Die, Charter, Die.

After years of loathing and resentment, I'm finally severing ties with Charter. I've been a reluctantly loyal customer for 11 years and the reason I've yet to leave is sadly simple, and a testament to my innate laziness: my email address has a Charter domain name and it's a pain in the ass to round up all my contacts and make the switch in my numerous online identities.

I should mention the final straw in my years-long battle: my wireless Internet doesn't work more than eight feet from my modem. No joke. Not upstairs, not in my kitchen, nowhere but the confines of my living room. And every time I call to complain, they tell me that the signal "looks just fine" on their end. Blow me, Charter.

So I finally set up a new email account and before I close my account with them, I need to know from whom I should be getting my Internet service. I don't have a land-line and getting rid of cable will no doubt cause more than a few moments of panic; this process will be like ripping off the giant band-aid that is my reliance on television to fill up the too-quiet moments in my life when my brain needs silencing. At any rate, all I need is wireless Internet service and I need your suggestions, horror stories and tales of customer service, rotten or otherwise. Cost isn't as much as factor, as it will no doubt be less than I'm currently paying for cable and super shitty Internet non-service.

Oh, and here's another question: will my TV work without a converter box, now? And is it just me or does "converter box" make anyone else feel like it's 1952? I didn't have to deal with the digital conversion in 2009 because again, I've always been a Charter monopoly victim. Please advise, oh More-Knowledgeable-Than-I readers.

One more thing: how do I get my new gmail address to work in Outlook? Ok, that should do it.