CUUUUUUUUUUP! Part 1

As you know, some of the best Double D stories and some legit short bus action has occur ed at the glorious event known as Carolina Cup. Hours on end in a bag chair, drunk on a Bud Diesel Bender will cause that to happen. Well, this year will be my encore appearance. Don't think I have made it back since then, and definitely haven't tried a repeat performance of that day outside of football season. Riding a 25 person bus down from Charlotte, leaving at 8:30AM. That's right, I'm taking a short bus to CUUUUP! By default, and the fact I am the tailgate guru during football, I am providing a tent, a couple of chairs, and the cube cooler along with organizing food and drink for a 6-7 person faction of the group. We are meeting another bus full of people coming from Columbia. We should have roughly 50 people in the two spots in the infield (K102 and 103 for those in attendance). Should be fun. I am going full Country Club with seer sucker and a sweet new tie. Hopefully the weather will hold. Forecast has bounced from mid 70's with a chance of a thunderstorm (Tuesday) to low 60's, cloudy and a chance of afternoon shower after five (earlier today). Hopefully I will have a good story or two come next week. Maybe they won't be too good though as that kind of story usually brings great laughter at a heavy Double D expense. Until I am back...CUUUUUUPPPPPPP! WOOOOOOOOOOO!

TN

Went to TN a couple weeks ago. It was cold and snowed but I got to see a buddy of mine who is on his third tour in the middle east and finishes up his last tour sometime in the next 6-8 months. Girl went along and we had a chance to finish up the whole meeting of the parents trifecta. Things went really well at Dad's. Much, much better than mom's visit. Their report card came back stellar as well so I feel a tremendous amount better about that aspect of the relationship going forward. Trip was uneventful as a whole, asaw a ton of HS friends, which is always good, and we got back to Charlotte at a reasonable time on Sunday. All in all it was a pretty good weekend and releived some unneeded stress I had building up after Feb.

JDGA

The weekend will be April 18th. If you want in...let me know. Game plan will be to have everyone roll in that Friday afternoon. The rest of the schedule will be set according to the number of people coming to town. Golf will be that Saturday starting around lunch.

Parents

So the last two weekends were spent meeting and greeting family. As previously mentioned, I met Beth's parent's last Friday as I helped pick them up from the airport. The original plan was for me to meet them Saturday afternoon and help her dad install a fan in her room and then go to dinner later that evening at a favorite restaurant of ours up near the lake. Saturday ended up having a change of plans. They decided to do some shopping and running around in South Charlotte and the fan was put off until Sunday afternoon. I snuck off to get 9 holes in but back to the house in time to get cleaned up for their arrival. I met them at the house and showed off a few things I have had assistance picking out for decorations. Dinner went very well and was excellent as always. Sunday I headed into town prior to the call I had been waiting on to pick a few things up and was literally within two blocks of Beth and her fam when they called to see when I could meet up. We knocked the fan out without any hassle, something I wish I could say about the experience with the chnage out I did on my own a month or so ago here at the house. As soon as I walked in with the ladder and assorted tools here mom said they would be ordering in if that was okay for dinner. It turned out we went out but I was already obligated. Felt kinda bad about it and offered to pay Sunday night, just as I attempted Saturday as we had a glass of wine at a little shop near where we had dinner. The response was not to worry about it, as long as I treated Beth fine, they had no problem picking up dinner/drinks. All I could do was smile and thank them again and again. Needless to say, I think things went as well as I think they could have and I wouldn't change any of it. Definitely spent a lot more time around them than expected but there was plenty of kidding around and never an awkward silent moment. Even dorked it up talking some engineering stuff with her dad for a while Saturday afternoon.

