Having trouble with your computer? Shawn Richie (540-649-2255) is a computer guru with both software and hardware. He works at UVA in the Engineering Dept lives in Waynesboro and is very willing to come to both Wintergreen mountain and Stoney Creek. We found him to be good at helping those of us who are not totally fluent with technology. Submitted by Abigail James. October 2023
Telephone options
In December WBB subscriber Jerry Akman asked readers of our newsletter for suggestions on reducing the cost of maintaining his Verizon telephone landline in his vacation home on Wintergreen Mountain. He carefully investigated several alternatives and was kind enough to share what he learned about inexpensive VoIP services. Here's his report:
We have had Verizon landline phone service since we bought our condo on Wintergreen mountain almost 30 years ago. As we can use our cellphones from our condo, we had the most minimal Verizon plan—911 service, no long distance and per call charges for local calls.
For this minimal service, after a rate increase from Verizon, our monthly service fee including taxes, fees, etc., (but not counting any per call charges) was $33, or $400 per year. So, we decided to explore alternatives and, after reading the reviews for Ooma and Magic Jack, we decided to try out Magic Jack’s phone service using our internet… Read more here
VoIP phone
• I didn't want the hassle of changing our long-established landline telephone number to use an internet phone service (VoIP). I did not know until recently it had become easy to move a Verizon landline phone number over to a VoIP. We were paying Verizon $70.50 a month with limited long distance service. Now we have nationwide long distance, caller ID, voicemail, etc. using VoIP (via Nelson Cable) that runs about $34 a month when all of the 911 fees and taxes and are added in, which is $36.50 a month less and better service. Submitted by Charles Batchelor.
Shawn Ritchie - 434-924-3276
We would like to recommend Shawn Ritchie for assistance in a wide variety of help with your computer. He is in the IT Department at the University of Virginia, Darden School of Business, and he can be reached at 434-924-3276. He has helped with our computers several times, most recently to create partitions so our children could use our desktop with no access to our personal emails or other information. He will be helping us with a complete setup of a Lenovo desktop that we just purchased. He is willing to just handle your computer issue, or he is willing to explain what he is doing step-by-step. He will come to your house to perform all the work. Submitted by David and Nancy Schwiesow
