Big Cliff

Fix is easy! Go fishing at Sturgeon Lake next Saturday, I'll fix your lawn mower, you catch fish!

I watched in sadness to day as “The other woman” left me for another man. We had spent many wonderful years together. She and I had something special, she responded to my touch; slow and gentile and she’d purr like a kitten quick and hard and she’d leap like a panther, eager to please, anxious to serve, her only desire; to satisfy me! What more can any man ask? Together, we weathered many stormy situations and I have to admit there were a few times when I challenged her and wondered if she was up to the task but she never let me down. Fog, rain, wind, sudden lightning storms, so far from shore that we couldn’t see it; In fact, I remember a time on the lake when I thought to myself "girl, if you let me down now, I hope we are together when they find us!". That gal stuck by me, she never let me down, not once in all those years. Wayne, it was a real pleasure to meet you today, you truly seemed to appreciate her character and the love she has to share. I know that she will enjoy the laughter that your children will grace her with. Treat her well my friend because she truly is a lady! I was happy to see her leave in tow with such fine gentleman! Chris, thank you for hooking us up! I insatntly felt at ease with Wayne. A very nice person! Now, I must go in search of another that my beautiful wife will approve of. What a task!

Fantastic report and pics! Well done Sydney!

As you know I have been having real problems with Xplornet wireless service. Gerritt very kindly went way above and beyond and got me a list of the key people in the organization along with all their contact information and armed with that I sent them an email telling them how displeased I was with they way I had been treated along with a link to this site and my rant. That very day, I had a call from them, I wasn't home but they left a phone number (toll free, direct line) and yesterday morning I called them back. I am very pleased to say that the conversation I had was better than I expected. It seems that based on my email they have already made some changes and took my concerns seriously. In fact they offered to do what ever it takes to correct the problem and have told me that once it is rectified, they will be offering me a little more compensation than the one month which I was initially given. Monday morning there will be a tecnician here to make some changes to my system using new and improved technology that they feel should correct the problem. I'll let you know how it goes but I am optomistic! Here is a copy of the email I got from Scott, I have left out his last name and contact information on purpose. Hello Cliff, Almost as soon as we got off I got contacted about your service. I have good news we now do have the 3.5 on a tower that you were pointed to in the past that has the new 3.5 technology I was speaking of that I believe would resolve your issues. Of course I do not know until the equipment is changed. I have just put in a work order request to have an installer come to your home and swap out the equipment at no charge to you of course. One of the great features of 3.5 is that a line of sight is not required as the signal is able to bounce off objects however there are situations that the signal is just not strong enough. With your permission I would like for him to call you and set up an appointment to try this change. Best Regards, Scott Office of the President/ Customer Affairs Liaison Xplornet Once again thank you all for your help and responses, thanks to you someone finally listened to this old man!

LOL, Me too please. On a brighter note, I did have a phone call from Xplornet today refering to the email I had sent their management teamI wasn't home but they did leave a message and would like to discuss the situation with me and see what might be done to resolve it. I will be calling them back tomorrow and post the results at that time. I also had a phone call from Cable Cable today they can offer me high speed wireless for roughly half of what I am paying now and they are willing to Guarantee that I will get at least 90% of the posted speeds with the exception of rare weather conditions or equipment malfunctions. How is it that a small local outfit can provide me with service that a big company like Xplornet can't? Guess I have some questions to ask tomorrow. I'll keep you posted!

I just sent an email to all of the contacts that Gerritt so kindly provided, I'll let you know if I even get a response: Here is a link to a site where I have posted some of my experiences with Xplornet and your lousy service. It has only been read by about 300 people so far but it is early yet! Link to site http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=32710 The fact that I have been lied to and promised things that never happened, been kept on hold for literally hours while trying to resolve the problems in good faith and then finally told "sorry, we won't be doing an upgrade in your area until next Feb. and the best we'll do for you is give you a 1 month credit" and "you should have read the fine print"; just isn't good enough! Are you going to do something to resolve this issue or should I just continue on and file complaints with the BBB and everyone else that will listen? Sincerely Clifford Bignell 313 Snug Harbour Rd. Lindsay ON K9V 4R6 705-328-0750

To all who responded; Thank You! Gerritt, you, as usual have gone way beyond the expected, Trust me I'll be emailing every one of them! Best thing is, I just got an email from them offering me $50.00 for everyone else I get to sign up for their service. Like that is going to happen after this LOL!

Sorry I can't be of much help, the only thing I can tell you is "don't go with Xplornet"!

Wonderful report Justin, it brought back some very fond memories of our trip with Marc. Thanks for sharing.

Ours isn't satellite, it is wireless and the problem is that they promised and have been charging us for something that they can't deliver. It wasn't untile they ran out of excuses that they finally admitted they couldn't give us what we are paying for and then they said "read the fine print, we don't guarantee speeds". I'll be talking to Cable Cable this morning, apparently they now offer service in the area, their price is about half of what I am paying now and they claim they can deliver the speeds that they have posted.

First of all preparation is the key. If I am fishing for fish for the freezer or just to eat, I like to pack them on ice as soon as they are caught. I make sure they are cleaned right away when returning home then I put them in fresh water and leave them soak in the fridge over night. The next day I rince them, pack them in ziplok bags, add water, squeeze the air out, seal and freeze. They taste almost as good as fresh!

