Category: BlahBlahBabble

The cable guy was supposed to be back today between 10 and 12. They came last week, but the work order was missing an outlet that we had requested be installed – so I had to book a second appointment to get the rest of the work done, and there would be no charge for the outlet. Needless to say, I wasn’t happy about having to wait again (the first guy was over an hour late), but I decided I would get some boxes unpacked while I waited, so it would work out ok.

Noon came and went, with no cable guy. I called about 12:15, and they apologized and said he would be here within the hour. 1:46 – an hour and a half later – I called again. I had not left the house, and by this point in time I had waited close to four hours. I was ready to snap.

Then I was told that the cable guy had been here, but there was no one home at 1:36 so he put a tag on the door and moved on to his next job.

I went carnival freak crazy on the poor customer service guy.

I had waited four hours, I have an apartment to finish cleaning out, I have things to do today, I haven’t been able to do anything because I am here waiting for them, and why on earth would I call the cable company 10 minutes later asking where he was if he had been here?!?

All I can figure out is that he knocked on the door and didn’t ring the doorbell. I was in the bedroom (maybe 20 feet from the front door) unpacking boxes, and I was definitely here. I wanted a refund.

The customer service guy pointed out that it was already being done for free. I pointed out that the original install wasn’t free, plus there is monthly service – I wanted a credit for the four hours of my time that was wasted. Or I wanted someone out here – TODAY. There is no way the dispatcher couldn’t get anyone back out here. I ended up crying, I was so irritated.

He put me on hold forever as he went to talk to his supervisor. He probably has a blog too and was posting about the freaked out customer on the line that was wigging out on him. It’s all different when you think about it in those terms, isn’t it?

He came back to the line, and apologized for putting me on hold for so long. Before he could say anything else, I profusely apologized for freaking out on him. I mean, he’s just the nice guy on the other end of the phone – none of this is his fault, right? He thanked me for that, pointing out that he understood how stressful it is when you’re trying to move and there is a lot to do and that waiting that long was probably pretty frustrating for me. He was quite sweet, actually. I told him that I hoped he would remove the blacklisting from my account – I don’t normally freak out like that.

In the end, there is a $20 credit on the account and the cable guy will be here on Friday between 10 and 12.

Now I get to go and clean out the old apartment. Ugh. I guess I got a nice little four hour break thanks to the cable guy – now it’s time to get busy. Anyone want to come and help?

I’ve been working on this for awhile, but with everything else going on I haven’t been working on it enough. I need to find a new home for my cat. I’m heartbroken and sad, and neither Jason nor I could handle taking him to the Humane Society. I just can’t do it.

Jason’s allergies are to the point where they have said he is so sensitive to everything the cats must go. We actually have two cats, but at this time I can’t give up Mona too. Baby steps here.

We picked a pretty “allergy-proof” house – hardwood floors and tile downstairs, except the master bedroom, so the dust mites can’t survive. We have leather furniture in the living room right now, and will probably replace that with leather someday. The cats are not allowed in Jason’s room – to help cut down on the dander. But it’s still not enough.

I got him from the VAP group here in Houston, and I am going to try to contact them to see if they will adopt him out again. I just have to know that he has a good home. If they can’t help, I don’t know what I will do.

So, if you live in Houston and would like to have a sweet, adorable, fun fat cat – PLEASE let me know. He’s all yours. I just want to save him from the Humane Society. I refuse to take him there…

I wasn’t without a computer due to the lost cables – my computer of choice is actually the Dell Latitude, which I moved in my car and had all the pieces handy for it. The other computer is the one that Jason uses for games, and I use for the web when I don’t feel like powering up the laptop to get online.

Tonight, in a flash of brilliance, I glanced at the large box in the gameroom marked “Games”. It was one of the last boxes to be packed. It occurred to me that that one didn’t get checked last night – so I cut open the tape, unpacked a few games, and there were the ziploc bags that Mike had so carefully packed with all of the computer cables. Yeah!

On a separate but equally frustrating note, I have finally – after hours of stress – gotten my Tivo and stereo system hooked back up. I had it hooked up earlier, but I couldn’t get a live TV picture. I could see things I had previously recorded just fine (Ohhhh… new Queer Eyes AND Average Joe: Adam Returns!), but I couldn’t see The Apprentice! Gah! I finally gave up, plugged the cable from the wall jack straight in to the TV, and watched the show. Afterwards, I tried about 83 more configuration changes (well, no, not really – but it feels like that!) and I *finally* found the problem – I had the Tivo configured to use S Video, and I was using one of the red/white/yellow audio-video cable thingies. Ah ha! After I made the configuration change, everything is working smoothly!

It still feels strange. Good, but strange. Our house. Our new fridge (it’s soooo pretty!), our new washing machine. Our new dryer is coming on Saturday (they were all out of gas ones so it is being delivered later for free). Ours. It doesn’t belong to an apartment complex. It belongs to us. That still amazes me.

The cable man just left – and of course, before I even plugged in the Tivo, I had to check and see if the cable modem was working ok! Whoo hoo! I’m back online! I survived the 36 hours offline without getting the shakes or anything. Amazing!

The move went well, the apartment still needs to be cleaned up and a few things are left to move out. I’ve unpacked a bunch of kitchen boxes this morning while waiting for the cable guy. So far the only thing I have lost is the cables for the computer – and along with those the cord to plug in the router. Oops! They will show up soon though, I am sure of that. For now I am just tethered to the wall in the study. I’m online – so I don’t care!

The closing went really well. Quite smooth, after some of the horror stories I had heard about them. Afterwards we went and bought the essentials – a washer, dryer and fridge. They will be delivered on Thursday. The cable will be turned on on Thursday too. We should have power tomorrow at the house, and I believe the phone was turned on today – I have to check that tomorrow.

Now the packing is nearly done, and it’s time to take the computer system offline. I probably won’t be online again until Thursday when the cable modem is set back up. That works out ok – with the movers coming tomorrow morning, there isn’t time to be online anyways.

Wow. Just think – the next time I get online, I’ll be at the new house. Amazing! See you there!