This past weekend was a reversal as my mom was in town for her birthday. Beth met us to go to dinner at the same place as the previous Saturday night. Conversation was easy as Beth's mom is also in education as is mine so they had plenty to talk about. Saturday I took mom shopping and she met us out and about for a while then again later in the evening for dinner. Afterwards we took mom by her place uptown to see the view then they said their goodbyes and we headed back to the house. I received approval without even an attempt to ask, which made me happy. I have no reason to believe this will be any different when she finally meets dad and company. She has already swapped some messages with my oldest sis on Facebook. We may be headed to TN in a couple weeks for a Crawfish Boil for a friend back in the states on leave from the middle east. Assuming it works out for both of us, I guess she will meet the rest of the immediate fam that weekend.

All in all I am happy the way things have worked out thus far. Some folks have made a much bigger deal out of meeting the folks than I think it is at this point. However, with things going well both weekends, it gives me a little piece of mind as out families are both extremely important to both of us, especially their opinions on many things, including people we associate with.

Wow, this posts sounds cheesy.

The last 3 or so weeks

I am targetting the weekend of April 11 or April 18 for JDGA unless we wait until late May early or early June to assure the courses are in better shape. Need feedback. Spread the word.

Beth (yes, girl has a name) has her parents in town. First night was pretty uneventful and all nervousness was eased in a hurry as her dad intentionally botched my name as I was introduced while helping pick them up at the airport. I will be helping him with some home improvements at her place while the women shop this afternoon. Should be interesting.

I have been diagnosed with Sleep Apnea. It explains my roof rattling snoring. Currently using a machine called a CPap while sleeping when I am home. I hate the damn thing but it works. I refuse to travel with it though as it requires it's own computer sized travel bag. Had to upsize my carry on for Mancation 08 to Steamboat just accomodate the damn thing. Hopefully I won't have to fly with it again because security was a pain with it. I am on track to have corrective surgery (UPP) for the apnea as well as a deviated septum. Looking forward to it in a strange, sick way but will most likely be laid up for a week to ten days from what the E.N.T. specialist who will do the procedure told me. Looking at late April to early May for this. That explains the timing of JDGA to bring this post full circle.

Hopefully I can post more about Mancation (not to eventful but a lot of fun) and this weekend in the coming days.

Also, I gave up liquor for Lent. I went to uy Ginger Ale at the store this week then walked right out of that aisle....no point in having that mixer for a while. Should keep St. Patty's day more subdued as I have been pretty good recently anyway. I'm sure you can guess why. However, Cup is the weekend following Easter. I am going on a bus with at least 20 others. That could be interesting. Let me know if you are interested in jumping on board in the CLT with us.

Surprised...nahhhh.

First, this post is about government ineptitude so if you are tired of reading on the subject, go ahead and move on.
As most people know, the Post Office is a pretty sloppy crowd, especially regarding customer service. Mix this in with the wonders of getting a passport and I am sure you can tell where this thing is going. I decided sometime ago that I needed to get a passport. You can't even go to Canada these days without one. Not that I have anything on the horizon but why limit yourself if a sweet E-saver hits this spring or something, right? The fam has been known to hit the Caribbean too. Last time I wouldn't have been able to join them, even had I had the vacation time and been invited/known in advance.
Anyway, I requested an official copy of my birth certificate from the state of TN sometime ago and received it. Didn't want to run the risk of the Passport folks shooting down a faxed or photocopied version. Got it pretty quickly. Filled out all my info online on some interactive PDF type file and printed it off. Had check book in hand for the fees and was ready to go. Checked for the nearest location and even called to see if they were open, very busy (why back the journey if you're gonna wait an hour), etc. Well, it was Friday afternoon and they didn't answer. I was a little perturbed and my timing wasn't exactly smooth, but you know, I figured I would flow through the process in a hurry while the everyday morons were filling out paperwork or getting denied. The non-answering at 2:00 kinda bugged me but I decided to run over there. Walk in, see a few folks (less than 10) sitting around then went to sign the waiting list sheet. I see that it has been marked through. Officially post hours were 9 to 4. It was 3:30. At 2:10 the lady running the show had apparently marked through the remaining time slots for the day with a note saying "No more appts today." What kind of sloppy ass deal is this? I mean seriously, I know you are busy. I know it's Friday. Your website says you are open until 4. Don't freaking mark through the afternoon slots and make them suddenly ineligible. Sorry you are having a shitty day and lots of people are getting their passports today. Even the dude at Walgreen's knew why I walked into the store and directly to the photo booth at lunch. It was a busy day for that process apparently. He obliged with the digital, ran the prints in the computer and asked if I wanted to wait or come back in 10 min (which I did) and have my pictures waiting. What was so damn hard about that? Nothing and he had his money in no time. If you are gonna post working hours, fine, stick to it. If you are going to change or tweak these hours then do one of the following. Post an exclusion on your site if possible. Leave an outgoing message on your voicemail (which didn't exist) or answer the damn phone. A 25 sec phone conversation would have alleviated a pissed off customer, another person clogging her waiting room, albeit temporarily, and saved me 30 minutes of driving around. Sometime in the next couple mornings I am hitting the Uptown P.O. where they also do passports. Yeah, it's further from the office. It will probably be as busy or busier during that time of day, but I'm hoping they will at least handle the process properly. I would rather that branch get my money anyway.

