting itself.

But grumble. I went to see Mira Grant at Barnes & Noble and had a great time, and I subsequently couldn't even chatter about it on Twitter or see if anyone else was.

Bah.

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Copied from my Facebook....

Fri, 24 May 2013 22:12:02 GMT

...because it amused me too much, although the original occurrence irritated me in equal measure. I posted:

Okay, I get that the new black is "scroll down and more auto-loads" - it's starting to be everywhere now.

But if you are going to do that, FOR THE LOVE OF LITTLE GREEN APPLES, STOP USING A FOOTER FOR YOUR SECONDARY LINKS.

No Love,
The Lady Chasing Your FAQ Link Down The Page

Seriously, these are two standard tools that SHOULD NOT be used together. ANY form of footer, unless PINNED, should not be used with infinite or even semi-infinite scroll. (Luckily, I was dealing with the latter....)

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When your cold gets into your nightmares....

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:39:20 GMT

...especially when you almost never HAVE nightmares, you know it's grim. (Icon in honor of this stupid cold.)

Last night I dreamed that I had some sort of eye surgery, I forget what (I knew in the dream, darnit!), on my right eye. Then I had car trouble just after I left and walked back because, well, it was somewhere to be.

Partway there I realized something was wrong, closed my left eye, and there was nothing but a flat grey. I could see with my left eye, but not my right. Cue panic. I walked by a mirror and thought I could see a dark circle completely around the white of my eye, near the edge of the eye (lots of space to the iris), like it was separating. The eye started to throb and hurt and I could also see a misshapen lump below it.

I frantically called the doctor who'd done my surgery. He immediately came to check, and said he needed to check some things, please wait in this waiting room. While he was gone, I realized that the vision was coming back in that eye (my brain does NOT do nightmares very well, it tends to "fix" them, lol) and eventually I could see fine, but it still hurt like whoah.

The doctor hadn't made it back by the end of the dream, but my friends and I surmised that the vision loss was caused by pressure on the ocular nerve from the swelling from the irritation from the surgery. Which had eased off enough to let me see again, although I still had a throbbing headache. (By then, I'd completely forgotten seeing that ring around the white, and only remembered it after I woke up.)

Guess who woke up lying on her right side, with horrible painful sinus pressure, more localized there than on the left?

I'm not sure I can claim this thing CAUSED the nightmare, since it appears to have started with the vision loss and only later warped to include the pain, but still.

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Seriously, wtf LJ?

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 14:06:54 GMT

So, LiveJournal has a new "infinite scroll" type friends page with lots of white and blue (more white than blue). And a new update page (which, uh, I've never seen as I post from Dreamwidth, so I can't comment on it), which is leaving beta and will be the only way to post there soon as I understand it.

And now a new profile page which, by the way, has gone beta with a bug...namely anyone viewing any profile in the beta right now can see community memberships of people who have set it so that community memberships aren't supposed to show in their profile.

So much for privacy until that bug is fixed, if you were in a community you didn't want anyone to know, as anyone can see that view of your profile at the moment. Mine weren't anyway, but...not cool, LJ.

Also, why the bio is below schools, I don't know. I'm not sure whether I like interests above the bio - as a first impression I often care about that - schools not so much.

I know some people have completely left LJ to remove their content to protest. I'm not going to, nor am I going to stop reading at this juncture. I have too many friends who are still there, and I gain nothing and lose connections if I walk away.

But I am thoroughly disgusted with the whole look and feel of the site. It looks like a crappy mash-up of other popular sites done badly, and they're largely not addressing the repeated comments from some users that the site layout and colors they are standardizing on are *literally* migraine-inducing.

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LiveJournal and comment pages

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 03:54:25 GMT

Also, partially for my own record and partially for anyone else who's interested, this is a page with information about the new comment form in LJ's latest release (which you may not have seen if you have S2 comment pages). It also includes some other recent issues, as well as igrick's comments in translation. (That is the head of Russian LJ, and the guy who could give a rat's behind what users think of the comment changes.)

My icon in honor of igrick's reactions to this mess. Alas, he's apparently not required to believe mine either. :P

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Wheee. Life is pretty good.

