TekSavvy/Rogers Idiocy

I recently had to move house, after the house I was renting was sold to a homeless shelter, who ironically asked us to move out, ie made us homeless.

Anyway, after moving to the new location, I took my cable internet modem with me, and plugged it in at the new location, just expecting the lights to flash up and down while it tried to connect, and fail. To my surprise, it connected and went online.

I called up TekSavvy this morning, to find out about cancelling the cancellation request that I put in a few weeks ago, so I could keep using the service at the new location. I was told that a cancellation can't be cancelled, and that I would need to apply for a new service activation at the new location, costing $65. I was also told that my modem won't work, and I'll need to buy a new one for $99.

When I queried this, asking why the modem that I have that is working will not work, the CSR got stuck in a loop telling me that it will stop working at the end of the month. When I would respond that I understand this, and that it is due to the service cancellation, and ask why it would no longer work on the connection that it currently does, he would repeat that it's going to stop working at the end of the month, and that it's not compatible and won't work.

It obviously is compatible, since it is connected and working. No physical changes need to be made, the service is already connected, all they need to do is update the service and billing addresses that they have on file. I refuse to pay $164 for this, and have to throw away a modem that works perfectly fine.

I know the actual reason, and that is that Rogers are refusing to connect DOCSIS 2.0 modems to the network, however there is no reason for this, especially as they would have allowed it to remain connected forever if I had not moved/cancelled the service.

I have emailed them and opened a case about this, we'll see what their response is. I suspect I'm not going to get very far, but this is ridiculous, and I refuse to pay $164 for nothing. Here's the email I wrote to them:

Hello, I have moved, and I took my cable modem with me. I plugged it in at my new residence, and it works. I called to find out if I can cancel my cancellation, as I now wish to keep the service.

Your CSR told me that a cancellation can't be undone, and so I'll need to pay for a new service activation, which is $65, and that my modem isn't compatible and won't work, so I need to buy a new one for $99.

This doesn't make any sense, as the modem is compatible, because it's working right now. I don't see why I should need to pay $164 for nothing, as the service is already connected and working at the new location. The only thing that needs to change is the billing and service address that you have on file.

Can you please explain both how and why the working modem that I have will somehow magically break at the end of the month and no longer work requiring me to buy a new one, and why I would need to pay $65 for activation of a service that is already activated?

Thanks.

Update: TekSavvy responded:

Justin M. Today at 12:13
Hello Squigley,

Thank you for reaching out to us today.

Since you have not placed a move order for your current service and it is set for cancellation, the current internet you are using is not your own but the person who was previously living at that address. Please do not utilize this connection as you may cause overage charges for someone.

Your modem likely works on the service because the connection and filters are set to work with your current modem but this is not your plan. Once we establish our internet connection to the house then your modem will not work.

Please give us a shout at 1-877-779-1575 if you wish to re-order internet through us.

Thank you and let us know if you have any other questions.

Justin
Online Requests Team
TekSavvy Solutions, Inc.
800 Richmond Street
Chatham, ON N7M 5J5
1.877.779.1575

This seems like utter lies to me. If it's not my service, then why do they require knowing the MAC address of the cable modem that the service is provisioned to, and that I am using?

Why do I have a TekSavvy netblock IP?

It's delivered via Rogers' cable, and if I was to order a new service, then the cable that is already connected would be used, so why would this stop my current connection from working?

I responded:

Hello Justin,

Thanks for your update, however I find the information you have provided very hard to believe. I am a systems engineer for a telephone company, and I have a good understanding of how these systems work.

I have not moved into a residence after the previous person left; the owner/landlord of the property still resides there, and he has Bell DSL. He has never had TekSavvy Internet. He has Rogers basic cable for TV, and this is what I connected my cable modem to, which I relocated from my previous residence.

The MAC address of the modem ties the service to my account, so the Internet connection that is online at the new location is mine, as it is provisioned in your system, and it also has an IP within the TekSavvy netblock, which it would not if it was a Rogers or some other service:

NetRange:       24.52.192.0 - 24.52.255.255
CIDR:           24.52.192.0/18
NetName:        TS1-ROGERS
NetHandle:      NET-24-52-192-0-1
Parent:         NET24 (NET-24-0-0-0-0)
NetType:        Direct Allocation
OriginAS:       AS5645
Organization:   TekSavvy Solutions Inc. (TS-1)
RegDate:        2011-06-23
Updated:        2012-02-24
Ref:            http://whois.arin.net/rest/net/NET-24-52-192-0-1

The Internet connection that you would be connecting via Rogers to the property is the connection that is already connected. There are no physical changes required in order for my connection to work. As there are no physical changes required, and the modem I have works, I would still like an explanation of why I am required to pay $164 and replace a working cable modem for no reason.

I could have relocated my cable modem to the new location without informing you of anything, and continued paying my bill each month with no interruption to my service. It seems that is what I should have done instead of trying to do things correctly, and incurring huge charges for nothing.

If you are unable to provide more information and answer my questions, then please escalate this ticket to someone who can.

Thanks.

