Enough with the evil giants.

Last year, AT&T absorbed SBC, which used to be SWB (Southwestern Bell), which used to be part of AT&T before the government broke up the giant AT&T monopoly in the 80s. In case you don't follow that, we've come full circle. AT&T used to gouge my parents, and now they gouge me. They've raised my rate at least twice since taking over, and I haven't increased my service one iota.

I'd get rid of my landline and tell them to bite themselves, but my cell service is really crappy inside my house (thank you, T-Mobile), and even if I had a strong signal, I'm not sure 9-1-1 would know where I am if I ever needed it and was calling from my cell. You have to have the right kind of 9-1-1 service in your area for that, and I'm kind of in the boonies. As a single woman living alone, it's important that you be able to dial 9-1-1, and even if you can't speak loudly, slowly and clearly to tell the operator where you are and that a bad man has just broken into your house or you've just fallen and hit your head and I...think...I'm...passing...ouuuuuuuuut, they can find you.

You think I'm paranoid? Well, I did, in fact, smack my noggin on the bathroom floor a few years ago and had to seriously try to assess if I might have a concussion and if I should go to the hospital (it sounded like a bowling ball smacking on concrete. I thought at first something had fallen from the countertop, not realizing it was the sound of my own skull smacking against vinyl tile...which overlays a concrete subfloor)- just what you want with no one there to wake you up every 2 hours and make sure you're not in a coma.

I had to make that assessment as I lay first on the bathroom floor and then on the bed, where I landed in heap just before a wave of nausea hit me. I'm guessing the person WITH the potential head injury is not the best person to decide what to do in those situations. But at least I knew that if I *did* decide a hospital trip was in order, I could reach to the side of the bed, dial 9-1-1 and someone would come, even if I didn't stay coherent through the call.

I didn't end up needing to go to the hospital. Or at least I didn't go, and I don't seem to be brain damaged. Looking back, it was pretty stupid not to go. But all of that is distracting from the real point here, which is that AT&T is a bunch of scumbag monopolists who screw you because they have you over a barrel and you have no choice.

Except for VoIP, I guess. But if I wanted to get high-speed Internet through my cable, and then get phone service through them and avoid AT&T, guess who my one and only choice for cable would be where I live? Time Warner. The other evil giant. There is no escape!