So you read about my AT&T Uverse woes with the phone a couple of days ago. Turns out the Bears win on cable isn't a wash with the lack of phone reception after all.
I am now in my eleventh day of "new, improved digital phone service" except my phone continues to buzz loudly anywhere between 2 and 14 minutes into a call depending on it's mood. I finally got through on the automated system on Monday to schedule a service call to fix it (took three tries and LOTS of waiting) but on the bright side they all had real time evidence of my problem while they were recording the converation for "quality assurance."
The first time they could dispatch someone when I was home was allegedly last night between 4-8. I left work early to be home by 4. Of course, they never showed, but did call Dan's cell around 8 to say they were "running late." At nine pm they were still trying to dispatch someone. I told them not to send a technician to my home after 9 pm on a school night and we rescheduled for the next day. I insisted they come between 5-7 and they absolutely refused to commit to anything but a 4 hour window because they said it was what they needed. I reminded them they really needed a six hour window since it was now 9:30 pm and they hadn't shown up yet for that day's 4 hour window.
So their four hour blocks required a 4-8 pm for today. We told them I couldn't be home until 5 so to change it to 5-8. Again, the four hour window speech. So they made a note not to show up before 5 on the ticket and gave us 5-9.
So it was kind of funny when Dan got a call at 9 am from a technician in front of our house wanting to be let in to fix the phone. Dan let him know no one would be home before 5 pm. He got another call two hours later.
Same deal. Same response.
Another hour later...he got another call. He asked them why they kept showing up when the order clearly read 4-8 (but apparently didn't include the promised note of "don't show up before 5"). They said when they miss appointments the day before we go to the top of the order. Dan told them that's great, except as we've stated five times, we won't be home before five.
An hour later another technician calls.
So when I pull up at 4 pm in front of my house and see a service truck parked there I am overjoyed. Except the guy tells me he just spoke with my husband who told him I wouldn't be home before 5 and so now he's been dispatched to another home and has to leave. I tell him "no way" I'm home now and the whole saga.
He is not moved with compassion.
I make him stay for 10 minutes listening to our sob story, but he still leaves assuring me someone will be here between 5-8. Right. Because that's what the ticket says and it worked so well last night.
I ask him for a phone number for a manager/supervisor. "Sorry ma'am I don't have any phone numbers." There aren't any emails on their website either. Nor is there any contact information at all except for the automated system that has an average wait time of 10 minutes for a live human being. Remember...this is a phone company.
But there's lots of stuff that says "Dear valued customer."
It's 6 pm and no one else has showed up yet even though four of them were here today because I was at the top of the pecking order even though my ticket said 4-8 pm.
I just opened my mail and there was a letter from AT&T Uverse trying to sell me the bundled package I just bought for $12 less a month than I just bought it for.
I prayed so I wouldn't strangle someone.
I also had a glass of wine.
Then Caitlin reminded me that it was a U2 Friday Feature on WXRT. So I just listened to five consecutive U2 songs while sipping some wonderful Left Foot Charley Murmur and I'm not as livid as I was an hour ago.
But I will post on my web for all to see that AT&T appears to be competing for worst customer service satisfaction in the 21st century.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Phone Troubles
About two weeks ago, shortly after the cable companies switched every last station to digital delivery requiring a box for reception of any channel over 12, a nice man and woman came to the door trying to sell us an AT&T Uverse bundle of phone, internet and cable. I'm talking real cable with over 100 channels including high def ones (for the one TV in the house that has high def capability). For us it was all about price - we desperately wanted ESPN back as football season is well underway, but we weren't going to pay more for it.
Our Comcast bill had gone from $11.75 to almost $17 a month to get nothing but local network channels and when we combined that cost with our phone/internet already set up with AT&T it was only $6 less then what they were offering.
We decided football is worth the extra $6 a month. Plus they promised us faster internet (it's not) and better quality phone service on the new fiber optic spliced wires. Yeah. About that....
It's kind of disappointing that the phone has a buzzing sound that begins anytime between 2 and 7 minutes on every call we make with this fabulous new quality system.
