| Year In Review |
[Dec. 17th, 2008|09:31 am] |
I realize that I don't really write in here anymore, but with Christmas only 8 days away, I figured this would be a good time to take a look back on the year.
The year started on an interesting note. Sarah and I took our second trip to Cooperstown during Martin Luther King weekend. We had another nice time in the cute little town. We stayed at the same inn we were at a year earlier, and the owner actually remembered us. And not just because he looked in the books and saw that we had been there before. He still remembered what we both do, and that we took the VIP tour last time. It was very impressive, and it's a great place. I would definitely stay there again the next time we go, maybe sometime in the summer when everything is actually open.
But the weekend ended on a sour note when, packing up the car to drive home, I slipped on the ice, fell flat on my ass and sprained my right ankle. That sucked a lot, and I wasn't sure if I broke anything. But of course, stubborn me insisted I could still drive 4 hours back home to MA. Before we even got to the house, we decided it would probably be wise to stop at the doctor to get it x-rayed. Fortunately it was only a sprain, but still. Ouchie.
In February we bought our very first new car. We donated our 13-year-old Ford Taurus to the American Heart Association and bought a shiny new Honda Accord. It's fancy and comfy and we love it. Unfortunately, while the car has just about everything else, it didn't come with locking lug nuts for the wheels. In July, some assholes stole all four wheels off of it in the middle of the night right out of our driveway. Everything got fixed in the end, and it didn't cost us anything other than a few headaches, but that was probably the most frustrating thing that had happened to us in a while. It took 25 days to get the new wheels and repair the damage they did, during which we were driving a uncomfortably huge Chrysler Pacifica rental. I just wanted my car back. But that wasn't the end of our car drama...
Sarah got a new job in August, and she now drives to work. We never needed more than one car before this because we both took the train into Boston. Now that she drives in, I'm stuck without a car if I ever need it until she gets home, and it would take about an hour to get to her office via public transportation from either home or my office. So we decided it would be worth it to get a second car. We looked at used vs new, buy vs lease, small economy vs larger cargo space, etc. We ultimately wound up getting a good deal on a lease for a new Toyota Matrix. It's the absolute base model, so it certainly doesn't have the pep that the Honda does, but it's still a great LBC (little big car).
In October, some lady fell asleep at the wheel and smashed her VW Touareg into our Matrix that was parked on the street. We hadn't even put 1000 miles on it. It didn't even have its first scratch yet. But you can read all about that in my previous post. We thought it might wind up being totaled, but $9000+ in repairs later, it's actually good as new. You'd never know anything happened to it. So the next time we get a new car (hopefully not for a while), please don't say "good luck." That apparently doesn't work well for us.
I also got to connect with some family this year. In March, one of my cousins from NC came up to visit. I'm more than 10 years older than her, so I remember when she was born. She's definitely grown up a lot, and we had a great weekend sightseeing in Boston, including a very cold and windy tour of Fenway and the top of the Pru.
Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I also got in touch with two cousins I haven't seen in about 15 years. Our parents don't talk anymore, and they live in AZ, but I found one of them online and sent an email. Now we chat occasionally, send messages back and forth sometimes, and that just makes me happy. I've also been piecing together my family tree. I was able to search the Ellis Island arrival registry online and found the dates my great-grandparents came over from Senglea, Malta with my grandfather and great uncle. It's been fun researching that stuff, and my cousins have helped fill in a few things I couldn't find. So yay technology!
This summer was all about the weddings. As for the friends, Brian and Lisa got married in May, and then in August, we had Lisa and Stew's wedding, and then Matt and Laura. Sarah had a couple of bridal showers, and I finally got to go to a PawSox game for Matt's bachelor party. My cousin Bryan also got engaged, as did Russ and Alexa. I get to be Best Man at Russ's wedding in September. I can't wait for that. But the big one was obviously my sister's. Lau and Rob's wedding was awesome. They then proceeded to buy a house and get pregnant. My nephew is due to arrive in April. :)
Speaking of houses, we've had some interesting house stuff happen this year. In the winter, our neighbors on the 3rd (top) floor tried to sell. But the market was horrible, and while they had a decent number of people come look at it, there were no takers, so they took it off the market and are still there. While they were trying to sell, Comcast decided to screw me, so Sarah and I were looking into getting DirecTV as a replacement. This started up a big argument with the third floor, as she didn't want a satellite dish installed on the roof when they were trying to sell, which would be a reasonable argument except for the fact that the dish would hardly be seen at all due to where it was being placed and the location of other houses and trees. But the entire situation was handled horribly by her, constantly referencing the condo docs, harping on the fact that she thought I was trying to do this without telling anyone when in fact I sent multiple emails over the course of a week that never got responses. Oh well. Needless to say, we don't really talk to her anymore.
We got to go to two awesome games this year. We were at Opening Day at Fenway, when they presented the '07 rings and displayed the World Series Banner. That was definitely the best baseball game I've ever attended. The pregame ceremonies gave me chills being there. I also finally got to go to my first NFL game, and now any other game I ever get to will probably pale in comparison. Gregg got tickets to a luxury box at Gillette Stadium and asked us to come to the 10/26 Pats game vs the Rams. We were a box or two over from the 50 yard line. Awesome view, food, and service.
I've been at my current job since Feb 06. Other than my boss, I've been here the longest out of all the people in Technology. When I hit my three-year mark in February, I get more vacation days, which we plan on using towards a nice trip next year. The company was almost bought earlier this year, but after months of negotiations, the partners eventually decided not to sell, which I was happy with. I really like my company, I like how it's run, and I like the product that we produce. If we got bought, I don't think I would have agreed with a lot of the changes that might have occurred.
In October, everyone in the company finally got together for the first time. We have offices in Jackson Hole, Boston, Atlanta, London, and some satellite people working in NJ, Hong Kong, Nashville, Kansas, etc, so most of us have not met each other in person. The company flew everyone down to Atlanta for a weekend. There were some meetings that were kinda boring, but it was really nice meeting everyone. The lodge we stayed at was amazing. We took over the lobby bar and got to watch one of the Sox playoff games, and I also played golf on an actual course for the first time. I didn't do half bad either.