About a year and a half ago I signed up with Xplornet Internet services, they promised me 3 MBPS down loads, which I paid for. It was such an improvement over dial up, I thought I was in heaven! Last november I happened to do a speed test and found out I was getting less than half of what I was paying for. I contacted them and they made me do a bunch of tests. After a few days they told me someone would come out and do a repoint; it never happened but I sort of forgot about it and let it slide. About a month ago I decided to go with a VOIP phone system and that is when I found out that I was now only getting about 25% of the speeds I was paying for so I called Xplornet again. For the last two weeks I've been getting the run around and lots of promisses but tonight they finally told me that they would be doing an upgrade in my area.......NEXT FEB. They also told me that in the fine print, they don't guarantee speeds and the best they would do for me is give me a 1 month credit. Ya, I pay you $60.00 a month for the past 7 months for something you know you can't deliver or even come close to, and you will give me a month credit? OK, I need some help here? To sue them wouldn't make sense, the cost of going to small claims court and the trouble involved doesn't make it worth it. Apparently CRTC can't/won't do anything for me. Give me some options here people, I know that collectivly we have some extreamly smart people on this site, I may not get my money back you shouldn't PO and old man and I want to hurt them so they quiver in fear if they ever hear my name again! (OK, I'll settle for just getting even). Oh by the way, I just found out that Cable Cable now offers wireless service here and guarantees their speeds, I'll be calling them tomorrow.

Thanks for the feedback, I have put it in the clasifieds and will try to figure out the Kijiji thing tonight. Much appreciated!

Ok, sue and I have a chance to pick up a used boat package and because it has a full windshield and a few other features that us older people like we have decided to go for it so we are going to sell ours and buy the new one. I'll list it in the classifieds here in the next few days and in the local paper but I have never used any of the on line things. My question is, is this Kijiji (sp) or Ebay any good for listing stuff like this?

It was so nice to see you guys again too and I always love my hugs from Princess Sydney! Looking forward to seeing you again soon!

Cliff, it was nice talking to you too. That was good compaired to some of what we've had to deal with. I spent another 1/2 hour on the phone with Xplornet again last night and apparently they have escalated my complaint all the way up to engeneering who have 48 hours to respond with a solution (not fix the problem, just advise what they think it will take to solve it) then they will send a work order to the installer to tell them what has to be done. As far as getting higher speeds, I think I'll see what happens when they get me whay I am paying for and go from there.

Well, I have been dealing with Xplornet for a little over a year now, I am supposed to be getting 5mbps, I'm lucky if I am getting 1/4 of that. I have been trying to get it resolved since last November, I get promisses and nothing else. Now I am getting to the point where I am going to start complaining to CRTC or whoever I can, I am paying for service that I'm not getting and while I understand that 5 mbps is "up to" I should be getting at least 80% of that from what I understand. Hom much faster package do I need?

About a month ago I was appraoched about switching my phone to a voice over IP (digital) system. Sounded really good, I wouldn't have to deal with Bell India any more, I could keep my old phone number, my costs would go way down, and I would have more features. Well, I decided to make the switch and it hasn't been a very good experience so far. Naturally it is everyone elses fault; Bell didn't notify them that my service was being terminated on May 5th, no phone service for a day and my brother is in hospital in Ottawa having just had a heart attack. Some how the supplier of the digital service got our number blocked (black listed) so I can't even call them other than on my cell phone (they were going to get that fixed two weeks ago) they haven't. Our call quality is about as good as two tin cans and a string (internet providers fault) In all fairness, I have been having speed issues with Xplornet for a while now and am getting less than half of what I should be but the digital provider promissed me they would install a piece of equipment that would resolve all our issues...... it has been tied up at the border for two weeks now (Canadian Customs fault). Last night my cell phone rings, a friend has been trying all evening to get through to me, all they get is a fast busy signal, call digital provider on my cell phone, they finally agree they have a problem, (servers fault) it finally got fixed sometime during the night. Anyway, just a heads up, if you are thinking of switching, be VERY, VERY careful as I now seem to have little choice, go back to Bell India or deal with un reliable phone service. I trusted them when they told me how well this system was going to work (my fault).

WOW, that is so beautiful!!!!! I love it!

Heck, if you think reading the posts is fun, you should have been there!!!!!! Hey John, has Barb been reading any of these posts?

There is a way to test it but the tester costs about $10.000.00 put it in your car or truck, get fresh gas for your outboard.

Since I got my inflatable, I ALWAYS wear it when I'm in the boat, it is as natural as wearing my seat belt in the car.

Roy, it is simple: Shoot one deer clean and take it to the Menonite butcher order pepperetts pay him money and enjoy. I started with 30 lbs of them last fall, you got the last package I had so you'll just have to wait until next year.

OK, John has already done a wonderful job of telling of our trip. but here is a bit of a post from me. Let me start out by saying “this was a trip of a lifetime”! This past weekend is one I will never forget. It all started last winter when I had a chance to bid on a weekend fishing with Marc Thorp that he had so kindly donated in an effort to help out our friend Rick. Obviously we were lucky enough to have the winning bid. It was the first time Barb and I had met, and I had been kind of wondering how spending 60 some hours in close proximity would go. Within seconds I knew it was going to be ok, Barb has one of those smiles that immediately put you at ease. It didn’t take long to find out that she has a sense of humor to match and she wasn’t going to be a sissy. (well, OK, we did make one trip into shore but it was that or get Marc's seat wet LOL). As I said, John has done a wonderful job of describing the events, the only thing I can add is that a trip out with Marc shouldn't be called a "fishing trip", it should be called a "CATCHING trip" because he sure knows how to put you on to the fish. Anyway, I am just going to post a few pictures and say thank you to Roy, J, Marc, John, and Barb who all made this a trip of a lifetime for me. Thank you one and all!

Sorry, trying to get a post together but I'm having computer problems. Hope to have it resolved by tomorrow.