I'm not dead

Yeah, it's been like 3 weeks at least since I posted. Nothing out of the ordinary to report. Saturday's have consisted of trips to Southpark and running errands. Friday's have been going out with friends. The work week is the work week. Guess that's about it. Hope all is well. I'll get back on the JDGA thing soon. Not going to have people bet and declare to early on.
On a side note, Mancation '08 - Steamboat Co is like two weeks away. And I caved in and bought George Strait tickets in Cola for the 26th. You can guess what prompted the latter.

I accept

So the gauntlet has been thrown down and the challenge has been accepted. At this time unless Nobrainer has done something crazy we don’t know about, we don’t have a spring loaded with weddings and bachelor parties. As I apparently have the most centrally located residence, with plenty of attractions and opportunities in the general vicinity for stupidity, and plenty of room for people to crash, JDGA Weekend – Spring ’08 is in planning. Tentatively schedule this sometime in mid to late April, with a week or two space between then and Easter, most likely following the holiday for obvious reasons. A request has been placed for a 3 day event. I will commit to at least a two and half day (Friday afternoon/early evening kickoff, Saturday, and wheel everyone out on Sunday). If we can make it three full and pull everyone in on Thursday night, even better. Go ahead and start marking your calendars now. If you are reading this and aren’t familiar with the JDGA, this is your open invitation to join us. Be sure you have a fully capable foursome and a handle of Jack for your initiation though. If you can't pull this together, plan to take your ass back home in shame. That is all.

'Tis the season...

...to be jolly. 2007 has been a pretty darn good year and is ending on a high note. I could complain about a few things but that would be stupid and petty. Here's to hoping you all had good '07's as well with a positive outlook on '08.

I wonder

As I watch more and more friends slip into the world or serious relationships and marriage it makes me wonder about where I fit in. I really think I am a Short Bus Allstar. Obviously I can't figure out these people called "women." I apparently have no clue and if anything, am digressing. I thought I was doing better but that answer is no. Recent occurences have made me ponder all this a bit. I've found that Redheads really have a way of screwing with my head. I have known that they grab my attention more quickly but I also seem to be drawn that way more readily in recent times. And just when I think I have one figured out a little bit. here comes a curve ball. Guess I need to get back on the bus and go learn some more life skills in special ed.

Time for a change

Well, this little blog has gotten a little bit more traction from friends outside the realm of a dozen or so college buddies. Because most people outside that group don't get/understand the "Wha" thing (HS friends think I go straight to unintelligible after a few drinks) I've decided to rename the blog. As most of the posting involves antics involving alcohol, be being generally pissed about something, or just some geenral ramblings and observations, and very little legitimately useful information or insight for the educated world, I think the new name fits well. I also think it's something everyone can agree on as I pretty much fit the bill outside of work.
The change in format was as much because Blogger added some easy to use templates and the ability to post/upload some photos without having a host server link.
Hope you all enjoy the updates. Maybe I'll have some new crap up, inlcuding but no limited the commonly reocurring issue with people called "women."