This year I finally accepted the fact that my hearing sucks and I might benefit from some sort of help. I got my hearing checked and got myself a pair of basic model hearing aids. They made an instant difference, and are probably one of the best investments I've made in a while. They're hardly visible, but I don't think I'd even mind if they were anymore. Not enough people get them when they need them, which is both the cause and effect of them being so expensive. If more people who could afford them got them when they needed them, prices for everyone else would start to go down.
In September, Sarah and I spent our 3-year wedding anniversary in Providence. We stayed at the Biltmore and had a nice weekend walking around and seeing the Water Fire. We don't get down to Providence enough. It really is a nice little city.
Other random things:
- In February, I decided to buzz off my hair and wear it short. It looks way better.
- In May I did a 20-mile Walk for Hunger. Thanks again to everyone who donated.
- We bought a new couch in July. It's big and leather and comfy.
- We went down to NY a day early for Lisa and Stew's wedding. Took the Hudson River line into the city and spent the day with Sara B.
- I've successfully kicked my nail-biting habit. Almost 2 months strong now.
Random pictures from many of the above mentioned things are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpellegrini/sets/
I think that's about it. Wonder what'll happen next year... |
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| My New Car Is Broken :( |
[Oct. 16th, 2008|03:31 pm] |
(Yes, we're okay. We weren't in it when it got hit.)
So the new car we got at the end of August is busted, possibly totaled, but I'll find that out once the insurance appraiser gets back to me. The entire driver side is smashed in. The wheels and rims are damaged, a mirror is missing, both doors are destroyed, and it looks like the rear axle might be wrecked too. Here's how it happened:
At around 12:30am on Tuesday, a vehicle was traveling on the other side of my road, crossed over the opposite lane, and crashed into the side of my car that was parked on the street in front of my house. Unfortunately, I did not hear this, or if I did, I fell back to sleep thinking the sound was from my cat knocking something over in the kitchen again.
When I left my house for work at about 7:45am on Tuesday morning, that is when I first saw the damage to my car. The first thing I noticed was that the hubcap was off of the rear tire that was facing the house. In July, someone stole all four wheels off of our other car, so the first thing I thought was that someone targeted us again. Then I went around to the other side of the car and the entire driver side was severely damaged.
There was no note or anything, so I called and filed a police report while my wife took plenty of photos. Then two of my neighbors left the house for work, and they both said they were up the previous night and saw flashing lights one house down a little after midnight, and it looked like a lady had gotten into an accident. But they could not see the damaged side of my car from their windows, so they didn't know that it was my car that was hit. But when they told me this, we realized that the lady's car was still there, in front of the house next door, parked the wrong way. And on the driver side of this beige SUV were scratches of blue paint from my car. We also found a side mirror from the SUV in my driveway, and part of its bumper under my car.
So I called back to give this additional information (make/model/plate# of the SUV) for the police report I filed earlier. I wondered why, if there were flashing lights (from a police or emergency vehicle), no one knocked on my door, or left a note to let me know what happened. Someone was nice enough to neatly pile up some car pieces on the sidewalk next to my car, but not to inform me or my wife. The lady taking the report on the phone told me to call the number for my district's Community Service office.
When I did that, I spoke to a very helpful officer who was able to look up the reports from the previous night, and he told me that there was a report filed at about 12:30am that listed me as the victim, and said that the driver of the other vehicle fell asleep. He told me for more information I should contact Automotive Investigation. I've been trying to get in touch with someone there since Tuesday, but have so far been unsuccessful.
I'm still trying to find out what exactly happened, why the other vehicle was still there a day later (it was still there on Wednesday morning too), and why no one thought to buzz or knock on my door, or at least leave a note or something. If I was listed as the victim, someone obviously looked up my plate number and got my name and address. And with three units in my condo, someone would have heard the door, especially since the other two said they were awake and saw the lights outside. Fortunately, the other vehicle was still there so I was able to piece together what happened, but if it wasn't, I would still have thought that someone sideswiped my car and drove off. If I hadn't called the Community Service line myself, I would have never known that I was already listed as the victim on a report.
Yes, I'm fortunate that I wasn't in the car, and that we got the gap insurance on our lease (which basically protects us in the event the car gets totaled). Having been through this entire process a few months ago when our wheels were stolen, we knew exactly what to do, and were somewhat calmer about it. We also might be lucky that our car was there in the first place. If she didn't hit it, she might have kept going (we're on a slight curve), hopped the curb, and wound up hitting the house. So of course, it could be much worse, but it still sucks. |
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| In case you were wondering, I still hate Comcast. |
[Jul. 5th, 2008|09:10 pm] |
I just received an email to tell me that Comcast High-Speed Internet has doubled my upload speeds at no additional cost! Considering Comcast terminated my Internet access without giving me a valid reason, or any chance whatsoever to defend myself or get to the bottom of the supposed high bandwidth I was wrongfully accused of using, they've got a lot of nerve sending me their junk email flaunting the speed of their crappy service. They'd better remove me from that list immediately. |
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| Rent-A-Pet?! Are you f#($*%& kidding me?! |
[Jun. 30th, 2008|04:12 pm] |
One of the top emailed stories on Boston.com today:
Ban proposed for dog rental service in Boston
Good! I don't want that crap in my city. Look, I'm no animal rights activist, but I have enough sense in me to know that something is a really bad freakin' idea. You want to rent something like a movie or a car? Fine. Go for it. Hell, even if you want to rent an escort for an evening, be my guest. Now I know I just lumped two very different things into the same category, but hear me out before you frantically click on that Comments link to tell me what a chauvinist I am.
Many material goods that you can buy are also available for rental. That's fine with me. Rental is something that's been around for hundreds of years. Want to rent a 60" TV for the big game this weekend? Fine. Someone owns one, and will basically lend it to you, for a fee, for some set amount of time. Everybody's happy. Is the TV happy? No. The TV is inanimate. It doesn't give a crap.