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 01:40:42 GMT

We got a dining table for the dining nook. It is used, and goes pretty well with the look of the area. Four of the six chairs are sturdy; one more will be with a little wood glue; the last one I need to figure out and haven't yet. In any case we only need three for now, so no big rush on the two that aren't solid. The table is.

Couch arrives tomorrow. Dresser and TV stand arrive next week. Lawns are mowed. The repairs that needed to happen to the house are done. My dishwasher has clean/dirty magnets that I like okay, and are separate magnets. Have acquired what I need to secure the UPS against further toddler moments (he found the power button! joy).

Things on the current aggravation list:
* I want more energy. Meh. Being tired is, well, tiresome.
* Too many things in boxes. But see 'energy'.
* Dental work. Today I had the prep and such for the permanent crown, and got a deep cavity in the adjacent tooth (easier to access when no crown is on the one to be crowed) filled. I'm pregnant, so I can't take ibuprofen. Tylenol is fine for pain, but ibuprofen would've been better. Oh, well. Temporary crown in place, and will get the permanent crown later this month.
* Running around frantically. Today had too many appointments, and then I had to do grocery shopping as I'm on call this weekend and didn't want to do it then.
* Fussy toddler. He didn't get to bed until too late last night because we had guests over, and today just...it didn't go horrible, but it didn't go well either. Poor kidlet. Poor us!

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Dentists are wonderful people but....

Fri, 27 May 2011 00:18:23 GMT

...I really didn't want to have to see one this week. Oh, well. We can't always get what we want. I got to see TWO dentists. One who concurred with what I already knew (yes, the tooth that hurts so much you are losing your mind is, in fact, going to need to be dealt with) and sent me to a specialist to do the root canal. Four roots, one curving substantially. I entered at 1:30 and left at 4:00. Not my idea of fun.

On the other hand, not my idea of torture, either. I know root canals were once (as many things once were, medical and dental!) much riskier and much more uncomfortable. In my experience they are now basically tedious. I really liked the woman who did mine because the worst part is basically always the injection of the anesthesia, for me, and she made it about as easy and comfortable as is possible for that.

Could have been worse, but still.... I did not want to need a root canal!

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Miscellany.

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 02:43:13 GMT

Yes, these are taken from my tweets. However, I've edited out the retweets, replies, etc., so that this is a consolidated list of miscellany I actually think worth reposting here. :) And expanding where I think it's more interesting.

Toddler sitting as Roomba runs, reacting to the side brush tickling his feet: priceless. He held so still, but he was grinning, then giggling, while carefully NOT squirming....

Amended tax documents in late March: gee, thanks ever so. No, seriously, they DID. We've already filed, so now we get to amend. (For bonus points, no single line on the revised document varied by more than $11, and one varied by ONE CENT. Sigh. All this fuss over...gah!)

And thus, you get those two moments whilst being spared my Carbonite rants (I may ultimately journal, but as the mess continues un-resolved as yet, I'll wait 'til I know how it ends), notes of Leonard Nimoy's birthday, retweets of tweets about Dianna Wynne Jones's death, etc.

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Conflikt: The Hotel (mostly gripes, but not all)

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 01:16:16 GMT

Posting this now, before I forget any more than I have. Or, say, fail to have any time to do it. :) We just got home a couple hours ago from Conflikt, and it. Was. A. Blast. A BLAST. I will write about that shortly. First, the gripes about the hotel, because they're right at the top of my head. Despite all of these I had a GREAT time, and if you don't want to read my grumblings (and notes on possible solutions I may use if it's in the same hotel next year), please to leave the cut-tags unclicked. :)

(This year was at the Holiday Inn Seattle - SeaTac International Airport.)

( Short form of twitchy mood )

( The details of the hotel stuff, for my memory (and, if Conflikt is there next year, anyone who wants to be aware/borrow solutions) )

And on a non-gripe note, if we're in this hotel next year I need to bring the swim stuff, as the pool does allow little ones in it even in diapers as long as they're in a swim diaper (many don't) and is inside and thus usable in January, unlike the last hotel.

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Not so good a way to sell services.