It's even more disappointing that the automated phone system is like a cruel joke - with no option for a human being (until 15 minutes in you scream "GETMEAHUMANBEING" into the phone. By the way, when you select "phone" for the service you need help with, the automated voice instructs you how to buy additional channels for the cable.
It's super disappointing that you have to call three times before a technician gets dispatched (three days later when they have an opening when you are actually home).
And it's downright comical that the email confirmation for the service appointment says "do not respond to this email" and provides absolutely no links for a customer service rep to credit back all the minutes you've been using to call their service department while they explain to you how valuable your business is.
So I'm without a phone at the moment and that's really aggravating.
But the Bears beat the Packers on Monday Night Football last night and we watched the whole thing on high definition ESPN. So it's a wash. :-)
Our Comcast bill had gone from $11.75 to almost $17 a month to get nothing but local network channels and when we combined that cost with our phone/internet already set up with AT&T it was only $6 less then what they were offering.
We decided football is worth the extra $6 a month. Plus they promised us faster internet (it's not) and better quality phone service on the new fiber optic spliced wires. Yeah. About that....
It's kind of disappointing that the phone has a buzzing sound that begins anytime between 2 and 7 minutes on every call we make with this fabulous new quality system.
It's even more disappointing that the automated phone system is like a cruel joke - with no option for a human being (until 15 minutes in you scream "GETMEAHUMANBEING" into the phone. By the way, when you select "phone" for the service you need help with, the automated voice instructs you how to buy additional channels for the cable.
It's super disappointing that you have to call three times before a technician gets dispatched (three days later when they have an opening when you are actually home).
And it's downright comical that the email confirmation for the service appointment says "do not respond to this email" and provides absolutely no links for a customer service rep to credit back all the minutes you've been using to call their service department while they explain to you how valuable your business is.
So I'm without a phone at the moment and that's really aggravating.
But the Bears beat the Packers on Monday Night Football last night and we watched the whole thing on high definition ESPN. So it's a wash. :-)
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Fall Frenzy
I almost forgot I had a blog.
I've been writing a lot lately. The funny thing is I've been using a pen and paper to do it. Sooo old school.
It's been an eventful couple of months, so busy in fact, there's been little time to be on the computer (except of course for the six hours I spend on it each work day).
One of the blogs I try to read is called "22 Words" by Abraham Piper. Most of his posts are 22 words or less. In today's culture that's appealing. Who wants to read on and on? Be honest. You automatically delete those forwarded emails that require scrolling, right?
So in a nutshell...
Work/Church has been delightfully challenging. I know. That sounds like an oxymoron. We are opening two additional campuses before the end of the year, one is seven minutes from our home. In three short weeks we will begin attending Sunday worship there. Planning ministry across two additional locations with the same amount of staff is challenging. It's also delightful. Can't tell you how encouraging it is to watch people step up and how exciting it is to work on something that has the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as it's goal. We also just began a new marriage study with our LIFE Group (small group) from church.
The kids are so good I feel ridiculously undeserving. Of course, I AM ridiculously undeserving. They help more around the house, have adjusted to the new school year, are learning to balance homework, football, band, academic clubs and more and are doing it all without complaining or falling behind. I see how their world becomes more and more challenging as we strive to live our lives in a manner that is so anti-culture and I cannot believe how mature they are. I am so grateful.
Our home has been through a lot in the past several months - a flood that officially changed the status of our basement from finished to UNfinished...a new roof...and a declining performance that has most of our 20 year old appliances threatening simultaneous mutiny. We keep thanking God for our new dishwasher, praying the fridge, washer, dryer, stove and microwave continue to work and wonder if we will ever be able to afford a snow blower.
Fall has FINALLY arrived with cooler temperatures and changing leaves and glorious football. We hope it lasts at least four weeks before winter arrives. The good part about winter looming is that the construction that is occuring on every single road we drive on should be over soon. We hope.
My husband is working hard, volunteering at church and serving as an assistant coach for Ryan's football team, but seems non-stressed and happy most of the time and is still the guy everyone wants to hang out with including me.