You're waiting for me to address the escort thing. OK fine. An escort (which, by the way, can be male or female) is NOT a material good. The escort DOES give a crap. BUT the escort has a choice. If he/she doesn't want to rent him/herself out for the night, he/she doesn't have to. He/she can sit at home, drink a beer, and watch the 60" TV that he/she rented from Rent-A-Center. Everyone's still happy.
Now you want to rent a pet? Okay. Someone owns a dog. Someone owns LOTS of dogs, and is willing to let you spend some good wholesome quality time with the pooch of your choice, for a fee, for some set amount of time. And that's great for you, because you're a busy big-shot, with no time to properly care for a pet. And that's great for the dogs, because they need love and attention just like a pet with a permanent home. That's the thing. The selling point is that these pets don't have homes, and this is seen as a better alternative to being caged up somewhere. And maybe it is.
So this whole arrangement works out for everyone because you're a great guy who just wants to experience that man's-best-friend feeling for a single carefree afternoon.
But what if you're not a great guy? What if you have just a little bit of a temper? What if you realize that you don't enjoy picking up poop? What if your sofa gets pee on it? What if the dog decides he doesn't like you? What if the dog bites you? Or your child? Or somebody else's child? What if the dog breaks something that was valuable to you? What if the dog didn't know he wasn't supposed to eat that? What if you get just a little bit angry and you hit the dog? Is everybody happy now?
Hey I love dogs. But I know that I don't have a big enough place, or enough time home from work, to properly care for one. So I don't have one. And if that's not good enough for you, go to the damn petting zoo! If you have some idiot scuff up a dvd, or put a dent in a rental car, you get that person to pay for it, and you fix it or replace it. It doesn't work that way with an animal. No air-tight insurance policy or triple-redundancy background check will make this okay. You can't rent homeless kids. You shouldn't be able to rent homeless pets. End of story. |
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| Movie Debate |
[Jun. 30th, 2008|08:20 am] |
So I just saw Wall-e this weekend, and I thought it was amazing. It's a very tough call, but I said I would put this as my favorite Pixar film yet. That sparked a little debate with some people, so I'm making a bit of an open forum to see what you people think. The thing is, all of the Pixar movies were great. It's like trying to rank your 10 favorite foods. It depends what you're in the mood for. Anywho, here is the list:
1995: Toy Story
1998: A Bug's Life
1999: Toy Story 2
2001: Monsters, Inc.
2003: Finding Nemo
2004: The Incredibles
2006: Cars
2007: Ratatouille
2008: Wall-e
And if I had to rank them right at this moment, it would look like this:
1) Wall-e
2) Finding Nemo
3) Monsters, Inc.
4) Cars
5) Ratatouille
6) Toy Story 2
7) Toy Story
8) The Incredibles
9) A Bug's Life
So there. Now feel free to argue your point and tell me I'm wrong. :) |
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| Why do recruiters hate me so much? |
[May. 21st, 2008|04:38 pm] |
I don't get it. I haven't looked for a new job since January of '06, but I've now gotten calls/emails from three different job recruiters in the past three days. You can read my previous post for the first one, but today I got an email from Michael from Advanced Software Systems Inc. (Assyst Inc) in Sterling, VA about a full-time opening for a Business Analyst in Rockville, MD. In case you didn't know, I'm a Web Developer, and my education and prior job experience have all been in Computer Science. I sent a quick message back asking where he found my email address, and he said he "had it in his database." So I responded:
Thanks for your response. With all due respect, your email was grossly off-target. I don't know what other information you have in your database, but I'm a Web Developer, not a Business Analyst. The skills listed in the job description you sent do not coincide with what I do at all. Also, I've been happily employed at my current position for 2+ years and have no intentions of switching jobs. On top of all that, I live and work in Boston. I'm afraid Rockville, MD would be quite the commute, especially with current gas prices being what they are. Therefore, please remove me from your database. Thank you for your understanding.
Seriously, though. Maryland? For a Business Analyst position? Who the hell is populating this "database"?? So he responded saying he's sorry and blah blah blah. Then only 45 minutes later, I got another email, this one sent to my WORK address, from Peter at HireMinds in Cambridge. At least this guy was from the same freakin' state. He said he spotted my resume this morning and has a terrific Web Development position in Boston. Again, I sent a quick reply asking where he found my resume. He said:
We occasionally have interns research potential candidates and add them to our database--we do this so that we can reach out to a wider pool of candidates when we get a new job in. That is how I came across your contact information. I know that does not answer your question 100%, but if I were to guess I'd say they found you on LinkedIn and filled in the blank with some old fashioned research.
Damnit LinkedIn! Just because people made me sign up and keep adding me as contacts does NOT mean I'm hunting for a new job. So I had to respond to this guy in the same way, also letting him know that that was my work email, and having emails arriving through the company server from job recruiters, whether I’m actively looking for a new job or not, is not the most ideal of situations. Besides, whatever version of my resume he "spotted" this morning is at least 2.5 years old.
I would think that with the current economy, there are plenty of people out there willing to look for new jobs with better pay. Why I keep getting contacted when I'm certainly not looking is just beyond me. I still hate recruiters. You all suck.
UPDATE: It's now Friday, two days later, and I just got TWO MORE emails from Michael from Advanced Software Systems Inc. (Assyst Inc) for another immediate opening for a Business Analyst with DOD Clearance, this time in Herndon, VA. Apparently he didn't actually read the email I sent him on Wednesday, so I had to call him (703-230-3149) and yell at him. I literally did have to yell because he had a thick accent and couldn't understand me because of a "bad connection." I had to repeat my last name five times. Then he went right into a description of the two positions he has open. I had to cut him off and tell him to completely remove all of my information from his database. He says it will be removed today, so we'll see if I get any more emails. |
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| I HATE RECRUITERS! |
[May. 19th, 2008|04:42 pm] |
So shortly after noon today, one of my coworkers answered the phone, took a message, and hung up. He told me someone named Chris Lawrence was asking for me, but it sounded like SPAM, so he thought it'd be better to take a message. Chris Lawrence didn't leave a number. He said that we've been trading emails back and forth, and that I would know who it is. That's funny, because I don't know anyone by that name, and I haven't been trading emails with anyone lately. More interesting is that I never answer the number he called. That's the Client Services number. I don't have a phone at the office. In fact, I never remember what it is, and I have to look it up on the website whenever I need it. The caller ID didn't give a number, and the name that came up just said "Executive Office."