Update 2: Another response

Leanne R. (TekSavvy Help Centre)
Oct 21, 7:59 PM

Hello Simon,

I am sorry for any inconvenience you have suffered. As a wholesaler we do not directly own the infrastructure. This is why we can not push modems to our Vendors or even complete remote activation's. Our Vendors have deemed these older modems are no longer approved since they are a known cause of congestion on the network. As well they are unable to handle the faster and newer connections.

This has been a slowly phased out but at this time all Docsis 2.0 have been completely phased out and we are no longer able to use them on the network. You can look into your own approved modem from our list on our website. Keep in mind any modem you purchase must match exactly as listed. You will still need to have the services reconnected at your new address since we can not reverse the cancellation. This is for the same reason I mentioned earlier that we do not own the infrastructure and we must follow the rules in place from our Vendors. Even if we could move the service we would still need a approved modem.

If you do decide to get services with us you will need to call in at 1-877-779-1575 to place a new request with a new modem, or have a new modem on hand.

If you have any other questions, please let us know.

Leanne
Online Requests Team
TekSavvy Solutions, Inc.
800 Richmond Street
Chatham, ON N7M 5J5

1.877.779.1575

OK, so now they're telling me what's really going on. I already knew this was the case, that Rogers are charging a ridiculous fee and TekSavvy are passing it on, and that Rogers are the ones refusing to allow my modem to be connected again.

Was that so hard to answer my questions truthfully? Why did it require telling me a bunch of lies first? Is Justin M being malicious, or is he just ignorant and likes to make things up when he doesn't know the answers?

The next question is why TekSavvy's connection fee is $65, yet Start.ca only charge $50.

Update 3: I give up. Rogers sucks.

I responded to Leanne:

Hello Leanne,

Thank you for your update; and including honest, truthful, and correct information.

Due to the high cost involved with reconnecting my service, which I understand are caused by Rogers, I will be finding another option for Internet service.

The cancellation can go through as already planned, and this ticket can be closed.

Thanks.

Thanks for nothing Comwave

I found an ATA (Analogue Telephone Adapter) at Value Village recently, which is a device that's used to convert analogue phones into VoIP phones, for a few dollars. I guess I didn't learn my lesson from last time, when I bought a Linksys PAP2T that was locked to Vonage..

This one is a Linksys 2102-R, where the -R means it's locked to someone. I setup my machine to block most network traffic from it, since that was how I got screwed last time, when the Vonage locked one phoned home and set itself in a state where I couldn't unlock it..

I plugged it in, and while running a packet capture I saw it attempting to perform DNS lookups for "dmsc.comwave.net", which appears to be Comwave's provisioning server.

I googled around on how to unlock the device, and for another provider which doesn't exist anymore, someone worked out a trick of how to unlock it. I wanted to see if that might work against this one, so I allowed it out to the Internet, but once I saw that it was attempting to provision over HTTPS to Comwave's provisioning server, I knew that trick wouldn't work against this unit, since I would need Comwave's SSL certificate private key.

More googling around didn't turn up anything useful for how to unlock it, so I figured I would contact Comwave's support, and ask them to unlock it for me, since this is an old unit.

Here's the email exchange I had with Comwave's support:

(note the timestamps, so you can see they take advantage of the "up to 2 business days" response time frame)..

---

JUN 30, 2015  |  02:09PM UTC
Original message
Simon wrote:

I bought a Linksys SPA2102-R from Value Village and it's locked to your services. It contacts your provisioning server, are you able to unlock this adapter as I wish to use it with an Asterisk PBX?

---

JUL 02, 2015  |  07:13PM UTC
Comwave Technical Support replied:

Dear Simon,
Thank you for taking the time to contact us. We will be glad to assist you.
We would like to get more information about the device. Could you please provide us the MAC and serial number of the Linksys SPA2102-R? You can find this information at the botton of the device.
We will be looking forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience. Sincerely,
Herbert- eCare Team

---

JUL 02, 2015  |  07:59PM UTC
Simon replied:

Hello Herbert,

Thanks for your response. The MAC of the Linksys SPA2102-R is
00:0E:08:4C:7A:62. The S/N is FM500L882925.

Thanks very much,
Simon

---

JUL 06, 2015  |  04:32PM UTC
Comwave Technical Support replied:

Dear Simon,
Thank you for getting back to me.
The serial number and MAC address you provided are not linked to any Comwave account anymore. This means that we no longer have control over the device. In this case, please contact Cisco support center at 800-553-2447 or for more information you can also visit this website http://www.linksys.com/ca/support-product?pid=01t80000003K7fzAAC.
I hope this information helps. Should you have any further questions, please feel free to email us again.
Sincerely,
Herbert – eCare Team

---

JUL 06, 2015  |  05:44PM UTC
Simon replied:

Hello Herbert,

Thanks for your response. I understand that the device would no longer be
linked with an active account with you, and that's why the previous account
owner who was using this device with your services would have donated it to
Value Village where I purchased it.

You do still have control of the device, as it contains the profile rule(s)
to contact your provisioning server, and has been configured with a non
standard admin password, so I am unable to login to change the profile rule
to point the device at my own provisioning server.

