I have a had a yearlong dispute with Comcast due their overwhelming incompetence and inability to communicate effectively. This speaks volumes to the fact that they have the worst possible customer service I have ever had the privilege of experiencing.
I discontinued my cable TV service with them at the end of March 2007. It is now the middle of May 2008, 400+ days later and I still have unresolved billing issues. At the closing of my account I asked if there was anything I needed to do (including returning the cable box) and they stated that I was all set. This seemed strange to me, but nevertheless, I followed their advice and assumed the account was closed.
Fast forward to the fall of 2007, I receive a notice from a Credit Protection Associtaion, a collections agency in Dallas, TX stating that I owed $420 due to a delinquent account with Comcast. They were claiming that I stole their equipment, so I quickly dug the cable box out of storage, took an afternoon off work and drove it to the Comcast office in DC.
I finally returned the equipment that, 8 months prior, they were uninterested in reclaiming. Explaining my situation, I told her that I needed the issue to be resolved with the collection agency in Dallas because I no longer owed Comcast anything and my account was cleared. I took the equipment return receipt and with a couple clicks of the keyboard she confirmed that I was good to go.
Fast forward another several months and my cell phone rings. It’s a representative from Credit Protection Association saying that my deliquent account with Comcast has been reported to national credit agencies and my credit score has been negatively impacted. At this point, I want to reach through the phone and punch the customer service agent in the face because I’ve been taken for a yearlong ride with these two companies and neither of them seems to know what’s going on.
Three more calls to Comcast, two to Credit Protection Association, followed by faxing the equipment return receipt and I still don’t have this ding on my credit report fixed. It’s un-fucking-believable how many hoops you have to jump through to clean up a mess like this. How many incompetent, unmotivated, temp-employees do I have to talk to before I get this resolved?
Mark my words, once I have a grudge against a company, it’s a lifetime ban. There will never be Comcast in my home as long as I live.
Most of my friends don’t think of me as southern, and frankly, neither do I. But I can’t ignore the undeniable heritage I have tying me to the South. With the help of some knowledgeable family members as well as a freshly minted ancestry.com membership, I have set out on a quest to learn more about my roots.
My father was born and raised in North Carolina and our roots deep into the early 1700’s in the Tar Heel State. With the online research I’ve done via ancestry.com, I’ve revealed an intriguing array of family members. People that share my genes but were alive when Lincoln was President, or Washington, or even before the Declaration of Independence.
James Reid Cochran was born in Rutherford County on the 5th of November, 1839. He lived a very rural farmer’s life in Camp Creek, NC until the age of 22. James enlisted in the Confederate States Army as a Corporal on March 24th, 1862. For a frame of reference, a short month prior to this, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the President of the Confederate States of America. A month later, on April 21st, James was at Camp Mangum, outside of Raleigh, where he joined up with the North Carolina 50th Infantry Regiment, company G.
James fought with the North Carolina 50th in the Battle of New Bern, against General Tecumseh Sherman’s Union forces in both the Battle of Averasborough, and the Battle of Bentonville. His regiment surrendered to Union forces on April 26th, 1865.
James found his way back to Rutherford County and on the 17th of May, 1874 he married Eliza Catherine Moss. The two of them had six children (his daughter Elizabeth is my great-grandmother) until Eliza passed away at the age of 50 in 1888. He remarried a couple years later, had three more children and then died at the age of 60 on the 11th of January, 1900. William McKinley was President and the house that I now own and reside in was just being built.
Well, I’m sitting in Kowloon City, Hong Kong, preparing for New Year’s festivities and I can’t help but reflect back on a wild 2007. With the perspective of time, I look back and can say with certainty that after a little rocky ride in the summer, I have had a series of incredibly fun experiences since my 30th birthday in August.
I saw the Black Crowes on my birthday and then went to see the Counting Crows, Live, and Collective Soul later that week. Lawrence and I threw a big celebratory party at my house and had maybe 80 people and an ice luge in the basement. I visited my sister and her kids down in Charleston. I took a trip up to Burlington to see old friends from Exeter that I hadn’t seen in a while. I took a brief visit up to Exeter with my sister Anne, her husband Colby, and their little boy Mac. I had a great conversation with Mr. Weatherspoon reflecting on my life and he had some very insightful advice. The next day Colby and I decided it was well worth it, and pretty much imperative, that we attend game 7 of the ALCS at Fenway, so of course we went.
Shortly thereafter I took a trip across the pond to reconnect with old friends in Dundee, Scotland. It was fantastic to see them all again after ten years, and I hope to make that a regular trip now. Lawrence and I threw a sequel party and had even more people this time and yet another ice luge, but this time it didn’t melt all over the basement floor.
Now to close out the year, I’m currently in Hong Kong visiting my buddy Mike after spending several days in Vietnam and Cambodia with my dad. This has certainly been the crowning experience of the last five months.
