"You have reached a number that is not in service."

That headline is the annoying message anyone receives who tries to call me today. It's not in service  because once again Comcast has screwed up. I realized it this morning when I had no dial tone. After an eighteen-minute cell phone call to Comcast, I learned—probably from somebody in Mozambique—it was because Comcast disconnected my phone number of twenty years and assigned me a new number. Why? I don't know. And, oddly, neither do they. They think—think, mind you—that back in March when I upped my service, some idiot at Comcast changed my number. But they're not sure. And, worse, they're not sure how to restore my phone number: you know, the one I've had for two decades; the one that's printed on my business cards; my letterhead; the one that every friend, doctor and associate has; the one that has been included on my cover letters to theaters all over America from whom I have had no replies. I have had several follow-up calls to Comcast with no resolution to this problem. No surprised there. Comcast has always proven itself to be incompetent. I'd change services, but I suspect that AT&T and Dish are just as bad. The government has saddled us with these greedy media giants and we have no recourse but to put up with their crap. Of course I could call the FCC and complain, but I'm guessing they're just as hard to deal with as Comcast.