My heart isn't in the tour," said Barbara Goldscheider, a Verizon employee from Derry, N.H. "It's really with ground zero.

Workers from throughout the country, including 3,000 Verizon employees plus non-Verizon employees, helped restore service, allowing the network to carry 230,000,000 calls during the first week following the attacks.

After reading comments like, Verizon employees benefit far better than the 9.1% of Americans on un-employment, I had to write in.

"They're slammin," said Jaison Gonzalez, a Verizon employee who lives on the Crabman's route.

To the Editor: "Out the Door" (column, Jan. 1), by Bob Herbert, gives the impression that Verizon employees were surprised when they were laid off.

The Association also represents active Verizon employees regarding retiree issues, such as cash balance plan conversions and recently announced termination of management pension and healthcare benefits.

Jeff Miller, a spokesman for the Communications Workers of America, which represents around 60,000 Verizon employees, said that the unions might still strike.

Those workers formed the bulk of a pre-holiday wave of terminations that claimed the jobs of 3,500 Verizon employees in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states.

About 250 Verizon employees based in Westchester and Putnam found themselves out of work Thursday as part of the company's layoff of 2,400 workers statewide.

I eventually asked a Verizon employee, who explained that, when the Xoom locks up, you can force a soft reset by holding the volume-up and power button simultaneously.