I try to make a few lists here and there in my daily life and I think it’s important to list the things that I’ve learned in 2007. The first is that nothing can replace strong relationships with family and friends. They are extremely important to me and will always be. Second is everyone should strive to live their lives with dignity, respect, and above all, honesty. The third is that I don’t like tattoos. I never really have, because I think they’re a tacky form of self-expression. Lastly, the most important thing is reinforcing something I learned when I was five: follow the Golden Rule. Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you. A simple rule to follow, yet it has such a profound impact on how you live your life.
Here’s to a fantastic 2008. Happy New Year’s everyone!
This World Series was a joke. The NL is an impotent league completely incapable of putting up runs against any of the AL powerhouses. Every AL team in the playoffs this year would have trounced the best of the NL. When is the NL going to get their sh*t together? These things certainly are cyclical, but I pretty much expect the AL to win at least seven of the next ten World Series titles. The last quality World Series was 2001 when the Diamondbacks stunned Mariano and the Yankees with the most exciting come-from-behind game 7 victory I’ve ever witnessed. Since then, it’s been a series of forgettable Series’. Here’s looking to 2008…please give us something to cheer about at the end of the season.
Seriously…friends from first grade in Tokyo, friends from my summer spent in Dundee, Scotland, friends from my years in Bangkok, and friends that sit in the office next to me. Facebook has made it ridiculously easy to remain in touch with friends I thought I’d never see or speak to again.
There’s Chris who lives down under and Nuuti who’s now in Finland. We were friends way back in the third grade. Now through the magic of the Facebook feed, I can follow their humorous status updates.
There’s my newest Facebook friend Ryan who used to play on my baseball team a couple years ago, but then we lost touch.
There’s Brad and Charlie who were buddies of mine back in Bangkok. We used to get into all kinds of trouble with BB guns listening to Nirvana. Turns out Brad has lived in my town for the last three years, so we went out for a beer to catch up.
The wildest story was finding out that Pat, a girl that went to high school with me in Bangkok, ended up meeting and marrying Josh, a guy that went to boarding school with me in New Hampshire. Bizarre, and what a small world this is thanks to Facebook.
Mark my words…the only reason George P Bush (Dubya’s nephew, Jeb Bush’s son) is joining the Naval reserve is so he can have military experience on his resume for when he runs for office. I guarantee it.
You’re not running for President of Canada (er, Prime Minister)...Stephen Harper has got that job locked up. So why are you joining a Facebook group called British Columbia for John Edwards. Vancouver is supposed to be cool…kind of like Hollywood for the north…and Whistler has great skiing. But, uh…Canadians can’t vote for you. I also saw a group called Eritreans for Edwards and Velociraptors for Edwards. For those of you that remember Jurassic Park, you’re well aware that you should always stay on a velociraptors good side, so Edwards, you should pander to those two groups as well.
I’ve been addicted to social networking sites since Friendster circa 2003. First there was Friendster, then Myspace, followed by Facebook, and LinkedIn. I’d even go way back to Classmates.com back when I was in college in the late 90s.
What do I have to show for my intense interest in these sites? Zero. I have frittered away sometimes up to two or three hours of my day searching for the most obscure friend from my past, like the guy that played third base on my baseball team in the 8th grade (the Giants). Or whatever happened to my buddy Phil from 2nd grade…I wonder if I can track him down. Most of the time I come up empty handed, but once in a while I’ll stumble across a gold mine of old friends. I’m amazed at how easy it is to track people down and read the wealth of information they’re willing to share about themselves. I’m glad that you went to Pomona and studying salamanders, spending your summers on the Oregon coast…seriously, very interesting.
The thing that boggles my mind is all the college kids posting pictures of their boozin’ shenanigans from each of the last four weekends for all the world to see, then they wonder why they were turned down for that internship they applied for. Lack of common sense. Don’t pose next to a bong with two thumbs up if you’re looking to work at Morgan Stanley.
So, what have I gained from my estimated 1,000+ hours spent surfing these damn sites, tracking down and friending people I haven’t seen in 10+ years. Not much really, but it’s certainly an interesting opportunity to see where people from your past end up (at least according to what they write in their Myspace profile). Are you really a traveling cowboy performing with Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show? Wow, what major do you need for that?
No more wasting time writing this post…time to check out who uploaded some new pictures to Facebook.
All of which suggests that the 18-month market correction that followed the four-year housing boom has just about run its course. From a national statistical perspective, we’re somewhere near slack tide—but no one’s looking for another frothy high tide anytime soon.
The combined factors of low interest rates, high inventory lead to a fairly robust buyers market, and as we go into spring, I’m curious to see what happens to the market. I’ve witnesses prices on several properties coming down up to $150K for some really desperate sellers. I’d hate to be the one holding that bag.
Well, probably not according to her political views, however this interview on JamBands.com might lead one to believe that she isn’t ice cold. She has a good taste in music at least.
I have a had a yearlong dispute with Comcast due their overwhelming incompetence and inability to communicate effectively. This speaks volumes to the fact that they have the worst possible customer service I have ever had the privilege of experiencing.