The Cable Saga continued...

Well, the cable issue is finally resolved. I guess.

I worked from home Tuesday so they could come fix this leakage issue I'm having. (That does not sound good at all.) So around 2 I was walking through the house and I see the van drive by. But it does not stop. Well, this alarms me....so I go running out the door yelling at the dude that this was the house he wanted.

My neighbors are probably REALLY glad I moved into this place by now..

Anyway, he didn't stop. Great!! So I go back to work, fuming, figuring I'm going to have to fight with them again over getting out here. About 15 minutes later the doorbell rings. Ah...he found his way back. The dude's name is Tim, and he's carrying a little device that is making a noise similar to the sound of a cat in a blender. Not that I've ever put a cat in a blender, but if I were to hear a cat in blender, I would imagine it would sound much like this "EEEeeeeuuuuuuaaaaahhhheeehhauuuauuehehhhhhh" sound that this thing was making.

Very annoying.

So I take Tim all through the house while he points the little thing and mutters a lot. After about 15 minutes he changes some ends to some of the cables, then says he thinks it will be OK but if I get tagged again to call him and he'll have to change outlets. I mention that his little cat-in-a-blender device is still screaming just as loudly as it did when he first arrived. He agrees that could be a problem, but he's not sure that it even works right to start with.

Dear lord....this is never going to end.

So Tim leaves, and I go back to work. Then about 15 minutes later the doorbell rings again. Another dude (don't know his name) who says he just talked to Tim and he doesn't think he did everything he should have, so could he come in and look at my cables. I ask him if he even works for the cable company because there is no identifying marks on him....he pulls out an ID tag, so I let him in.

Then I traipse him all over the house much like I had done with Tim. He doesn't mutter as much as Tim, but does start identifying things that need fixed. So off to work he goes. For 2 1/2 hours. Which means he cut off the cable for a while, and the working from home thing kind of went ca put at that point. Finally he tells me that he's got the Internet back up if I wanted to try it again.

So I come in here and fire up the laptop, and for some reason feel compelled to open my blog site. Of course, the last blog I had done pops up........titled.......I Hate The Cable Company.

Thank God he was not looking over my shoulder!

Then it starts opening multiple sessions, so it's popping up all over the screen. Good Grief! I frantically get it shut down just as he shows up asking, "Is it OK?"

Yeah, yeah....really good. Thanks for asking!

Anyway, whoever mystery man number 2 was seems to have known what he was doing and hopefully has taken care of all of the problems.

For the time being, anyway!

The Waiting Game

Today has been an unusual day. I've been home all day. ALL DAY. That never happens. And truth be told, it probably only happened today because I'm being held hostage by the cable company. Again.

I came home the other day and found a little card on my front door that said I had missed my cable appointment. Which was very odd since I didn't know I had a cable appointment. Upon reading the other side, it had this note on there that said they had detected "signal leakage" coming from my house, which was very serious and my cable could be turned off if it were not fixed and they needed to get in the house to do it.

That's one of the weirdest things I've ever heard of.

So I called them and asked them if this was real or if somebody was just trying to break into my house. They claimed it's real. So they give me an appointment of Saturday from 8 to 8. Yes, you read it right....a 12 hour time span to sit here and wait for the guy to show up.

Now, since I've had all day to contemplate this, I wonder...why as a society do we allow them to get away with this? Imagine if we told our doctors..."Ah, I'll be there sometime between 8 and 8. Just hang out until I show up." It's kind of insane. I mean, are re-runs of Friends and documentaries about people going through psychotherapy for obsessive compulsive disorders really worth this?

Apparently they are.

So, I got up and worked a little in the office...and waited.

Then I started cleaning the kitchen....and waited.

Then Mom came by and pulled some of my weeds and looked through my shed, and I continued to wait.

Then she went to Mansfield and I had lunch and fell asleep on the couch while I waited.

Then she came back with a mirror for me and left her Wendy's trash.....and I continued to wait.

And now I blog.

And wait.

And hope I'm not being slowly irradiated by the cable signals leaking out all over my house.

I'll keep you posted...

Conversations with Momma

My Mom has many talents. Sewing, cooking, crafting, general insanity. However, there are some things that give her trouble. Electronics can sometimes be one of them. Tonight was a classic example. She was trying to download a picture of the big purple dress she recently worked on. So she calls me 'cause it's not working. I try to help. The conversation goes roughly something like this:

Me: "OK mom, find the USB cable that fits that camera and hook it into the computer. It should start up automatically for you then."

Mom: "What's an SUV cable?"

Me: "No, not SUV...USB"

Mom: "OK. What's it look like"

Me: "It's probably black. One end fits into the computer...like the one that you use for your Zune..."

Mom: "Oh, it has those ends?"

Me: ??? "Yeah...I guess..."

Mom: "You mean the one like goes into the end of the white one with the prong things?"

Me: "I have no idea what you're talking about"

Mom: "You know, the Zune"

Me: (dear lord) "Mom, what do you charge your Zune with? Do you know that cord that you use?"

Mom: "Yeah, with the white prong thing!"

Me: (finally getting that she's talking about an AC adaptor that the USB cord hooks into) "Yes - that's the one. There's a cord like that for your camera too. You have to find that one."

Mom: "Can I use the one for the Zune?"

Me: "No...it won't fit"

Mom: "Are you sure?"

Me: "Yes, mom...I'm sure. One of the ends is too big. You have to find the one for the camera."

Mom: "OK. Where is it?"

Me: "Well, I really don't know. Is it with the bag?"

Mom: "The bag"

Me: "Yeah...the bag you carry the camera in"

Mom: "I'll look" (sounds of shuffling and drawers opening and shutting) "No...it's not here. OH, here's a tape I can listen to that came with it. I have to see this. Wait...here's the box." (More sounds of shuffling) "I can't get the box open. Who made this box?? Why did they put it together like this?? Oh, there, it's open. What is this white plastic thing? I don't see a cord. Would it be under...what is this for? Oh, don't need that. OK...no, it's not in the box."

Me: "OK, well, I don't know where it is then..."

Mom: "Are you sure the Zune won't work?"

Me: "Yes mom, I'm sure"

Mom: "I see a circle on the camera. Is that where it goes?"

Me: "I don't think so. USB sockets are not usually circles. There should be another spot."

Mom: "I don't see it."

Me: "You probably have to pull open a little rubber or plastic cover to find it."

Mom: "There is no rubber cover. Oh...is...oh...Wait, here's a hole. Does it have those teeth things down on it?"

Me: ".........what????........"

Mom: "Those things like teeth...you know."

Me: "I.....I really don't know Mom"

Mom: "OK, well, I'll just have to wait until you come over then."

Me: "OK...we'll take care of it then."

Yep, just a typical conversation on a typical night.

I'm not worried though, because I know I'll be able to get the photo loaded for her.

Especially since I just found her "SUV" cord in a group of stuff that I brought over here to my apartment.

Go figure.