My mom had a brief hospital stay but is home and doing her very best to comply with the doctors orders that has her on three times the amount of medication she normally takes. Before you freak out, she had been on one and now she's on three. At 73 - that ain't bad.
The biggest heartbreak recently has been the loss of an aunt. My Dad's oldest sister, Tella passed away at 90 earlier this month. I've written a great deal about that on paper and eventually may post some of that onto the blog. When asked to talk about it I'm reminded of a line in "The Lord of the Rings; The Fellowship of the Ring" when they believe Gandalf has died and the elves sing a lament for his passing. The hobbits ask Legolas to interpret and he says, "I have not the heart to tell you. For me the grief is still too near."
So much more could be said about what's "going on" but you've probably already had to scroll on the page so I'll leave some thoughts for next time and try to write more often.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
The Countdown Begins
It's 10:14 and I've just instructed my kids to begin reading in bed so we can do lights out in the neighborhood of 10:30 and it's occuring to me these days of long light and late bedtimes are numbered.
August is here and back-to-school sales are in full force. It seems we just celebrated the 4th of July, but the calendar doesn't lie. Ryan began football practice on Monday much to my mother-in-law's dismay. I do have to admit I'm less excited than I thought I would be as I fully realize it's MY kid out there everyone will be trying to take down. But he's pretty scrappy and I trust God to protect him. He's awfully cute in that little uniform.
Of course, when we think of football we think of snow blowing off the lake at Soldier Field, but it was 88 degrees outside at 6:00 pm with 70% humidity and there wasn't a dry spot on that kid's body when he got home. Funny how it's 45 degrees when baseball starts and 90 when football begins. Gotta love Chicago.
The hard part with this new schedule is I'm still working till 5:00 pm three days a week and Dan commutes from Romeoville (like an hour away) so the family dinner has gone by the wayside until school starts. That's when my hours change back to a 3:00 pm leave time and practice goes down to three days a week. It's an incomprehensible five nights a week right now. I guess they told me that when I signed him up six months ago, but you know how we block those things out.
I am a little shell-shocked by it all. We've intentionally limited the kids activities and really preserved family time throughout the summer and weeknights. I can only say how glad I am we did and that I cannot imagine being on a schedule like this year round.
I spent my lunch hour finding a girdle that would fit him. Yes, you read that correctly. Apparently all those big burly football players wear girdles with pads for extra protection underneath those clinging pants.
I already informed him that even with the hot days it's unlikely he will have a clean uniform every time he plays. I had a hard enough time getting his baseball outfit clean twice a week. I can't tell you how many times I pulled that thing out of the dryer fifteen minutes before practice began.
So my goal is to get a little more organized so we don't end up eating fast food for the next month (can't afford that financially or physically) - and so we can transition back to the school year schedule later this month. But, planning isn't really my strong suit - I can do it pretty well at work but I seem to get all loosey-goosey at home. So if we stay up a little later to get some quality family time in and we end up switching into school hours at the last minute like we usually do, I won't lose too much sleep over it. Well, not after the first night anyway.
August is here and back-to-school sales are in full force. It seems we just celebrated the 4th of July, but the calendar doesn't lie. Ryan began football practice on Monday much to my mother-in-law's dismay. I do have to admit I'm less excited than I thought I would be as I fully realize it's MY kid out there everyone will be trying to take down. But he's pretty scrappy and I trust God to protect him. He's awfully cute in that little uniform.
Of course, when we think of football we think of snow blowing off the lake at Soldier Field, but it was 88 degrees outside at 6:00 pm with 70% humidity and there wasn't a dry spot on that kid's body when he got home. Funny how it's 45 degrees when baseball starts and 90 when football begins. Gotta love Chicago.
The hard part with this new schedule is I'm still working till 5:00 pm three days a week and Dan commutes from Romeoville (like an hour away) so the family dinner has gone by the wayside until school starts. That's when my hours change back to a 3:00 pm leave time and practice goes down to three days a week. It's an incomprehensible five nights a week right now. I guess they told me that when I signed him up six months ago, but you know how we block those things out.