I have attached a packet capture which shows the device booting up and
performing DNS lookups for your provisioning server, "dmsc.comwave.net",
and attempting to perform an SSL handshake in order to download the config
file.

If you were to place a config file on your provisioning server for the MAC
address of 00:0E:08:4C:7A:62 containing the following:

<Admin_Passwd>admin</Admin_Passwd>

perhaps compiled with the SPC tool if necessary, then when the device next
contacts your provisioning server it should have the admin password reset
from the currently unknown to me value, to "admin", which would allow me to
login and clear/change the profile rules in the provisioning settings of
the device. Alternatively if you have the admin password on record, or are
able to generate the device's password based on its MAC address or serial
number, and provide that to me, then I would be able to login and reset the
configuration.

The support link you provided was to a wireless router on Cisco's site. If
I search for the SPA2102 on their site, then there are some results,
however those pages have been removed, and the search results mention that
it is an end-of-life device which is not supported by them anymore, which
is why I need your assistance in unlocking the device.

Thanks,
Simon 

---

JUL 08, 2015  |  08:05PM UTC
Comwave Technical Support replied:

Dear Simon,
Thank you for your reply.
The Linksys SPA2102-R FM500L882925 you received no longer works on our network, unfortunately, we cannot support it. We suggest you our Comwave Home Phone VoIP service , however, you would receive another device since we do not have control over the configuration of your Linksys.
Should you have any further questions, please let me know at your earliest convenience.
Sincerely,
Herbert
eCare Team

---

So, that's pretty much the end of that. Even though the device boots up, performs a DNS lookup, resolves to their provisioning server, and attempts an SSL handshake, they refuse to help me to unlock the device, even though it's no longer supported on their network, so it's not like I could even use it with an account with them. Instead they expect I'll signup for their services so they can send me some other device I have to pay for, completely defeating the purpose of what I'm trying to do by reusing this perfectly workable ATA, and instead they've just created more e-waste.

I'm currently trying to brute force the password on the device, but that's probably going to be a futile effort, since most of these passwords use extended characters, making the keyspace huge. I've already gone through all the 4 character passwords using combinations of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, and numbers, and that took 2 days.

I've now moved on to attempting all 5 character passwords, and that's estimated to take 70 days at the current rate..

The other option is to desolder the flash TSOP and use a programmer to reflash it with the unlocked "NA" firmware, and then resolder the flash chip, but since that requires a microscope and soldering equipment I don't have, it's not really a viable option.

February 2014

I figured I'd get away with titling this post with the month, since it looks like I'll be posting about once a month.

If that means I only have something to rant about once a month, perhaps that's a good thing, rather than me being a lazy blogger.

So this week has been an interesting one. On Thursday I turned 32, I spent some more time with a really nice girl I met recently, and I've had a pretty tiring week at work.

I started out spending this Family Day (a long weekend's Monday holiday for non Ontario/Alberta residents reading this :-) ) alone, ironically, and while I was trying to have a relaxing "me day", which I haven't had for a while, with volunteering to work at the Sandra Schmirler telethon in Montreal, and at the Canadian Ski Marathon over the last couple of weekends, I couldn't really relax.

I just didn't feel right, and I couldn't work out what it was. It wasn't my usual depression or anxiety, I've pretty much got those under control these days, and know what they feel like, it was something else. I finally worked out what it was, and it's guilt.

I feel guilty, primarily for things that I haven't done recently. Mulling it over for the last few hours, I realised that it probably stems from my usual depression and lack of motivation, and some is from being tired for having worked without any downtime recently, but those are pretty must just excuses, and shouldn't be justification.

I feel there's a lot of things I should have been doing recently but haven't, through procrastination, and I've been neglecting people who are important to me. I think it's because there's so many things I've not done, that it's all sort of piled up, and it's got to the point I can't pretend I don't notice anymore.

In no particular order, these things include:

There are people who I've not expressed my appreciation to as well as I should, and not just recently.

Telling people we should catch up, with intentions of doing so because I really do want to see more of people I've drifted apart from, and becoming reacquainted properly, but not making a proper effort to organise anything.

Failing to make it to events which have been organised and I said I'd attend, either through double or triple booking myself, or simply forgetting, making me an unreliable person.

Not getting in contact with people to thank them properly for things they've done for me in the last few months, from the people who welcomed me in for Christmas, and coming out to my birthday, giving me cards and gifts, to caring about my personal welfare and checking in with me to make sure things are ok.

I realise I've also been a bit selfish and inconsiderate recently, by taking advantage of other people's kindness and generosity, and not giving back as much as I feel I should, or by inadvertently taking advantage of of situations through misunderstandings.

I also feel like I've not been functioning 100% at work, and I've been short and snappy with my co-workers, which isn't good when we have a lot of work that needs to be done at the moment, and I think everyone is feeling some stress, and I'm not helping us work properly as a team.

I feel like I'm dropping the ball all over the place in regards to responding to people properly, and I know I can't keep doing it because people will get fed up and not have time for me, as I know I don't have much tolerance for people that don't respond to me, but this is making me realise that I perhaps should be a bit more tolerant than I am.