HA HA

This is for the folks from TN. Some old HS friends thinks it's lame (or at least try to make fun of me) as I do this as well as participate in Clemson Athletics blog as well. Basically, if you are one of those people, I'm laughing at you now, because you have been suckered into visting Whatown. You probably don't understand the name as it comes from a story from my freshman year in college that didn't involve drinking. If you are coming back, it's because most of this crap I write probably amuses you. If you have no clue who I am, then I'm sorry because half this crap probably doesn't make sense. Regardless, I hope everyone gets a laugh out of most of my stories/rants/comments/perspectives if they are meant for me to vent or makes you think about the one if twenty taht are half way serious.
Have a great weekend. Hopefully it will provide another great trainwreck that I will be able to post about following info from multiple third party sources as I am headed to Clemson for two nights worth of debauchery.
Oh, and someone call BB, or get ahold of his athletic department tudor and let him know I wrote this.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

So I was in Durham visiting friends and catching the second half of the Tiger's butt kicking of the Blue Devils part of this past weekend. The friends whose home we invaded hada Nintendo Wii. It was actually pretty cool. One game inparticular was the similuated boxing game that comes on what I believe is the base game card with the machine. If you don't know, the Wii uses some pretty cool technology to go wireless on the controllers without having to aim directly at an infrared receiver. With these controllers, most sports games require you to simulate the motion intended for the result you want. So in boxing, so are pretty much shadow boxing. Pretty cool for a while but when you play roughly three hours, and you haven't been working those muscles, espcially in the back and shoulders, you are sore. So, yes, you read this correctly. I'm pretty sore from playing video games. Laugh now, but go play this game for a while (and yes it's very addictive) and talk to me a day or so later. You'll feel what I mean.

Pet Peeve

I've kinda had an issue with this since everyone started carrying cell phones several years ago but it is become progressively worse. I see it being the worst in the twenty something age range where most people use a cell phone and don't have a home land line. I am guilty of this part. Unless you specifically use TiVo or live in an area with terrible cell service (obviously not anywhere near a city, town, or interstate) it's not necessary to have a land line anymore. I don’t even think apartment complex dial in boxes require the use of a land line if the connected cell phone is relatively close by. However, if you are one of these people that use a cell phone as your primary or only non-work contact please learn some freaking etiquette. This includes the PROPER use of functions on the phone you probably spent too much on. These include some of the following:

If you are screening your calls, and don’t want to answer a specific one, then learn how to let it go to voicemail. Often times people forget they have a phone with them and not on silent/vibrate. Learn which button silences the ring and which one dumps the call to voicemail. If your phone is off, I’m going to voicemail within a ring if not immediately. If you are away from your phone, it’s probably going to be something like 5-6 rings on my end. If it goes three then I get dumped, I know you are scrambling to silence the thing or more than likely screening the call. At least make me think you aren’t screening my call and let the ringer run it’s course before I….

Leave a message. Don’t call me 4 times in an hour but not leave a message. If you need to get a hold of me, let me know. If you just want to say hey, let me know. If you are going to be stopping by or want to grab a drink later, let me know. I may be in a meeting. I may be taking a nap. I may be on the other line with the folks. I may be out to dinner. Hell, I may be screening my calls. If I have a message not only do I know what you are trying to get a hold of me about, I can find a way to answer if the question requires a timely answer. I can always bang out a text or give you a quick call back from the pisser. Nothing is more annoying than having your phone in your pocket constantly buzzing. I know the difference between a new call and a message (voice or text). With a message I know it’s something that may or may not require attention. If it’s a call with no message, I assume it is of little importance and won’t call back or respond.

This works the other way around as well. If I call, I will almost always leave a message if I don’t get you. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, listen to the message before you call me back. You may not even need to call me back. I may tell you when I’m going to be at the tailgate or that I’ll be a minute or two late. It may also say that if you don’t get this for 15 minutes, don’t worry about it. It may also say that I am about to hook up with the hottest chic in town (stretch I know) for some unknown reason and that if you do call me back I will kill you, but will fill you in on the details later. You may even be bale to shoot me a quick text back that takes care of my question, who knows. Regardless, listen to the message first. PLEASE!