I am a little shell-shocked by it all. We've intentionally limited the kids activities and really preserved family time throughout the summer and weeknights. I can only say how glad I am we did and that I cannot imagine being on a schedule like this year round.
I spent my lunch hour finding a girdle that would fit him. Yes, you read that correctly. Apparently all those big burly football players wear girdles with pads for extra protection underneath those clinging pants.
I already informed him that even with the hot days it's unlikely he will have a clean uniform every time he plays. I had a hard enough time getting his baseball outfit clean twice a week. I can't tell you how many times I pulled that thing out of the dryer fifteen minutes before practice began.
So my goal is to get a little more organized so we don't end up eating fast food for the next month (can't afford that financially or physically) - and so we can transition back to the school year schedule later this month. But, planning isn't really my strong suit - I can do it pretty well at work but I seem to get all loosey-goosey at home. So if we stay up a little later to get some quality family time in and we end up switching into school hours at the last minute like we usually do, I won't lose too much sleep over it. Well, not after the first night anyway.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Come Ye Back to RKD
I've returned from that little slice of heaven on earth where we vacation every year and the feel of it is still lingering in the atmosphere. I remember the first time I read that Arcadia means "paradise" and I thought, how fitting.
I can still close my eyes in the quiet and hear the waves. We were so fortunate this year to get the best room in the camp's Inn. It's the largest room they have with a private bath and it's a corner unit facing the lake so we had views of Lake Michigan from both windows. In fact, our bed was directly underneath one of the windows so I didn't even have to lift my head in the morning - I just opened my eyes and the first scene to greet me was the sun shining on the water. It's easier to remember scripture like "this is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it" when He wakes you up that way.
The weather for the most part was glorious - a little humid some days - okay a lot humid, but never without a nice breeze and the water temperature was in the mid-high
70's all week (practically unheard of for Lake Michigan) so you could always go for a swim to cool off - which I often did. A recent dredging of a nearby channel produced a vast sandbar and the best beach in front of the camp in my memory (which spans 30 years). Not only can I still hear the waves when I close my eyes, but I can picture the people playing in the water, darkened figures beneath the bright sun and almost feel the sand between my toes and the warmth of the rays on my skin. Did I mention I spent four hours a day, three days in a row on the beach? It helped me imbed the image.
It takes me about 15 minutes upon arriving to relax in Arcadia. It's the easiest place in the world to leave your worries behind. The pace can only be described as unplugged.
The kids reconnected with some old friends and made some new ones too. They are at the age where they have free reign of the place and only need to show up for meals on time to keep the privelege.
We really enjoyed spending time with some old friends too and laughed a lot together. I can't express how much it means to be able to return to this special place and pick up where we left off whether it's been six months, a year or ten years since we've seen them. I don't know anywhere else that happens, but again I suspect it's a glimpse of heaven.
Every time I'm in Arcadia I get the sense anything is possible - creativity abounds there both in the people and the place which is filled with music and prayer and encouragement. I always leave more focused on writing, more open to any changes God might have in store, more willing to take a risk on something meaningful.
I'm feeling really grateful for the retreat and looking to maximize the effect as long as I can before the "plugged in pace" pushes the sounds and sights too far into my memory banks.
I can still close my eyes in the quiet and hear the waves. We were so fortunate this year to get the best room in the camp's Inn. It's the largest room they have with a private bath and it's a corner unit facing the lake so we had views of Lake Michigan from both windows. In fact, our bed was directly underneath one of the windows so I didn't even have to lift my head in the morning - I just opened my eyes and the first scene to greet me was the sun shining on the water. It's easier to remember scripture like "this is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it" when He wakes you up that way.