So in short, I'd like to say both sorry, and thank you.

I'd like to say thank you to all the people who do nice things for me. Invites you've given to events, hospitality you've provided me, caring you've expressed, and generosity you've shown.

I'm sorry for not being as good of a person as I'd like to think I am. I'm going to make an effort to fix this. Any extra patience you can show me while I do this would be much appreciated, even if I don't make that shown as much as I should :-)

I realise that writing this post doesn't fully resolve all the things that I feel guilty about, and doesn't allow me a way to avoid doing things properly. I'm just hoping it will buy me some time to do that, and to let people know that I now see I've been a bit of a douche recently, and that I feel bad about it.

Parking tickets

OK, here's the post I promised, I'm sure you're all looking forward to it..

Back in August I went to Osheaga festival in Montreal. On the Sunday morning, we decided to go check out the farmers' market instead of rushing over to the festival, since there were no acts we were really interested in.

Not speaking French, I accidentally parked in a space which was signposted as being a "residents' parking" space, requiring a permit. After returning to the car and finding that, I figured I might as well make good use out of the ticket, and so left my car there for the rest of the day.

While at Osheaga, I decided to pop over to the casino, played a hand of blackjack switch, and won $50, enough to cover the parking ticket.

After returning to Ottawa, 2 days later I parked in the Byward market to go to trivia at the Highlander Pub on Tuesday night. After trivia I returned to my car to find I'd been issued a parking ticket:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/squigley/9454135027/in/set-72157639322985196

Frustrated, I called 311 to have the Bylaw officer come back and explain to me why I'd been issued the ticket. They refused to send him back, instead telling me that I could contact the supervisor for an explanation.

I was given her email address, to which I sent the following email:

---

Hello Jennifer, 

I was given your contact details as the Bylaw supervisor for last night, after I called 311 when I found I had been issued a parking ticket for parking in the Byward Market last night.

Officer #237, Pyper, issued a parking infraction notice, reference H0261490, and I require some explanation. 

My vehicle was properly parked within the painted lines of a parking space, and I was not causing an obstruction, nor were there any signs to specify I was not allowed to park there.

Here are some photos of the way my vehicle was parked:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/squigley/9456793368/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/squigley/9456791130/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/squigley/9456788946/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/squigley/9454005473/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/squigley/9454003063/in/photostream/

As you can see, my vehicle is clearly parked correctly, between the marked boundaries of the space. 

The vehicle parked next to me was also issued a ticket for the same offence. I spoke to the driver of that vehicle, and he informed me that he was intending on contesting the ticket. 

Can you please provide the written documentation of the Bylaw that has been infracted here? 

Can you also please cite the specific part of the Bylaw which both vehicles are in violation of?

Can you please define what is considered an "unauthorised angle"?

I require this information so that I know what to expect as I go through the process of contesting the issue of this ticket.

Regards,
Simon Quigley

---

I received the following response:

---

Good Morning Mr. Quigley;

As per your email below I have attached a copy of the traffic and parking by-law.  If you go to section 19 subsection 4 of this by-law you will see the violation that you were accused of being in violation of.  You could have received a parking ticket for either the offence you received since you were not parked parallel to the curb or for parking on private property as the section you parked in is leased property and not a legal parking spot.  Please feel free to contact me if you require any future information.

Regards,
Mike

---

I read through the copy of the Bylaw which Mike had forwarded, and replied to Mike in regards to section 19:

---

Hello Mike,

Thank your for your response. Reading through the entire section on Angle Parking, I can't find anything that I am in violation of.
---
ANGLE PARKING
19. (1) Where an angle parking space is designated by lines or other markings on the
roadway, or otherwise, no person shall stop, stand or park a vehicle or permit a
vehicle to remain parked or standing therein except entirely within the area so
designated as a parking space.

 (2) Where angle parking is permitted on a highway, no person shall stop, stand or park a
vehicle or permit a vehicle to remain parked or standing except at the angle
designated by signs or markings on the roadway.

 (3) Where angle parking on a highway other than at an angle of 90 degrees to the curb or
edge of roadway is permitted, no person shall park a vehicle or permit a vehicle to
remain parked on such highway except with the front end of the vehicle at the curb or
edge of the roadway.

 (4) No person shall park a vehicle or permit a vehicle to remain parked at an angle on a
highway except on the highways, at the  sides and between the limits set out
respectively in columns 1, 2 and 3 of Schedule “VII” to this by-law.

---

(1). The vehicle was entirely within the lines marking the area as a parking space.

(2). The markings on the roadway designate that the parking is at a 90 degree angle.

(3). The angle parking is at 90 degrees.

(4). The vehicle was parked at the side of the highway, at the angle specified by the markings on the roadway as per column 2.

Also, nowhere is there any signage specifying that the sides of the highway have been leased, and/or are private property and not public parking. Without such signage, how are people expected to know that those clearly marked parking spaces are not public parking? Am I expected to have psychic abilities?

I will be attending one of the first attendance facilities to initiate a formal process to dispute this ticket, but in order to make the best use of the agent's time when I do so, I would appreciate my queries responded to.