Later on, my wife called our house to check the messages, and she told me someone apparently left me a message with a job opportunity. I called and listened to it. Chris Lawrence found me on LinkedIn and while he wasn't assuming I was actively looking for a new job, he thought I'd be perfect for some position and wanted to at least make a connection with me. He said something about a venture capital firm and finance markets. He spoke very fast and was hard to understand. I couldn't even understand his last name the first few times he said it. After listening to the message twice, I got that his number was 610-648-0988. I did a quick Google and found that Chris Lawrence is an Associate Recruiter for Dissero Recruiting. He graduated from Michigan State University in 2007 with a BS in Human Resources. He's been at Dissero for just under a year.
When I mentioned this to my coworker, he said that Chris had called the office at least one other time asking for me. That time it was around 5:45, and I had already left for the day. Now I was pissed. Who the hell does this guy think he is calling my office? Twice?! I don't care if someone IS looking for a new job. You just don't call them at their place of business. And where did he get my numbers anyway? I don't have any contact info listed on LinkedIn, and I certainly never gave out the office number that I don't use.
So I called the number, and a receptionist put me through to Chris Lawrence. I gave him my name and said I was returning his call. He said again that he came across my background on LinkedIn. He didn't know if I was looking for a new job, but wanted to make a connection with me because it sounded like I'd be a perfect fit for what he's looking for. He started to go into a vague description of the company and I stopped him mid-sentence. I asked him where he found my numbers. He said once again that he came across my background on LinkedIn, and that Dissero apparently has a research department that provided him with my numbers. That's a little creepy, but I'll get back to that in a minute.
I told him, "I'm not looking for a job right now, and I don't appreciate being called at the office. Whether a person is looking for a job or not, you don't call them at their place of work trying to offer them a new job." He said he wasn't offering anything. His job is just to make connections.
So I said, "What is your job? You're a recruiter right? Don't you try to place people into jobs? Well how do you think it sounds to the other people here if I'm being repeatedly called by a recruiter? I just had to assure some coworkers that I'm not looking for a new job, and I'm not sure they all believe me. Given the circumstances, I can't say I'd believe me either."
He again said that he's just doing his job, and that's to make connections. I said, "If that's your job, I want to talk to whoever is telling you what to do. Is there a supervisor or manager I can speak with?" That's when he told me it's a pretty small office, just the two of them (I'm going to assume that's the Boston location), and he'll try to set up a conversation with his manager. I'm sure that conversation will never be set up, so maybe I'll call again tomorrow to see who else is around.
He said he'll make a note on my information not to contact me, and then had the gall to ask if I had an email address he could put on file in case I happened to be looking in the future. I said I'm not looking, and I'm not going to be looking any time soon. Even when I do, he will be the last person I call.
I think I will call back and find a manager to speak to at some point. If this is a small operation, supposedly only two people, where is this research department he was talking about? And what sort of tools is this research department using I wonder. Sure the number to my office is public knowledge, and it's quite easy to find out I work here, but that still seems to be a going a little bit overboard just to find someone who MIGHT be interested in a position.
And why would he tell my coworker that we've been emailing back and forth and that I would know who he is? I've never spoken to him in my life, he clearly does not have my email address, and he never even tried to contact me via LinkedIn. Is that their business? To tell blatant lies to people?
Ugh. I'm still pissed. I've always hated recruiters, but this takes the cake. This is not the sort of crap I felt like dealing with today. But now you all know. Chris Lawrence is a horrible unprofessional recruiter. Dissero is obviously not a great company, because either they employed someone like him, or (since he's just "doing his job") they told him to conduct business this way. So if you happen to get a message from 610-648-0988, I'd just go ahead and ignore it. Just because Chris Lawrence couldn't get a real job, that doesn't mean you can't. |
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| BitTorrent DNA = Unwanted UDP Congestion |
[May. 15th, 2008|04:42 pm] |
So apparently my computer at work was sending tons of UDP packets out of port 21224. After a bit of investigating, I found that the source was a little program called DNA that was installed with BitTorrent. Now it makes me wonder if that had something to do with Comcast thinking I was eating up a boatload of bandwidth, especially since they apparently hate BitTorrent traffic (see this article). It was easy enough to uninstall from Add/Remove Programs, but it was not listed in my Programs menu, nothing in the task bar, and nothing that resembled DNA was listed in my process list. Yet as soon as I uninstalled it, the UDP packets stopped.
This guy had the same problem and goes into a bit more detail: http://barnson.org/node/1573 (the link apparently doesn't want to open in IE; try Firefox) |
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| Getting a Wii Online with Verizon DSL |
[May. 2nd, 2008|11:02 am] |
Just posting this little nugget for the sake of anyone searching the Interwebs for an answer to the same problem I was having. I recently switched from a crappy Internet service provider to Verizon DSL. Verizon sent me an all-in-one DSL Modem/Wireless Router (a Westell P-327W), which in my opinion is actually nicer than having to have both a modem and a separate router. Setting it up was a snap, and we were back online in no time.
But I had put off switching the wireless settings on the Wii to the new SSID and WEP encryption key. Once I finally got around to it, the connection tests kept failing. I was entering everything exactly the same way I used to. Both of our laptops work fine, and even my DS has had no problems connecting.
Here's what did it for me: The default channel that was set on the router was channel 6. The Wii apparently works best with channels 1 and 11. I logged into the router's admin tool (http://192.168.1.1, contact Verizon if you don't know the username and password), changed it to 11, and it worked right away. It really took me 5 minutes to fix, but it was a little harder than it should have been to find that suggestion online, although Nintendo's Wireless Router pages were still a pretty nice reference to have.