If you are one of those people that answer your phone at dinner, meeting, some casual place where you are with others, keep your conversation volume to a minimum. I don’t want to hear one side of a conversation I could give two craps about from 20 feet away. I’m probably talking to someone else in this public place. Think about the rest of us. This especially applies to all the Nextel people out there. If you aren’t in your work truck, office, or work site, turn that damn thing off. If you are leaving it in your office unattended, turn the damn thing off. When you get “chirped” and don’t answer, everyone else has to listen to the effing thing beep for the next hour and those things are relatively loud. As a matter of fact, if you don’t absolutely have to have a Nextel, don’t get one to start with. Get a cell phone and coverage that let’s you be “paged.” Plus you won’t have to wear that holster anymore. Oh, and if you do Bluetooth, try to avoid it in the grocery store. I really do think you are randomly talking to yourself or me for at least the first 15 seconds I hear you or see your mouth moving.

When in the car, wear a headset, Period. Afraid you will look like an idiot with one on if you aren’t talking? Fine, leave it lay to the side or in the center console. Don’t like the Bluetooth flashing light in your headset? Me neither. Get a car with it already installed or get a wired headset. Bluetooth headsets are cool until you take them off and can’t hear your phone ring. I am tired of getting stuck behind those of you in the left lane with you phone propped against your shoulder while you pretend to drive. If you are doing this and see everyone and their third cousin pass you on the RIGHT, get over. Check your mirrors first and try not to swerve too much. You’ve already not been doing this as well.

That is all…for now.

It's been a while since I blabbered

OK, so it's been a week or two since I wrote anything and that was a late update on something from a week or two prior. Um, so the follwoing things have happened in somewhat of a time line fashion. I haven't gotten stupid drunk though I had a few while being really pissed about the VT game this past weekend. Been out a few times and did see Poot at the tip top of his game before he had consumed al ittle much to be effective. It was awesome.

I bought a new car and got ride of the Jeep. When I realized two trips to the shop, this spring, totaled at least 6 months of solid car payments, it was time to get rid of it. Especially before new tires were needed or soemthing else started rattling. I got less than street but what I thought was a fair trade in value, combined it with a little cash on a payout from the commissions ode from teh old job and snagged an 07 4Runner Limited off the lot at the end of the month. It's got all the options (4WD, sunroof, hitch package) I wanted except Nav but all the guys on the lot told me to get a Garmin if I wanted it anyway. And that would be much cheaper anyway.

I used the rest of the cash to paint part of the downstairs of the house. It looks good and the color was needed. I'm waiting on a print to get back from being framed and most downstairs decorating will be done until I either get Xmas gift cards or some commission checks that matter. I did finish the "Clemson" bonus room painting. It's not great but tolerable in my eyes. Definetly had to retape some places and probably have no less than 5 coats of paint on some edges where white meets one of the colored walls. Now I need crap to put in it. I have picturessherem, a bean bag chair and the dart board with home-made backing. I also have an old TV stand from Paul. Need a new TV. Don't know whether to upgrade the one in my bedroom and move the old one there, or to geta larger Tube TV for a cheap price at Best Buy/HH Gregg/Circuit City. It's not gonna get much viewing time, more a way to keep up with a game it folks are offer and we are shooting darts or hopefully playing the foosball that I hope to have in there by mid winter. I also want to make a room downstairs a sitting room and had it painted with the kitchen and den. Needless to say, that will be a while though.

On the work front things couldn't be better this week. I landed a job that will get me a sales volume equal to abotu a third of what I have to do for the year to make quota and be bonus eligible. Our physical year started the 1st of this month so it's a good quick jump. I have some good stuff in the pipeline as well so I should be able to close out a few more smaller but equally important orders in the next month. If I can be to or past 50% of quota by Christmas, at least on bookings, it will be a good year. I am enjoying things more, responsibilities are growing a little as I get more comfortable with the product and I can actually take a fair amount of credit, working with my boss, on securing this large order as well as another good size job over in the hometown area in TN. The peopl e I work with have gotten comfortable with me and visa versa.