Regards,
Simon Quigley

---

Mike responded:

---

Can you please send me your phone number so I can call you and better explain the regulations to you?

Thank you,

Mike

---

I replied and provided him with my mobile phone number. He never called me, and there was no further email correspondence.

---

The next day I went to see an agent at the "first attendance facilities", taking along a couple of the photos printed out. He said he could reduce the fine, but he couldn't cancel it, and he seemed to think that I was parked up on the sidewalk, even though I explained that I was parked on the road.

Since that was unsuccessful, I told him I wanted to take it to trial. I went to see the staff at the counter who stamped my ticket, and told me I would receive a court date at some point in the next couple of months or to contact them again if I did not.

Eventually, in October, 2 1/2 months later, I received a letter informing me of my trial date, January 8th 2014.

Off I went to the court, after preparing and printing out some photos to use as part of my argument:

The sign, which implies to me that the stands are parking after 7pm:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/squigley/9473376985/in/set-72157639322985196

The parking spaces I saw:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/squigley/9473367793/in/set-72157639322985196

the way in which I parked my car:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/squigley/9456791130/in/set-72157639322985196

I was in the courtroom at 9am, and the proceedings started.

Initially it was just role call, they went through a giant stack of papers of people who were supposed to be there to face their charges. When your name was called, you had to respond that you were there, and if your intention was to plead guilty or not guilty.

They were checking the presence of the officer who issued the ticket, and very early on, perhaps the first case, was against Pyper, who'd also issued my ticket. He wasn't in attendance. As a result of that, it meant there was no evidence, and the case would be dismissed.

Each person in turn stood up, and was asked what they were pleading. Some people couldn't understand to just answer "guilty" or "not guilty" when asked, and were trying to argue.

One guy was trying to show pictures on his phone, when we'd been told all electronic devices had to be turned off. Another guy, after being told he was free to leave with the charge dropped started ranting about how he was rally annoyed, and had to be told that his behaviour was not acceptable. It was ridiculous.

For the people who were contesting, and their issuing Bylaw officer was present, they were told to sit down and wait until their trial later. A couple of people plead guilty, and by presenting an argument had their fines reduced by half or so, and could then leave.

Eventually they got to me, at about 9.45am, I said I was there, and was pleading not guilty. As the officer was not present, there was no evidence being presented against me, and so the case was dismissed, at which point I was free to leave.

So for wasting an hour, and speaking to the judge for about 30 seconds, I avoided having to pay a $60 fine which I don't believe should have been issued in the first place. It's a hollow victory, since I didn't get to argue about why it made no sense for the ticket to be issued, but I'll take it.

In future I'll take all parking tickets to court. At the least I get another 6 months before I have to pay it, chances are the Bylaw officer won't bother to turn up, and it'll get thrown out and I won't have to pay it at all, or I can plead guilty with an explanation and get the fine reduced. What a ridiculous system.

Love stinks

OK, so first off I was going to write a post about a parking ticket I'm taking to court, but at the moment I don't really care about that. I also wasn't going to write about this subject at all, but I'm having a shitty time with it, and I'm either going to write this post, or I'm just going to have pay tons of money to talk to a psychiatrist again.

Hopefully this post reads coherently, I've just sat up all night writing it. I also hope that anyone referred to in here doesn't get upset, if you read this and do, I apologise, I've tried to keep it as vague as possible, and no names are mentioned.

Over the last few years, I've discovered I have some strange issues when it comes to interacting with other people. I have anxiety when talking to most people in anything other than a professional work related situation, and while I'm not as bad now, I used to have crippling shyness when speaking to single women.

ie Raj from Big Bang Theory, who's unable to speak to women without drinking, he's a popular culture representation of a disorder called "Love-shyness".

Girls had never taken any interest in me, or at least none that I could tell, so when they did, I immediately felt far more attachment to them immediately than I should have.

As Jim Carey's character Joel says in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; "Why do I fall in love with every woman I see who shows me the least bit of attention?" Which pretty much sums it up.

Back in 2006, I was pretty unhappy with things. I was 24, and I'd only had one brief relationship, in 2001 when I was 19, which had caused me so much stress from my crippling shyness, and the drama the girl or her father were constantly causing me, that I ended up giving myself a psychosomatic liver disorder. I was in the shower one morning, and I was trying to work out why my skin was a tone somewhere in between yellow and green.

I took myself to the doctor for a series of tests, they couldn't work it out, other than telling me that it was jaundice, what the cause was. I did some research, and found "Gilbert's Syndrome", which I went back and asked about, they did some more tests, and confirmed my diagnosis.

Apparently it meant I had limited liver function, so I wasn't suppose to consume alcohol, or greasy food, or a bunch of other things. It turned out it was completely mental.. when the broken relationship I was in finally broke down completely and ended (by her dumping me), all those issues went away, and I went back to my previous diet with no issues whatsoever.

So in 2006, I decided to make some changes. I tagged along with my best friend on a tour of North America, and as I'd spent some time researching and reading how to deal with my chronic shyness, I decided to put some of the theories I'd read into practice. One of those theories was that I could try to not be shy, and try to talk to women, but by doing it in a completely foreign environment, if anything went wrong, it wouldn't matter, because I'd never be there or see any of those people again.