Hopefully someone else out there having the same problem will stumble upon this post. |
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| Everybody Hurts |
[Apr. 16th, 2008|08:44 am] |
I went into Dunkins this morning because I was in the mood for a bagel and an iced coffee (mmm...) and REM's "Everybody Hurts" was on the radio. It really is a great song, and I know it's about being strong and making it through, but it's still a fairly depressing song to hear first thing in the morning. And I left after it got to the uplifting "hold on" part at the end. That song makes you feel like you need a hug. I need to put on some happy music now. |
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| Funny Tasteless Morning |
[Mar. 19th, 2008|11:37 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | website | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | better | ] |
| [ | music |
| | U2 - Numb | ] |
Horrible, but funny, conversation from this morning:
Coworker 1: Easter's this weekend.. It's on Sunday right?
Coworker 2: Yeah. Interestingly enough, it's on Sunday every year. That's why it's called Easter Sunday. It also comes after Good Friday.
Coworker 3: Are you a man of the cloth?
Coworker 2: HA no.
Coworker 3: You sure do know a lot about it.
Coworker 2: Nah, I just know that we go to my wife's family on Easter, so I know when I have to shave and pull out a decent outfit.
Coworker 4: You can just grow it out to a beard.
Coworker 2: Yeah, then I can look like Jesus.
Coworker 4: Hey, on Easter, he's the man of the hour.
Coworker 2: I can just show up at the door and be like, "Hi! I'm back!"
Also, on the topic of why computers do stupid things sometimes...
Computers are like dumb blondes. Sure they can probably perform, but you have to give them very specific instructions, or else they get lost and confused. ...And they both usually contain some silicone. |
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| Comcast: You've Been Terminated |
[Mar. 18th, 2008|09:41 am] |
This is going to be a long one. Yeah, sorry about that…
About two months ago, I got home from work to find that our Internet wasn’t working. The status lights on the cable modem were on, but the power light was blinking. I power cycled the modem and the router, and still nothing. So I figured that our Comcast service was just being stupid. I went to bed not worrying about it, figuring that it would come back one at some point.
The next morning, it still wasn’t working, but I didn’t have time to tinker with it. I went to work not worrying about it, figuring that it would come back on at some point.
When I got home from work, it still didn’t work. Now it was time to call everyone’s favorite number, 1-800-COMCAST. When I got through to Customer Care, I actually spoke to a very nice lady who, once she pulled up my information, said that there was a note on my account telling her to forward me to another number. I asked if she knew what it was about, and she said she didn’t. So she transferred me. I listened to a few more seconds of bad please-wait-while-your-call-is-being-connected music, and then I heard a voice telling me I’ve reached Comcast’s Customer Security Assurance (CSA).
When I got through to a human and did the whole what’s-your-number, confirm-your-address, name-on-the-account crap that I already did with the Customer Care Rep, I was told that my account was suspended because it had been flagged for high bandwidth usage. Excuse me, what?! Yes, every month, Comcast flags the top 1% (or fraction of a percent, I don’t remember) of their users in terms of bandwidth. I was apparently in that group.
Now I was getting aggravated. I asked how they could just shut off my service without contacting me first. Surly they must know how to get in contact with me, as they know my phone number, my email address, my mailing address, my SSN, and probably my mother’s maiden name and the name of my first pet. Why was I not notified? Well, he told me, they tried to contact me twice and left voice mail on my phone. I told him I never got any message (which was the truth), and at the very very least, you KNOW that I have a Comcast email address. They should have sent a message there. But since they claimed they tried and couldn’t reach me, my service was suspended.
Aside: After getting off the phone, I checked my answering machine and the caller ID. It turns out they actually DID try to call me, but only once. It was during the day, so I was at work, and there was a message on my machine that was barely audible. It was someone who spoke very softly, very quickly, and with a thick accent. It took my wife four or five times just to be able to make out the words “high speed Internet,” and she has amazing hearing. Yes, we did hear the message when we got home a few days ago, but we thought it was just a wrong number, or spam.
I asked the CSA guy what exactly was the upper threshold that I went over. He said he couldn’t tell me; all he knew was that I was in the top 1%. They try to contact the users to get them to lower their usage, and if they can’t, they suspend service. I said that was completely unacceptable. I was never (adequately) contacted, and my wife and I both work for web companies. We occasionally need to work from home. We cannot be without Internet.
So I was told that my service would be turned back on, and I would be credited for the two days I was without service. He told me to check our computers for malicious software (which I told him we do regularly), but it could have been a one-time fluke. He had me hold the line for a minute while he turned my service back on, and that was it. Thank you, and have a nice evening.
Last night, two months later, I got home to find the same issue. The power light on the cable modem was blinking, which meant that my Internet was out. Again I tried restarting the modem and router, just to be sure, and again I had no luck. Time get the phone and go at it for Round 2.
I didn’t even entertain the notion that I may have been terminated again. I assumed there was some problem somewhere. I even assumed that Comcast was already aware of it and would be fixing it shortly. This time they were a little busier, so I was on hold for about 10 minutes before the music stopped. Then I got disconnected. Great. So I called back, waited another 10 minutes, and got through to a rep who also happened to have a pretty thick accent. I really don’t have a problem with people from other countries coming to work here. By most accounts, it’s a great freakin’ country. I’d probably do the same thing. But when I have to press the phone against my ear to make out what the person on the other end is saying, that’s when I get a little annoyed.
But I was patient, went through the account verification process again, and waited for him to pull up my info. I told him what the problem was, and he told me to wait 2 minutes while he accessed my account. When he got back on the phone, he said he was having problems opening up my account, so he was going to transfer me over to Network. There was some more annoying music, and then I heard a familiar recorded voice: “You have reached Comcast’s Customer Security Assurance.”