I could alwasy bitch about one of two subjects but we rant plenty on The Sporting Gnomes site and women will always be a point of frustration until I actually meet someone worth a crap who isn't wishy washy and knows what they want as well. I did randomly ask out the cute teller at my local BOA. Supposedly she is talking to someone and is frustrated with it and told me to check back in a week or two. Either a good blow off or quick, polite reaction but definetly not a "No.' I'll check back and probably get that later but at least threw it out there to see if anything stuck.

10 Yr Reunion

Last weekend I attended my 10yr HS reunion back in TN. Stayed at my mom's on Friday night and at the location of the Reunion Saturday. To give an idea of the lay out of this place, think convention center type place with a hotel tower (6-7 floors) on one end of the building, a decently sized bar and lobby area along with a very large outdoor patio, then the far side of the building are the ball rooms.
Highlights were as followed.
Alcoholess tailgate prior to the HS game Friday night.
Me doing 42 push-ups on a platform held up by 4 scrwany HS kids ala the Tiger at Clemson games. Search youtube for my name and 42 pushups. I'm not stupid enough to post the link.Yes this was on a dare and I made $25 for it. It kept people interested in the game too so that was fun.
A set up basketball game with 12 of us playing full court complete with scoreboard and ref. 32 minutes of basketball. 53 total points and lots of shots. It was fugly basketball but one of hte most fun sporting events I have particpated in since HS. We even had shirts made up. I may get a pic link of that action up at some point.
The reunion complete with competitions to see which table would go to the buffett line first. So mishandled the last three tables were waiting to win a competition while there was no buffett line. They did show a slide show with pictures of past and present which was pretty cool. I definetly dipped it low, grinded on married women with their spouses there, did a little Vanilla Ice dance, then hit on a chic there with two kids and currently going through a divorce. She was sans kids and soon to be ex husband.
I walked back and forth making my own cheap and strong drinks a couple times before saying screw it and bringing in a bottle of ginger ale and a bottle of Jack (empty water bottles refilled) to keep my own party going. We ended up on said patio after midnight when the party was ended due to contract. They let us drink our own stuff without question as late as we wanted as long as there were no complaints from other guests. I was up until after 3 though everything after 1:30 is a blur.
Checked out on time (I think), went back to my mom's, slept a couple more hours, and got back here around 8:30 that Sunday night.
It was a helluva weekend as most of my HS crew was in for this. It was great seeing everyone, especially as I have missed out on a few gatherings those guys have put together since. Hopefully we can get together like that more often and the emails about in general things that have happened are still popping up. I just hope we can keep the college crew doing the same regarding getting together in mass.

A Few Notes

So, they reversed the extra payment into my account. Guess I could have kept my mouth shut but I would have felt guilty about it. The funny thing is, it's not my old companies fault. It supposedly had to do with Paychex. With that in mind, they make enough cash, once it was in my account and clear, those morons should have had to eat it. Oh well.

On to more pleasant thing. 10yr HS reunion this weekend. A few events planned. It should be a good time. I hope so. Seeing some of the folks will be interested. I keep up with most of the guys still. Seeing all the girls that are married, and many with kids will be weird. Should be fun like I said though. Hopefully I'll have a good story or two come Monday.

Avast!

Tomorrow, Sept 19th is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. I expect emails to be written as such. It also should be fun to listen to some of the morning radio shows as they typically pick up and run with this. One was prepping us this morning for tomorrow on air festivities. Now if I could only find a lady pirate that will let me shiver her timbers. Aye!