I went through the itinerary we had planned; Montreal, NYC, Las Vegas,  LA, Seattle, Vancouver, Honolulu, and home. I got on a dating site, and I browsed girls' profiles in each of these cities, and I sent messages to a girl in each city, introducing myself, telling them my situation; that I would be travelling to their city for a few days and I was interested in taking them out for a coffee or a drink and a chat, in return for them giving me some tips on things to see and do in their cities while I was there.

Only 1 girl responded positively. Others either said they weren't interested, didn't actually live in the city, or didn't reply at all. Due to the timezone differences, I didn't get to speak to that girl much in the following weeks before travelling over, but briefly enough that it seemed like we were getting on.

Weeks later, after visiting Montreal, I'm in NYC, things were setup for me to meetup with her one night. I went to visit a friend I know in Upstate NY, but didn't realise that due to the distance I wasn't going for a daytrip and would be up there overnight, and due to my shyness and anxiety about the whole thing, I didn't want to explain to my friend what was going on, so I didn't get back down to the city in time, and I didn't ask to use his phone (since there's no mobile coverage), and so I stood her up.

I felt really bad, and figured that I'd screwed all that up, and I might as well just give up and continue on the rest of my trip. When I got back to the city, I was feeling sorry for myself, and really guilty about what I'd done, and my best friend intervened, he took my phone and called the girl up, and sorted things out for me, which there's no way I could have done.

She agreed to come out and meet up with me, on my last night before flying to Las Vegas. We met up for coffee in Times Square, and even though I was only there to have a chance to practice talking to a single woman, I fell in love with her.

We flew to Las Vegas the next day, then on to LA, Seattle, and Vancouver each few days. I couldn't stop thinking about her. Finally, in Vancouver, after just having arrived there, I decided I really wanted to see her again. I offered to fly her to Hawaii to hang out for the few days I'd be there with my friend (which in hindsight seems a really creepy offer to make to someone you've only met once for a coffee), which she gracefully declined. I decided to go back to NYC instead of spending time in Vancouver, so the next morning I got up early, went to the airport, booked a flight at the check in counter (who does that?) and I flew back to NYC.

She thought I was crazy for doing that, and looking back, I think I was too. We met up, and spent a day together wandering around NYC, and I felt great. I was feeling some of my normal shyness and anxiety issues, but they weren't terrible, I pushed through them, and was only slightly awkward. We went for a drink that night before parting ways.

When I got back to the hostel where I was staying, I felt awful. I had the worst anxiety attack I think I've ever had in my life. I think all the stuff I'd pushed through all day had just come back to bite me. I was up all night vomiting, I couldn't hold water down, ended up vomiting up bile, and I couldn't sleep. I finally passed out around 8am for about 1/2 hour from exhaustion. When I woke up again feeling like I was going to die, I took myself to the hospital.

I was so dehydrated they had to inject me with 2 litres of saline solution to rehydrate me, they gave me an anti nausea injection to stop me vomiting, performed an ultrasound on my liver to work out what was wrong with it (they couldn't find anything, because perhaps they should have tried scanning my head), gave me a sandwich, charged me $600, and sent me on my way.

I didn't tell them what the actual cause of my issue was, because I was embarrassed. I passed it off as being travel fatigue, since I'd been travelling for over 2 weeks at that point, drinking a bit, not getting much sleep due to being in different timezones constantly etc.

I met up with the girl again after leaving the hospital. I had been starving, but when I went with her to a diner to get some dinner, my anxiety and shyness came back, and I lost my appetite. That went on to happen every time I spent any time with her.

I left NYC the next day, flew to Hawaii for a day, and then home. I didn't want to be home. I wanted to be in NYC, spending time with her and working on my anxiety and shyness issues. We kept in touch, a few weeks later she told me she'd started seeing someone, which I got really upset about, which really didn't make sense.

I let the contact lapse at that point, to try to separate myself and get over it. A couple of weeks later we started talking again, and we were talking for hours almost every day or night (due to the timezone differences).

While I had this interaction going on, I used it as an excuse to not attempt to pursue any relationships locally. A girl I worked with expressed some interest in me, but I brushed it off, which I later came to regret.

After a couple of months of almost daily conversations, I decided I wanted to be with her, and I did, but I think I was also using that as an excuse to change a lot of things in my life that I wasn't happy with. I didn't feel like I was going anywhere, I was stuck in a rut, sick of my job, not achieving anything.

I went through trying to work out how to move to NYC, there was no visas I could get that would allow me to work there, I could only be a tourist for 3 months. I found I could get a visa for Canada easily though, which would allow me to stay for a year, and work in Canada. I figured by doing that, I could move to Canada, work there, and commute down to NYC a few times a month to be with her.

I put in my application, and had my Canadian Working Holiday Program visa issued in January of 2007. I was ready to leave, but I couldn't because of work commitments. These dragged on, I really wanted to leave, and go be with her, but I couldn't, I felt trapped, and in April or May I ended up having a minor breakdown, and being diagnosed with depression, and put on anti-depressant medication.

