|
On Tuesday July 18, North Central Texas had a pretty hot day (even for N. Central TX) reaching 106F. When I got to my apt. early that evening after work, I noticed my cable was out-- not just TV, but internet, too (both provided in a package deal by my cable co.). Well, o-kay. In the past six months, it's happened a few times and it's not the end of the world. I had some writing to take of anyway and two DVD's I'd bought that weekend to watch.
When I get home on Wed., there's still no cable. Being the kinda guy who feels extreme guilt just for paying a bill one day late, I was confident that the error was not on my part, but I still had to check. So I call the company and ask if there's a problem. This is what I'm told-- "TXU (our energy provider in the area) had rolling grey-outs due to the extreme temperature. The grey-outs did not affect major power lines but did affect some of the fiber optic cables so that's most likely the problem."
Great. So when do I get the cable service restored?
"I'm looking at our schedule and I'm afraid that we won't have any technicians available until Aug. 2."
I'm sorry..., I must've misunderstood you. It sounded like you said Aug. 2 That's in two weeks.
"Yes. That's right. You'll need to be at your residence between 3pm & 8pm that day.
Ummm.... you mean August second? As in Two-Weeks-From-Now-August-second? TWO WEEKS!? And I have to lose two hours of pay to accomodate you?
Sweetly she responded, "Yes, that's right"
(At this point I realized THE major problem with cell phones-- you can't slam it down like the old Ma Bell phones)
I calmed down, wrote down the date and o-k'd it with my boss-man (who's been making matters worse by telling me about the Sins of cable and the Holy Righteousness of satellite).
Every two days (not kidding-- EVERY two days), the cable company has been calling me with the same damn question, "We have you scheduled for a service support call for August 2nd. What seems to be the problem...?"
Now, I get a call this morning. "Mr. Smith-- we have an opening and if you can be at your apartment at ten o'clock (it's 9:30 when I get the call), we can have someone out there today."
If I take an early lunch you guys can have it fixed this morning?
"Oh, no sir. We can schedule you for today-- it would be between 9:00 & 5:00 today-- but you'd have to be there."
Thanks, but no. I'll keep my regular appointment for tomorrow.
"Are you sure? You'll miss some great shows tonight on the line-up!"
(Again I wished I had a Ma Bell phone-- regardless that I'm at work).
No, I said calmly. Let's just keep the appointment for tomorrow. And then I hung up.
What prompted me to rant about this is that five minutes ago, a rep from the cable company called and said, "Mr. Smith? We have you scheduled for a service support call for August 2nd. What seems to be the problem...?"
This very even-keeled, low-key, mild-mannered guy is very, VERY thankful for the five-day waiting period on gun purchases right now...
Now back to your regularly scheduled posts.
|