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 00:02:55 GMT

Observation 1: I do not respond well to the "oh, we're in your neighborhood doing X, we can give you a better rate in the next two days." In other words, you want me time-pressured so I just take your "convenient" and "cheap" option without finding out whether you are doing what I want and need (and if I wanted/needed it, wouldn't I already be researching, most times?), without finding out if you are in fact cheaper than equivalent competition (just cheaper than your usual prices, if they are awful, is not much of a selling point), and without pushing for a schedule or plan that would be convenient for me.

Observation 2: after I have said that I do not like time pressure sales tactics but will accept your advertising in paper form if you want me to think about it, YOUR INTERVIEW IS OVER.

Observation 3: you especially do not attempt to scare me by comparing a hobo spider to a brown recluse (yes, they are related, yes, hobos are not great, no it's not quite the same thing), then saying my neighbors have reported an increased incidence of them (1 - which neighbors; 2 - IS there an increased incidence, or is someone thinking every giant house spider is a hobo spider, especially after you scare them?), and then pointing to a spiderweb and implying it's a hobo spider's web, and pointing out a couple spiders on my house to the same effect.

Observation 4: especially not when I can positively identify the spider nearest me, one of those you indicated, as being not a hobo spider, probably some sort of barn funnel spider, but definitely not a hobo, by the legs. Just sayin'.

Observation 5: When I dismiss you again, now less pleasantly, and point out that I have your paperwork and said I would think it over, you do NOT then suggest I talk it over with my husband and get his advice. Especially not when I haven't confirmed I have a husband, but even if I had confirmed it, frankly you do not do that. Especially in a phrasing and tone that suggests that, basically, I should relay information and let my husband guide my stupid little female head to the 'right' decision (hiring you).

Observation 6: you do not get my business or ever hear from me again, either. If in fact you had convinced me I had a (spider) problem earlier in this exchange (as you did not), I guarantee that the rest of this approach would have sent me straight to one of your competitors to solve the problem. As it is, fortunately it seems that I just have a door-to-door salesman problem, and closing the door in your face after telling you we're done solves THAT.

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Grrrr.

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 02:56:01 GMT

Phone: *rings*
Me: Hello?
Phone: *call center background noise*
Woman: Hi, I'm calling to speak to Scott.
Me: May I ask who's calling?
Woman: (Name).
Me: ...with...?
Woman: Medallion.
Me: ...about...?
Woman: A fundraising call for a charity he's supported in the past.
Me: *debates asking which charity, decides this conversation is seriously stupid* I'll see if he's available.

I go upstairs, talk to Scott (who is watching a Very Fussy Drew). He thinks it's probably Special Olympics and isn't interested. No idea if that was influenced by his wife's decidedly grouchy mood about this caller.

So I came back and told her he wasn't interested and she said thanks and got off the phone.

Decidedly odd and annoying, and I suspect not true. That is, the phrasing "for a charity he's supported in the past" instead of naming the charity sounds like a company trying to circumvent the do not call list....

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What I need for remote backup....

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 16:02:14 GMT

For anyone trying to suggest alternatives to Carbonite for me - I would love them. I'm not willing to pay TONS more for better service, though, because Carbonite works reliably for backup/restore (it just has this annoying quirk regarding video files, which they're theoretically escalating to fix). I'd be willing to pay maybe double what I pay now, at most.

I currently back up two computers, whose backups are 55 GB and 237 GB respectively. This will drop to one computer but the same size backup in the next few years - I'm gradually consolidating away from the laptop. All I'm interested in is the backup; other services offer syncing between computers/devices, but that's not what I'm looking for here. Just to have my files preserved if my computer turns into a doorstop, and in an off-site backup.

Carbonite charges per computer, so this costs me $110 a year currently. It looks like Mozy would be about the same, but I don't know anything about them; thoughts and impressions? (Sugarsync, which someone suggested, does a LOT more...and would cost me $350 a year at my current backup volumes. Since the one with 237 GB will eventually grow with more photos and videos plus the 55 GB from the other one, and their top plan is 250 GB of storage, I'd simply outgrow them shortly.)

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Right now, I do not like Carbonite very much at all.

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 07:34:33 GMT

( Details of why )

If you're in the market for a backup, investigate the alternatives and consider Carbonite the solution if and only if you need what they offer so bad that having this kind of customer service is worth it. If you don't need them that badly, you're better off finding out if they have competition that actually has customer service instead of customer aggravation.

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