In June, I went back to NYC to visit. I wasn't sure what the deal was with the guy she'd started seeing, I didn't ask, and she didn't tell me. I had my anxiety issues again, but they were manageable, and I'd even been skipping taking my medication to see if I could function. I went back home, and we continued conversing.

I continued working towards finalising my job, and preparing to move to Canada. When I would explain to people what I was doing, I usually didn't include all the details. When I did, people told me that I was making a mistake. I felt that I knew better than them, since I was blinded by the way I felt about her. I should have listened to what people told me.

I pushed on, I got everything organised, sold, gave away or got rid of almost everything I owned, loaded what I could in a backpack, and off I went to Canada in January of 2008. I got here, I got settled, doing all of this forced me to deal with my anxiety issues in talking to people, and that's one thing I don't regret, because I'm a hell of a lot better with dealing with that stuff now than I ever was before.

In February of 2008 I went back down to NYC to see her. She told me that she was still seeing the guy. I then in a passive aggressive way gave her an ultimatum, by way of leaving, and telling her I wasn't going to talk to her for a while. I came back to Canada, and I realised I'd made a huge mistake. Here I was with no reason to be here, but no real reason to go back to Australia either. I also felt that by giving up and going home, I'd be admitting defeat. As long as I was still in Canada, my efforts hadn't been a complete failure.

I spent the next few months in a funk. I had managed to find a few friends here, but really didn't have any purpose, and was just floating along. Then one day she popped up, said she was breaking up with the guy, and wanted to start talking to me again. This gave me purpose again, and perhaps a way to avoid having my efforts all turn out to be a failure.

We started talking again, I'd been trying to find reasons to be here, was working on getting a motorcycle, and finding volunteer opportunities to give me something useful to do with my time. She invited me to come visit Iowa for July 4, so I cancelled my volunteer shifts with a music festival I'd signed up for, got my bike ready, and off I went.

We met up in Iowa, things seemed to go well, albeit me with my appetite issues as usual when around her. I told her I was going to find a way to move to NYC so we could see how things went with me being there. She said she wanted some time on her own first, which I agreed to, even though it was a really hard thing to do, when I all I wanted was to be with her.

I continued on my motorcycle tour of the US and Canada, over the next 6 weeks I went from Iowa to San Diego, up to Vancouver, and back to Ottawa. Once I was back, in September, I got all my stuff together, gave notice on the place I was renting, loaded up on my bike, and headed to NYC and find somewhere to rent, even though I wasn't supposed to be living there.

After being there for a couple of days, and her acting all weird around me, leading me to try to work out what I was doing wrong, she told me she'd been seeing someone else casually in between me having seen her in Iowa, and moving to NYC. She'd only just ended that, and wanted some time to herself.. the time I'd already given her.

That was the final straw. I loaded up my bike again, and headed back to Ottawa. I felt like shit. The awful failure feeling I'd gone through already came back again, but this time worse, since it was final.

I spent October and November in a completely useless state. My Canadian visa was going to run out at the end of January. Since I still felt I had nothing to go back to in Australia, and still didn't want to have to admit defeat by going home, I decided to renew my visa and stay in Canada.

In December I was hanging out with a friend, and a friend of hers. She showed interest in me, but I was in no state to be pursuing anything, so I didn't, but the interest stayed in the back of my mind.

I went to the UK for Xmas and New Years 2008/2009, as a change of scenery and to try to get things back on track. The girl who'd expressed interest and I starting corresponding while I was away, and I started to feel for her more than I probably should have, since I barely knew her.

When I came back to Ottawa in January we started hanging out, but because I was still in a rough state from what I'd gone through, I said I wasn't ready yet, and that I was interested, but that I needed some time. That didn't come across the right way, she got upset, and we broke up.

My mental state declined. My medication wasn't working. I couldn't sleep. I didn't know what to do, I felt helpless, but I didn't want to ask for help. After a couple of weeks of not sleeping, I was in a really rough state. At about 3am one night I put some vague Facebook status up like "I'm a lost cause", quoting Beck's song from the SeaChange album, and I finally fell asleep.

My parents saw this, tried calling me, I didn't answer, since I'd finally fallen asleep, probably from exhaustion after weeks of getting about 15 minutes/night sleep. They called the police, they kept trying to call me again, eventually it woke me up, I answered, I was confused, I thought I was in a hostel in Montreal.

The police came out, they spoke to me a while, and decided I needed to be taken to the hospital. I was taken there, and over the next few hours they took all my stuff away, interviewed me, and told me that I either needed to admit myself for psychiatric evaluation, or they were going to involuntarily commit me, as they felt I couldn't be trusted on my own not to harm myself, and that I was having a nervous breakdown.

I spent a day in intensive care being monitored, the admissions for the psych ward apparently weren't open until the next day. I was then transferred into the psych ward for 4 days, while they gave me all sorts of medications, and I spoke to different psychiatrists and psychologists.

Not having any health coverage in Canada, this ended up costing over $10000.