The weather for the most part was glorious - a little humid some days - okay a lot humid, but never without a nice breeze and the water temperature was in the mid-high
70's all week (practically unheard of for Lake Michigan) so you could always go for a swim to cool off - which I often did. A recent dredging of a nearby channel produced a vast sandbar and the best beach in front of the camp in my memory (which spans 30 years). Not only can I still hear the waves when I close my eyes, but I can picture the people playing in the water, darkened figures beneath the bright sun and almost feel the sand between my toes and the warmth of the rays on my skin. Did I mention I spent four hours a day, three days in a row on the beach? It helped me imbed the image.
It takes me about 15 minutes upon arriving to relax in Arcadia. It's the easiest place in the world to leave your worries behind. The pace can only be described as unplugged.
The kids reconnected with some old friends and made some new ones too. They are at the age where they have free reign of the place and only need to show up for meals on time to keep the privelege.
We really enjoyed spending time with some old friends too and laughed a lot together. I can't express how much it means to be able to return to this special place and pick up where we left off whether it's been six months, a year or ten years since we've seen them. I don't know anywhere else that happens, but again I suspect it's a glimpse of heaven.
Every time I'm in Arcadia I get the sense anything is possible - creativity abounds there both in the people and the place which is filled with music and prayer and encouragement. I always leave more focused on writing, more open to any changes God might have in store, more willing to take a risk on something meaningful.
I'm feeling really grateful for the retreat and looking to maximize the effect as long as I can before the "plugged in pace" pushes the sounds and sights too far into my memory banks.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Consolation Prize
After a rare quiet evening at home the kids asked about 8:30 pm if we could go to the library and check out some books, games and videos. Since it's summer and the library is open until 10 I said okay. I'm so glad I did, because on the way there I was skimming through radio stations and came across a live version of Sunday Bloody Sunday on the Drive (97.1 Classic Rock for you non-Chicagoans). As we neared the library another live song came on, and another one after that. I didn't want to get out of the car.
I did force myself to enter the library and was overjoyed when I got back in the car 20 minutes later and they were still playing live U2. Now, for those of you who know me, you know I'm an uberfan. So it should come as no surprised that I recognized many of the variations of the songs as being from different live concerts, not just one recording of the same concert. I knew this because I've been attending U2 shows for over 20 years. And tonight would have been my two dozenth show if Bono hadn't had to cancel for emergency back surgery last month.
So how great of "the Drive" to play two uninterrupted hours of U2 concert clips for those of us who had planned to be at Soldier Field tonight jumping up and down at the 360 tour. They finished the set with the most common encore the band plays..."40" - the tune that will sing me to sleep tonight.
"I waited patiently for the Lord, He inclined and heard my cry, He lift me up out of the pit, out of the miry clay. I will sing, sing a new song. He sets my feet upon a rock and makes my footsteps firm. Many will see, many will see and fear. I will sing, sing a new song."
Not a bad consolation prize.
I did force myself to enter the library and was overjoyed when I got back in the car 20 minutes later and they were still playing live U2. Now, for those of you who know me, you know I'm an uberfan. So it should come as no surprised that I recognized many of the variations of the songs as being from different live concerts, not just one recording of the same concert. I knew this because I've been attending U2 shows for over 20 years. And tonight would have been my two dozenth show if Bono hadn't had to cancel for emergency back surgery last month.
So how great of "the Drive" to play two uninterrupted hours of U2 concert clips for those of us who had planned to be at Soldier Field tonight jumping up and down at the 360 tour. They finished the set with the most common encore the band plays..."40" - the tune that will sing me to sleep tonight.
"I waited patiently for the Lord, He inclined and heard my cry, He lift me up out of the pit, out of the miry clay. I will sing, sing a new song. He sets my feet upon a rock and makes my footsteps firm. Many will see, many will see and fear. I will sing, sing a new song."
Not a bad consolation prize.
Monday, July 5, 2010
What Happened to June?
Well...let's face it, I'm a terrible blogger. I hardly ever write. I skipped the entire month of June, and I only posted something at the end of May because I felt badly about not writing anything that month either. Summer has not yet been that wonderful, lazy, lull of non-activity and so while we've been having fun, there's been no time or energy to write about it when the day is done.