The person I spoke to was a little less helpful than the last guy, but I won’t bother mentioning his name because we already logged a formal complaint. He told me that my service was TERMINATED due to repeated abuse and violation of their terms. I asked him to elaborate (in somewhat different words). He told me all about the incident two months ago, and said that my bandwidth usage hadn’t dropped. He also gave me the first number I’d heard when he told me that I exceeded 400GB of bandwidth last month. Damn, that’s a lot of bandwidth.
Now this time, I wasn’t even contacted with a garbled phone message. I was just immediately turned off. I said there must be some mistake. We’re at work all day, and we really only use the Internet for the web and IM. We hardly download much, we don’t play games online, and there was nothing else I could possibly think of that would account for that much use. He told me that maybe our wireless network had been hacked, or we had some malicious software on our computer. I told the guy everything I could. I said my wife and I both work for web companies. We’re aware of the dangers of viruses, worms, adware, spyware, etc., and we do what we can to protect our machines. Hell, I used to work for an adware company (though I didn’t feel the need to mention that), so I kinda know what I’m doing. We have just two computers plugged directly into the router, and a Nintendo Wii in the living room using wireless. We also have our laptops that we use wirelessly on occasion. I’m not broadcasting the SSID, and it’s all encrypted. We regularly run virus scans, we use pop-up blockers, and we don’t download crap that we don’t trust. What else can I do?
I asked if they can tell what kind of usage accounted for this unfathomable 400GB of bandwidth and was told in a very plain this-is-our-official-policy voice that they do not monitor activity (yeah sure). They just had that it was high for last month, so I was shut off. I asked, “So what can I do about this now? I’m fully willing to cooperate and find the cause of the high usage.” He said, “Nothing.” I’ve been terminated and now have to wait 12 months before my service could be turned back on. “12 months?! Is there anyone else I can speak to about this?” “No, I’m the only one here, and there’s no appeal process.”
Now let’s think about this for a minute. Comcast employees must get paid A LOT, because their time is obviously much more valuable than trying to keep a customer. I said repeatedly that I would do whatever I can to find the source of the problem. Sure, for all he knew, I actually was downloading that much, but I can’t be the only one this has happened to. Another thing that bugs me is that there was a two-month span. Two months ago it was high, and in the past month it was high. That means that for one month it was back to normal? Or does that mean that enough other users were higher than me, thus bumping me below the arbitrary 1% yellow line. Also, I haven’t found anywhere in their terms of service that says an actual number. A version I found online just says this:
“You further agree to comply with all Comcast network, bandwidth, and data storage and usage limitations. You shall ensure that your bandwidth consumption using the Service does not exceed the limitations that are now in effect or may be established in the future. If your use of the Service results in the consumption of bandwidth in excess of the applicable limitations, that is a violation of this Policy. In such cases, Comcast may, in its sole discretion, terminate or suspend your Service account or request that you subscribe to a version of the Service with higher bandwidth usage limitations if you wish to continue to use the Service at higher bandwidth consumption levels.”
That last line is definitely interesting because it was never suggested in either phone call that I subscribe to a plan with higher limitations. That would be the smart thing to do if you want to make any attempt to keep your customers. Also interesting is that, while they do offer free McAfee software for download from their site, they do not offer any way of checking your own bandwidth usage. They don’t offer any bandwidth meter software, and they certainly wouldn’t even recommend a program to use because, like all good companies, they do not provide third party support. Well, except for McAfee…
So now Verizon DSL will likely be our only option. FiOS is not available in our area yet, neither is RCN, and there’s no way in hell I will go back to dial-up. I will also be getting rid of Comcast’s cable TV service this week in favor of DirectTV or whatever else I find that’s available. Even if we were to figure out what the problem was, there’s no way I’m giving them any more of my money. They were rude, uncaring, and have absolutely no sense of customer service. |
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| Edibility |
[Feb. 19th, 2008|09:47 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | website | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  tired | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Modest Mouse - Parting of the Sensory | ] |
For Valentine's Day, I ordered a box of chocolate-covered bananas for Sarah from Edible Arrangements. (mmm yummy) I placed my order on Feb 4th, and I set Feb 14th as the delivery date. Now, I know that's probably the busiest day of the year for them, and I would have chosen the 15th, but that was a Friday, and Sarah took the day off.
When you place an order with Edible Arrangements, they ask you to specify the delivery address type (residential, business, school, or hospital). On their Delivery Policies page, it states that during busy holiday times, business deliveries may be made as late as 5pm, and residential deliveries may be made as late as 9pm. At 5:30pm on Thursday Feb 14, nothing had arrived, so I called.
They are not centralized. When you place an order online, you have to choose the closest store to you, and that store will process your order (i.e. their South Boston location). Future inquiries have to be made directly to that store. I had to call back a few times because the line was busy, but I eventually got through and asked for a delivery status on my order. I was told the box itself was made, but it hadn't gone out on the truck yet, and that it should be on its way out now. I was a bit pissed off at this point. The girl I spoke to said it would still be delivered that evening unless I wanted to postpone it until Friday. I told her that won't do. Sarah wouldn't be in on Friday, and with the three-day weekend, she would come in on Tuesday to a box of melted mushy bananas. (ewe) So I told her to forget about delivering it and issue me a refund, which she said they would (it should show up on my statement soon), and I wound up getting Sarah some chocolates from a place in South Station on my way home on Friday.
Yesterday we got home from seeing a movie (Spiderwick Chronicles, pretty good) and there was a message on my machine from Edible Arrangements saying they tried to deliver my order, but the recipient wasn't there. (Sarah's entire office was closed on Monday, so they couldn't have left it there, which I guess is a good thing.) I again was a little pissed, thinking that they didn't refund me and were still trying to deliver the order when no one is there. But when I called back, they said I was still getting my refund. They had a bit of a fiasco on Valentine's Day. Many orders didn't arrive in time, so they wanted to send along that box of bananas free of charge. It should arrive today. So I guess I don't hate them anymore, and I give them credit for owning up to their blunder and doing what they can to keep their customers happy.