I spent the next few months on different drugs and attending followup sessions with a psychologist and psychiatrist, but these were about $80 each, and so I stopped going, maybe I should have gone a little longer.

I got back together with the girl I'd been seeing a little while after I came out of the hospital, since I knew she was still interested in me, but after a few months back with her, including a couple of months away, while I motorcycled across the US and Canada for a second time, I realised I had a new issue, and that was that I couldn't really feel anything for her, and certainly not what she felt for me.

I knew when I first got back together I wasn't feeling anything, which was worrying, but I thought that if I just gave it some time, then I would start to feel something for her. After 6 months, I realised this wasn't the case, and this made me feel guilty. I was wasting her time.

I explained this and ended our relationship, and I decided I still wasn't ready to be in one. I spent the next year single, and I concentrated on trying to just make friends, and be able to function without all my anxiety issues, and to overcome my shyness, which had improved, but still had some way to go.

About a year later, in mid 2010, I met an another girl, and I actually managed to initiate that, rather than it being a result of her showing interest in me, for the first time. We started a relationship, but instead of shyness and anxiety being my major issues, I now had to deal with not being able to feel anything, and with some trust issues thrown in for good measure.

This caused a lot of friction between us, and while I understood why, and tried explaining, it didn't fix the issue. We decided to take a break.

I'd recently started my first job in Canada, and one of the girls I was working with there was showing interest in me. I initially ignored it, since she was a bit younger than me, and now knew of my new trust and feelings issues, but this just seemed to encourage her more.

A situation ended up occurring between us which probably shouldn't have, which she instigated, and then when I tried to find out if she was interested in pursuing a relationship, she had no interest in that, and the rejection of that caused me to resent her, which went on to cause a major shitstorm at work of gossip and lies, and I ended up having to quit that job when she started threatening to make unfounded claims of sexual harassment against me, just because I was trying to apologise to her.

I was still talking with the girl I was on a break from, and when I told her what was going on, she supported me, and we ended up getting back together. After a few months more, it ended up being a repeat of the first time, I still couldn't feel anything, she got angry at me for that and in early 2011 she dumped me.

At that point I pretty much gave up on attempting a relationship, figuring that now that I'd dealt with most of my shyness and anxiety issues, I could start relationships where I felt nothing for the other person, and that was even worse than being single, since now I was wasting someone's time, and toying with their emotions, which isn't fair.

Another year and a bit later, during which time I just concentrated on work and minding my own business rather than trying to start broken relationships, in mid 2012, I met a nice girl through a mutual friend. She showed some interest, and I immediately had feelings for her.

I thought this was a good thing, that maybe I was finally ready to have a functional relationship. After going on a couple of dates with her, which were a little awkward because some of my shyness and anxiety issues had come back, she told me she just wanted to be friends, and that really sucked, because I liked her, and had feelings for her, and I'd been excited about finally having a good relationship.

It took me a long time to get over that, too long. I went on a couple of dates shortly after that, but I didn't feel anything for them, because I still had feelings for her, which makes no sense. I gave up again, feeling broken and hopeless.

As you might have picked up from my recent posts and behaviour, I've just gone through this again, another year and a half later.

Going into as little detail as possible about it, a girl I've known and liked for a couple of years expressed some interest, and I went all in with my feelings again for no good reason (or maybe because I've been single for 3 years now, and everything's reverted back). The result of this was that I then ended up becoming really jealous due to my trust issues, nearly causing me to have another nervous breakdown and we hadn't even been on a date, let-alone been in a relationship.

All this has now lead me to go back to reanalyse everything, hence why I wrote this out, and to try to understand what the hell's going on. I have no issues putting this all out in the open, and I hope no one else does, but I'm sick of bottling it all up and carrying it around. Most people around me have been subjected to hearing bits and pieces of all this anyway.

I almost need to put together some Venn diagrams here. I can either have shyness, anxiety, feelings, or trust issues, or any combination of the above. I've also made some bad decisions in the past.

On top of all this, I've been doing a lot of reading recently, and I think I'm a "Highly Sensitive Person", and I have some neuroticism to go with it.

I guess now I'm going to spend the next year and bit working on how to cope with these traits, and find some way to manage them, along with my shyness, anxiety, potential lack of emotional feelings, and trust issues, and then perhaps I'll be ready to try having a relationship again :-S

Maybe I just need a new drug,
One that won't keep me up all night
One that won't make me sleep all day
One that won't make me nervous
Wonderin' what to do
One that won't make me feel too bad
One that won't make me feel too good
One with no doubt
One that won't make me talk too much
Or make my face break out

I like to rant

Welcome.

This is my fourth attempt at blogging, it will be of as much use and interest as my other 3 blogs, ie limited to none :-)

After being described as "The Angry Man" from Facebook, presumably due to my tendency to rant and whinge about hassles I have, from issues with my car, to bureaucracy I have to deal with in applying for Permanent Residence in Canada, I've decided to instead rant and complain here, and not on Facebook.

I don't really have anything to rant about at the moment however. Although, I do have to go to court for a parking ticket soon, so I'll put together a post about that shortly :-)

I'm tired of snow.