Modern Conveniences, Part 2

My newest gadget to give me trouble is my new LG Chocolate phone which, in addition to being a phone, also has a 1.3 megapixel camera and plays MP3s(music for you non technical people). The phone requires a special cable and CD which Verizon sells separately from the phone. Of course, Murphy's Law has struck again and they did not have the music pack when I got the phone.

I went back earlier this week and bought the music pack and rushed home to connect the phone to my computer and download music to it. It didn't work. I tried installing the driver several times, but my computer and phone were still not speaking to each other. Apparently Verizon should have included an asterisk on the advertisement for the Chocolate phone that mentioned that this phone is cranky and "does not play well with others." Other than that, the phone has been great. I never thought I would see the day when I would get a phone and be mad because it only worked as a phone.

Today I exchanged the music pack for a new one, hoping that it was an issue with the cable or the CD. The new hardware did not fare any better. So I called Verizon's tech support and was connected with a technician who spoke English. He couldn't figure out my problem either and transferred me to Microsoft's tech support, who immediately put me on hold . . . . . . . . . and I was disconnected.

I called Microsoft back and spoke with a man who was obviously speaking English as a second language. It took 6 minutes for him to get my name, ZIP code, and phone nuimber. Now I am on hold again. It is going to be a long evening.