I was majorly pissed off though, not at Edible Arrangements specifically, just in general. For Sarah's birthday (which is the same week), I ordered two other things, both of which turned out to be back-ordered, and she won't get them probably until next week. So for Valentine's Day and her birthday, all I had to give here were 2 cards. To me, that sucks. This was definitely not one of my better years. But as frustrating as it was, I'm sure there were a few other guys who were worse off than me. Luckily, Sarah and I don't make a big deal out of Valentine's Day. She got me this t-shirt. I know there are plenty of people out there who were more upset that they didn't get anything. And I feel bad for the girls working there that will have to deal with less forgiving, disgruntled customers. |
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| If you read my shirt, you'd understand. |
[Feb. 1st, 2008|08:55 am] |
Yesterday morning, I got dressed for work, and from my armoire (yes, I have an armoire) I pulled a navy blue t-shirt that my parents got me for Christmas this year. It says, "If you met my family, you'd understand." It's funny, it's my type of humor, and I've actually said that before. The fact that my parents gave it to me makes it that much better. So that's what I wore yesterday. No big deal.
After work, Sarah and I had some errands to run, and while we were out, we grabbed some grub at Friday's. As I was eating my dessert, two women at the table next to us got up to leave. It was a woman, probably in her 40s, and her mother. The younger one walked over to our table and said, "Excuse me, can I show my mother your shirt?" The mother thought it was a little funny, but then she laughed when I said my parents bought it for me.
The daughter said she has a few brothers and that it was a great shirt. She was nice enough, but I really did just want to finish eating. She said "thank you" and as they were leaving, the mother said this wonderful little tidbit into her daughters ear:
"They probably think you're a cuckoo." |
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| Update |
[Jan. 24th, 2008|09:45 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | website | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | here | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Dropkick Murphys - The State of Massachusetts | ] |
I think it's about time I've started writing again. I've been a mess the past couple of days. I slipped on some ice and sprained my ankle. It's much better now (still a little stiff), but it hurt like hell when it happened. I couldn't really put any weight on it, so I drove to the doctor to make sure nothing was broken. Luckily it was just a sprain, but my doc noticed that I was due for a tetanus shot, so my left arm was sore all day yesterday. On top of that, I've got me a little cold. So yeah, a mess.
But otherwise, the holidays were fun. We got to see everyone and had a nice time. With our bonuses, Sarah and I got new laptops. I'm still getting used to Vista and am slowly weening myself off of my old desktop machine before I commit to the new lappy full-time.
We just got back from Cooperstown this past weekend. We went last year and loved it. We still had our Hall of Fame membership until March, and the rates at the inn were excellent because it's dead up there this time of year. It was a nice quite weekend for the most part. On Sunday when we left the museum, we went to Cooley's to watch the Patriots game. There was a room in the back that no one was using with a wide screen TV and leather couches, so we got some food and drinks and watched the entire game there. Pictures from the museum are here.
Last year, Sarah and I went on a bunch of little trips: Cooperstown, Myrtle Beach, Chicago, Disney World, and Baltimore. This year we already have four weddings to go to (so far), and I only have 10 vacation days. So we decided that we'll do one big trip. Right now we're in the exploratory stages and are leaning towards a 9- or 10-day tour of England and Ireland sometime around Labor Day. If anyone has any suggestions on where to find a good tour, that would be cool.
It's also finally time for a new car. Our '95 Ford Taurus has held up pretty well, and she only has 93k miles, but she's starting to show her age, so we're probably going to start looking around at some dealerships this weekend. We really have no idea what we want, so I guess suggestions/opinions in that department would be welcome too.
Finally, we still plan on renovating the basement bathroom. We have a bathroom with a shower and tub in our bedroom, one with a shower stall in the hallway, and another larger one with another shower stall in the basement. The only time the basement bathroom really gets used is when we have people stay over. We've said since we moved in that we'd like to rip out that shower stall and put in a Jacuzzi tub. We would definitely enjoy it, and it certainly wouldn't hurt when we eventually sell the place (still a few years down the road).
I'm coming up on 2 years at my current job in February, and I'm still pretty happy there. I just got my Christmas bonus, and my second raise. They treat me pretty well and I like working there.
So that's about all that's on my radar at the moment. |
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| It's beginning to look a lot... |
[Dec. 10th, 2007|08:15 am] |
I think I'm finally getting into the holiday mood. Of course, today doesn't look too holidayish outside. A slow but steady stream of freezing rain fell last night, so everything is covered in a clear super slippery sheet of ice. Walking down the hill to the train station was a blast, but luckily I did not fall on my ass today.
Yesterday we went hunting for a Christmas tree. We had other things to get at Home Depot, so we went inside first, figuring we'd save the tree for last. The one last thing we needed to find before went to pick out a tree was a stand. The one we had last year was metal and rusted, so we threw it away last winter figuring we'd get a new heavy plastic one this year. So I found a nice employee (who looked like Santa with an orange apron), and he told me they were out of tree stands. Poop. Can't really bring a tree home without something to hold it up, so we paid for what we had (including a bag of rock salt and five wreaths), and tried going up to Lowe's. They sold out that morning. Then I ran into Sears while Sarah looked in Linens 'n Things. Neither place sold them. Then we tried A.C. Moore. They didn't sell them either. As we were leaving that parking lot on our way to CVS, Sarah said to pull back in and try Stop & Shop. Sarah went in, found the holiday aisle, and got the last one on the shelf. It worked out fine, but that was just way more difficult than it should have been.
So then we went back to Home Depot for our tree, and we wound up getting a huge (almost 9-feet tall) balsam fir. It was the first tree we found, and since we have 11-foot ceilings, why not? Last year we got a 7-foot fraser fir, and we were able to load it bottom first into our trunk, tie it down, and let the top stick out. That most certainly would not have worked this year, so we had the Home Depot guy put it up on our roof, and instead of using that nylon rope, he had a large roll of saran wrap. He wrapped it four times through the front two doors, then four times through the back two doors, and it was ready to go in a couple of minutes. I've never seen them use that before, but it was so easy and worked like a charm.
