Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while...nor completed any colorings for various people (you know who you are). I could give some lame-ass, as-per-usual excuse such as "I just can't get motivated" or...ohhh, I dunno..."the dog ate my computer mouse", but that wouldn't be true. The motivation has been there...and I don't own a dog. I have actually been working on a few things, but not in any particular order and rather erratically....jumping from one thing to the other. Throw a dash of "my internet provider is retarded and incompetent" and the fact that (tomorrow) I'm starting the first vacation I've had in nearly three years...and there you go.
So, about five days ago my internet provider (who is also a major cable TV provider) is out "auditing" my neighborhood. Basically, they're out looking to see which of their customers (in rental properties...and I don't rent) still live there, who's stealing cable TV, and generally door-knocking and trying to sell people shit they don't need. They knock on my door, standard sales pitch ensues, I'm not interested, they're insistent, I slam door in their face. Is this the end of it? Nope, not by a long shot.
I watch cable dude walk across the street, unlock a ground-level junction box, and fiddle with something inside. I go back into my office and notice that my cable modem's lights are flashing....basically an error code saying, "Hey, I'm not working." I look back out the front window just in time to see cable dude driving away. Is it a coincidence that my internet went out and dude was fiddling around out there? I think not. "Oh, slam the door in my face will yuh....I'll show him" type of shit.
Welcome to the wonderful world that is the Comcast Corporation....
what a fucking joke.
Flash-forward a few days. After repeated phone calls with "tech support" (out-sourced to some third-world shit-hole...not that I'd expect anything less from a huge company) and their customer (dis)service, I discover that shithead not only went out there and disconnected my cable line, but also put a note in their system that no one lives at my address. The voice at the other end of the phone was both (disingenuously and lethargically) sympathetic and apologetic, but assured me that someone would be out to rectify the situation as quickly as possible....in three to four days. My response: "Motherfucker, I live on a hilltop and can literally see the fenced yard where your company keeps it's fleet of vehicles not five minutes away. Not only will you NOT be coming out to fix it AND you've LOST a customer, but you can also GO FUCK YOURSELF! Have a nice day." *click*
Five minutes later I'm on the phone with a smaller local competitor. Got faster internet service with considerably less damage to my wallet , they were there within the hour (46 minutes to be exact) to install their equipment, and carted off the old companies' equipment to boot. Hell, the service guy picked up the old cable modem with thumb and index finger, held it away from him with mock disgust (like it was gonna give him an incurable venereal disease) and said, "Damn, they actually leased you this ancient thing? What an eff-in' dinosaur."
During the time I had Comcast I found it rather odd that the two times I had them out for a service call (other than the last time) both service guys went out of their way to inform me that "Comcast is trying to improve it's customer relations"....in those exact words. Simply changing their name to XFinity (whatever the hell that means or implies) isn't going to change peoples perception...and neither are empty words drilled into the heads of their employees to be repeated to customers.