Can you believe it? That's gotta be a record, right?
Brooke is out to a volunteer event tonight; I opted to stay home and read a book I'm supposed to submit a review of in a couple of weeks. The books is a history of voting technology in the US. It's interesting, but dense. And it's convinced me that we've never had a fair election in this country. The book starts with a detailed account of the goings on in Florida during the 2000 presidential election. After reading that chapter, I was aghast at the partisan trickery and sleight-of-hand. Of course, the 2000 election was an amazing success story in comparison to a majority of our national elections; not so much because there was less fraud but because two years later, Congress passed the first substantive national election legislation in over a hundred years.
Back to the book...and the outrage. :)
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Friday, October 27, 2006
B-day, Comcast, etc...
It's been a lifetime, I know. Actually, it's been something less than that unless you're an insect but it's been a while, all the same. Of course, there's no way to fill you in on all the details so I'll just stick to the high- and low-lights of the last couple of months:
I had a birthday. The 31st. Nothing too exciting, really, but the lovely wife clearly did her best to make it special. Friends out at a good bar, silly hats, a cake and thoughtful gifts. There was even a Cuban cigar. She sets the bar high...especially since her next big day is an even number ending in zero...
School is holding true to the maxim: first year, they scare you to death; second year, they work you to death; third year, they bore you to death. All those 2nd years who talked about how much easier life was after first year can should die in a fiery car crash. The schedule might be more flexible but there is a ton more work...not to mention the added pressure to find a job for next summer in AUGUST! Yeah, that makes total sense...
Comcast, and more specifically, their internet service. We came back from a lovely trip to rural Illinois (a story in and of itself) a month ago to no internet access. Since then, we've had no fewer than 3 techs visits (it would have been 5 but they decided not to show for a couple of them), 6 brand new modems, several new cables and almost 15 hours worth of time spent either on hold or reinventing the wheel with a score of customer support and supervisors. Yet, we still haven't had internet service for more than a couple of days solid. And, shocker, if as a customer you fall out of the 90% of the problems that the normal customer service protocols are designed to deal with, you will be relegated the 9th Circle of Service Hell. Because the great thing about a huge-mungous company is that there is absolutely no accountability. Company policy requires that they don't give you last names and you have to fight them to get there employee number. Not that that number really means much...because you'll never get that employee on the phone again and the operations managers at one call center have no ability to do anything about an employee at any other call center (and they've got centers all over the place, including Manatoba, Newfoundland and South Texas). The best you can hope for is that you get so pissed off by the complete lack of service that you call some celebrity consumer advocate who recommends googling someone with gravitas in the company in your area, calling that person directly and giving them an ear full. Then, the promises and services abound...So, the moral is never, ever, ever, ever call the 800 for customer support after the 1st bad experience. Instead, google the execs in the crap corporation that you're dealing with in your area and launch a tirade. That's the smart money.
Finally, umm, well just finally. There is more. Trips to Oregon, huge nephews, great beer, new friends, generalizings, odd realizations. They're all hiding out in the past. But that's all I have right now.
Best.
I had a birthday. The 31st. Nothing too exciting, really, but the lovely wife clearly did her best to make it special. Friends out at a good bar, silly hats, a cake and thoughtful gifts. There was even a Cuban cigar. She sets the bar high...especially since her next big day is an even number ending in zero...
School is holding true to the maxim: first year, they scare you to death; second year, they work you to death; third year, they bore you to death. All those 2nd years who talked about how much easier life was after first year can should die in a fiery car crash. The schedule might be more flexible but there is a ton more work...not to mention the added pressure to find a job for next summer in AUGUST! Yeah, that makes total sense...
Comcast, and more specifically, their internet service. We came back from a lovely trip to rural Illinois (a story in and of itself) a month ago to no internet access. Since then, we've had no fewer than 3 techs visits (it would have been 5 but they decided not to show for a couple of them), 6 brand new modems, several new cables and almost 15 hours worth of time spent either on hold or reinventing the wheel with a score of customer support and supervisors. Yet, we still haven't had internet service for more than a couple of days solid. And, shocker, if as a customer you fall out of the 90% of the problems that the normal customer service protocols are designed to deal with, you will be relegated the 9th Circle of Service Hell. Because the great thing about a huge-mungous company is that there is absolutely no accountability. Company policy requires that they don't give you last names and you have to fight them to get there employee number. Not that that number really means much...because you'll never get that employee on the phone again and the operations managers at one call center have no ability to do anything about an employee at any other call center (and they've got centers all over the place, including Manatoba, Newfoundland and South Texas). The best you can hope for is that you get so pissed off by the complete lack of service that you call some celebrity consumer advocate who recommends googling someone with gravitas in the company in your area, calling that person directly and giving them an ear full. Then, the promises and services abound...So, the moral is never, ever, ever, ever call the 800 for customer support after the 1st bad experience. Instead, google the execs in the crap corporation that you're dealing with in your area and launch a tirade. That's the smart money.
Finally, umm, well just finally. There is more. Trips to Oregon, huge nephews, great beer, new friends, generalizings, odd realizations. They're all hiding out in the past. But that's all I have right now.
Best.
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