We got the tree home and into its base, and Sarah added the lights and ribbon while I put up our wreaths and outside lights. We decided to wait a day before doing the ornaments. We figured it would be a good idea to let Ginny get used to the giant tree in the living room before we temp her more with shiny pretty ornaments. But the house looks good so far. Pictures to follow.
As for shopping, I've done okay this year. I'm still not done, but the closer it gets to Christmas, the less I want to be in an actual store. We stopped at Toys R Us on Friday night to pick up a few things, and that was already a bit crazy. I'd probably kill someone if I had to be there on a weekend. So if I'm going to do the rest of my shopping online, I'd better get moving. I've been shopping in spurts. I'll find a bunch of things, and place a few orders at once, then I'll run out of ideas. Now I'm in a lull. Maybe I'll have time to do some more browsing later. |
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| Geeks Rule |
[Nov. 27th, 2007|01:45 pm] |
I love ThinkGeek. I had a $50 gift certificate for my birthday that I got to spend on whatever useless random crap I wanted. So I got an Airzooka Air Gun, a Super Mario Brothers Sound Block (the one in the middle), and a USB Rocket Launcher.
My desk is now covered with toys. I also have Pinky and the Brain, three plush monkeys, two wind-up monkeys, two monkey pencil-toppers, a pirate monkey key-chain, a moose ornament, a sheriff badge from Jackson Hole, a mini dome clock, a fat Homer Simpson squeeze thing, Darth Vader, about three dozen little green men from Toy Story, a Japanese-style Donald Duck, an Empire Today bobble head, a mini Red Sox helmet, and a small pumpkin from Halloween that still has not gone bad yet.
Oh, and my office also has a ping pong table and a Wii, which we play at beer o'clock on Fridays. :) |
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| Owned. |
[Nov. 19th, 2007|02:52 pm] |
I don't have much to talk about. Just some baseball observations...
An early rumor before the postseason even started said that Alex Rodriguez was going to go to the Chicago Cubs. His agent, Scott Boras, had supposedly already identified the probable buyer of the team, and he was working out a deal that would give A-Rod part ownership. That obviously never happened, but A-Rod still gets to own a team. After they already flat-out said they will NOT negotiate with him if he opts out of the final three years of his contract, the Yankees are negotiating with A-Rod anyway, for an obscene 10-year $275 million deal. Once it's signed, A-Rod has officially made the Yankees into his bitch. Owned.
To their credit though, the Yankees have insisted on deducting, in their face-to-face negotiations with Rodriguez, about $21.3 million from the final amount, since that's the amount they lost in agreed subsidy from the Texas Rangers in the trade that brought him to New York from Texas. Call it the "Scott Boras tax." In fact, John Harper reported that A-Rod was so mad at how everything played out that he even considered suing Scott Boras.
Hank Steinbrenner thinks that A-Rod would have gotten more elsewhere, going so far as to say, "He is making a sacrifice to be a Yankee." If there was ever a ready-made use for the word "jackass", Hank Steinbrenner is it. As we saw (see: 2007 World Series, game 4) things have a tendency of getting leaked in the baseball world. If some other team was going to pony up that much money, SOMEONE would have reported about it.
But speaking of getting owned, last week it was reported that Mariano Rivera was balking at the 3-year $45 million deal the Yankees offered. Being the highest paid closer in history (by $4.25 million per year) wasn't enough. Rivera wanted a guaranteed 4th year, and the Yankees didn't want to give it to him. I guess Rivera realized that no one will pay anywhere close to that much for his skinny-ass 38-year-old self for three years. Let's check back in 2010 and see how effective he is at age 40.
Looking at the 2008 schedules that were released last week, how come no one is commenting on the fact that the All-Star break looks to be four games next year instead of the traditional three?
Josh Beckett did not win the AL Cy Young award. Instead, the honor went to Cleveland's C.C. Sabathia. I have no doubt that if votes weren't due until after the World Series (instead of at the end of the regular season), the results would have been different. Sabathia's last three starts of 2007:
ALDS vs Yankees (1 game), 5.0IP, 3ER, 4H, 6BB, 2HR, still got the win
ALCS vs Red Sox (2 games), 10.1IP, 12ER, 17H, 7BB, 1HR, 3HBP, two losses
His postseason ERA was 8.80. Freakin' bum.
In an article by the New York Times' Murry Chass, it was reported that Brian Cashman, general manager of the New York Yankees, was apparently reading a story to his son and fell asleep during game 4 of the World Series. I mean sure, I bet he had 20 different people watching the game for him scoping out the potential free agent landscape, but if you're the GM for the Yankees, arguably the highest profile GM in all of sports, don't you think you should pay a little attention? If my my kid says, "Daddy, read me a story," I say, "Come watch the World Series on the couch. I'll even get you some ice cream at the next commercial." |
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| That Creeped Me Out |
[Oct. 31st, 2007|12:12 pm] |
Hey, it'sa me, Mario!
Yeah, I'm Mario for Halloween. I got me some big blue overalls with two big yellow buttons, a red shirt, a red hat with an "M" on it, white gloves, and a fake 'stache. It looks pretty damn fun if I say so myself. Pictures to follow later...
The original plan was that everyone in my office was going to dress up as a super hero. I figured Mario is super hero enough, and it won't be too weird to wear overalls and a red hat on the train. It sure as hell beats tights and a cape, and I could always put on the mustache and gloves later. But then my coworkers started bailing out. One guy brought a cool Spider-Man mask, but he can't really breathe with it on. I think the girls brought their costumes, but they're kinda slutty (the costumes), so they're probably not going to put them on at work. My boss brought her costume with her too, but she had to take off early, so she's already gone for the day.
I hadn't seen anyone else wearing anything fun yet today. I went down to lunch, and still not a single person. Then while I was waiting on line to get a sandwich, there was one person who was dressed up. This guy was standing right in front of me, wearing a green hat. When he turned around, I saw the hat had a white circle with a green "L" on the front.
He was Luigi.
And I was creeped out. |
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