I picked up a book the other day with a gift card to Barnes & Noble (seriously great gift) by one of my favorite authors of all time - Maeve Binchy. Only it's not her latest fiction release. It's a book about writing. She taught a class of would-be writers in Dublin a couple of years back and this book captures some of her instruction and several letters written to the students over the course of the class.
One of her first suggestions is to make a decision whether you want to tell everyone you are planning on actually writing a book or no one. She gives a great analogy with Weight Watchers - telling everyone you're on a diet or no one - if you tell everyone you have the accountability factor, people will be looking for your progress. If you tell no one people will be surprised and impressed if you lose weight. Of course, that's assuming you actually do lose weight.
So I'm going to write a book. And I've decided to tell everyone.
Or at least the half dozen or so family and friends who are kind enough to check this blog from time to time.
I'm not sure what kind of book I'm going to write and I'm pretty confident it will take a lot longer to accomplish than the 20 pounds I'd like to lose while I'm at it. But I'm inviting accountability - which is the only way you really get any. So feel free to ask me how the book is coming from time to time.
Maeve gives a lot of practical advice for getting started including a recommendation that aspiring writers spend a minimum of 5 hours a week actually writing. Another suggestion is to produce 10 pages a week. Instead of waiting to write these pages until I have a topic or theme I'm going to just write whatever comes to mind to get back into the habit of writing first.
I have another great new gift my niece made for me, a journal with scripture quotes and beautiful designed paper sewn together. It's the kind of present that inspires creativity. Some of my musings are bound to end up in there. Some will be on this blog. But the plan is to start and finish a book and I don't know if any of that material will end up anywhere someone else could read it in advance. It probably will. I'm terribly open with my own stuff. I can keep your secrets, but it's difficult to harbor my own.
I'm not even sure if it's going to be fiction or not. So for those that pray, please say one for me. Because this isn't about a mid-life crisis so much as my feeling like I don't want to waste any gifts God's given me. My only hope is that it brings Him glory and makes me more like Him in the process. I know. It's a big "only hope."
I picked up a book the other day with a gift card to Barnes & Noble (seriously great gift) by one of my favorite authors of all time - Maeve Binchy. Only it's not her latest fiction release. It's a book about writing. She taught a class of would-be writers in Dublin a couple of years back and this book captures some of her instruction and several letters written to the students over the course of the class.
One of her first suggestions is to make a decision whether you want to tell everyone you are planning on actually writing a book or no one. She gives a great analogy with Weight Watchers - telling everyone you're on a diet or no one - if you tell everyone you have the accountability factor, people will be looking for your progress. If you tell no one people will be surprised and impressed if you lose weight. Of course, that's assuming you actually do lose weight.
So I'm going to write a book. And I've decided to tell everyone.
Or at least the half dozen or so family and friends who are kind enough to check this blog from time to time.
I'm not sure what kind of book I'm going to write and I'm pretty confident it will take a lot longer to accomplish than the 20 pounds I'd like to lose while I'm at it. But I'm inviting accountability - which is the only way you really get any. So feel free to ask me how the book is coming from time to time.
Maeve gives a lot of practical advice for getting started including a recommendation that aspiring writers spend a minimum of 5 hours a week actually writing. Another suggestion is to produce 10 pages a week. Instead of waiting to write these pages until I have a topic or theme I'm going to just write whatever comes to mind to get back into the habit of writing first.
I have another great new gift my niece made for me, a journal with scripture quotes and beautiful designed paper sewn together. It's the kind of present that inspires creativity. Some of my musings are bound to end up in there. Some will be on this blog. But the plan is to start and finish a book and I don't know if any of that material will end up anywhere someone else could read it in advance. It probably will. I'm terribly open with my own stuff. I can keep your secrets, but it's difficult to harbor my own.
I'm not even sure if it's going to be fiction or not. So for those that pray, please say one for me. Because this isn't about a mid-life crisis so much as my feeling like I don't want to waste any gifts God's given me. My only hope is that it brings Him glory and makes me more like Him in the process. I know. It's a big "only hope."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)