I'll Take It...Maybe

So, I'm going through my normal routine a bit later than normal. The bosses car is dead (battery) and we have been trying to jump it, unsuccessfully. As I am waiting on him to figure out what he is going to do, and if I need to tote him around, I figure I will do my normal check email, online bank statement, ESPN, etc. to start my day. It’s what I do when I come into the office. If I don’t go through this routine, I’m usually set up for a crappy day. Anyway, tomorrow is the 15th which means I get paid either at midnight last night or tonight. I hadn’t quite figured out when JCI posts to your account when the date falls on the weekend. I check the account and my check is in and showing pending. However, I also noticed that my account is up from what a normal paycheck would reflect and commissions aren’t paid mid-month. I check the details and low and behold, my old company has a payment pending into my account as well. Extremely odd as they pay commissions quarterly and I got that check a couple weeks ago from previous services rendered. I noticed the amount looked familiar and cross checked it to my last check from them. The totals matched exact. It was for half what my typical check on salary draw was, when I was there. Now, both of these payments are pending so there is a chance that the one from the old job will be rescinded. I have never seen this happen though. Usually once it is showing as a pending payment and monies in your account, it’s as good as there.
Now the fun part. Do I call my old company? Do I let it slide and see if they deduct it from what I believe will be my last commission check from them in a couple months? Do I not think twice about it until tomorrow AM when it will be either officially posted or not? Ethics suck and I honestly don’t know what to do. I would have understood this maybe in the first month after I left, but considering they had my time documented well enough to give me half a check for my last week or so, previously, why would they have me in at all now? Had it happened in July, I would have happily called, told them what was up and had it corrected. At this point I kinda look at it as a “If your accounting is that screwed up, tough crap, go fix your own problems.” I am guessing taxes and everything have been taken out since the amount match perfectly. I’ll check the mail for a pay stub or something on paper from them. Maybe they shorted me on my commissions for the amount of half a check and found the mistake. I didn’t notice so that’s mighty nice of them to take care of it. Of course, I might have caught it had they sent me my June commission numbers as well. Who knows? If I get more info, I’ll crank out an update. Otherwise, one of the dude’s (and his Mexican’s) coming to give me a paint estimate this afternoon are gonna get the job and it will be as if I didn’t have to pay according to my budget and bank account.

I love you, Tonya

Yes, Tonya. At this moment, I love her very, very much. You are probably asking who this person is and why I love her. Well, Tonya was my customer service rep for Time Warner Cable. See, on Thursday, I ordered the ESPNHD package for college football season. When you have a decent TV, it should be put to use this time of year. Sunday's are for yard work and house chores. Saturday's are for beer and college football. Well, I ordered the package at work and was instructed to check it out when I got home that evening but everything should be good. With the use of computers they can adjust your service now with just a few key strokes, or so I thought. Well, with previous committments on Thursday I didn't get to check on the service but did last night. I found quickly that I did not have my HD ESPN, or the Deuce. After searching around, I did find that I had some kind of Major League Baseball package with a bunch of games. Nice consolation prize I guess but not what I wanted. Now keep in mind, I was on the phone 15-20 minutes just to say "Hey, upgrade my HD package to include ESPNHD, thanks." So last night I get on the phone and get what I assume to be a trainee. I was on hold for nearly 15 minutes before I got a voice then was on with her for an additional 30 minutes. I reset the box, checked the channels, etc. I was put on hold for a few minutes. Supervisors were supposedly being used, I don't know. Then I went on hold and got the same intiall music I get when you first dial into the system. It was time to head out and I punted. Total time on the phone, 1hr and 10min. Read here to see other great communications companies and their service. Got home last night with fingers crossed, no dice. Well, I jumped on after Gameday this morning and thought i was going to get more of the same. On hold for a customer service rep for about 10 minutes, then I got Tonya. Told her the issue, what I think had happened with the MLB package and that I was a TWC customer because of the local Adelphia service buyout about a year ago. Within five minutes, I was looking at the clean, crisp, clear HD ball game while the MLB package was being cancelled. I was elated and Tonya could tell as she got a chuckle out of my candidness. I'm glad there are a few diamonds in the rough, that actually know their jobs, in the customer service world.