Stardate 60009.21 - Sorry, But Another Rant

Babies generate a lot of laundry. Every time Loren spits up on something, we have to add it to the hamper. Babies also have sensitive skin, so we can't send her clothes out as we do our own. Instead, we wash them ourselves. Our building has a laundry facility in the basement, with about 12 washers and 12 dryers. The general "rule" I believe for all laundry facilities is that you take your single washer load and place it into a single dryer.

Well, let me tell you about my experience last night. Cheryl got the laundry started, but by the time things were ready for the dryer, Loren was feeding so I went down. There were about 6 dryers available at the time. My laundry had about 3 minutes left, so I just hung out there, skimming the book titles on the small "library" that was established in our building by a very short-lived tenants association. A woman (referred to as the "Bitch" in the rest of this post, which is a nicer word than I called her when I got back to my apartment and was venting to Cheryl) came in whose laundry had finished the wash cycle, and then she proceeded to take her three loads of laundry and spread them out over 5 dryers. She would have taken all 6, but before she could finish my laundry was done and I had started to put clothes into one of the dryers. I had three washer loads of laundry and I got one...that's right, one...dryer. She had 3 loads and got 5 dryers. So I had to wait in the laundry room for about 20 minutes, at which time one of the other non-Bitch dryers had finished and someone came to retrieve her clothes. So I got one more of my loads into a dryer. I did not get another dryer until my first one finished.

Oh, did I mention that our dryers are on 30 minute cycles, but that you can re-insert your cash card and increase the time? The Bitch did this...to all five of her dryers. She put 45 minutes on them all.

I am amazed at:

1. How stupid the human race can be
2. How inconsiderate the human race can be

Does no-one learn the Golden Rule anymore?
Report filed from NYC.

Stardate 60007.33 - Weight Check

Cheryl strapped on the Bjorn and went down to her class in the freezing rain today, and Loren weighed in at nearly 11 pounds (she was over 11 pounds just slightly, but she had a t-shirt and diaper on, so Cheryl guesses that she is really slightly under). We didn't get a picture of her adorable polar bear snowsuit (she was like a living teddy bear). I'll try to get that next time Cheryl takes her out. This photo is from later in the afternoon, when Cheryl tried Loren front-facing in the Bjorn for the first time so she could go get a package from downstairs. Loren was very happy until I got the camera out to take a picture, and then...well, you can see the result.

As I mentioned, Cheryl went to get a package. The packages in our building are finally catching up. We live in a 24-hour doorman building, which I never really cared about when we were looking for places in NYC 4 years ago, but now that we have it I don't want to ever live in an apartment without. One of the advantages is that the doorman can sign for packages. Normally I get an e-mail when one has arrived, but they had connectivity issues early in December, and then they got really far behind over the holidays. Cheryl went down this morning to pick one up, but they gave her one that arrived yesterday, so she had to go back down to say no, I have another one. And I just got an e-mail that yet another package has arrived. No-one probably finds this interesting, so I'll move on.

Jessica Stover does this cool thing where at the top of each post she lets you know where she is as she writes the post. As I am sure some of my travel will begin to pick up again, I've decided to steal her good idea, but as any good consultant would do I'll modify her idea to place it at the bottom, thus turning it into a new idea - mine.

I've been writing some fiction over the past month. It is based on our USS Excalibur crew, and I'm up to 9,000 or so words so far (about 45 pages double-spaced; two chapters). So far it is going very quickly. We'll see were it ends up once I am done. Jessica publishing her book inspired me to finally try to do some pseudo-serious writing.

Report filed from NYC.

Stardate 60001.6 - Happy New Year!

Cheryl, Loren, and I barely made it to 10 PM last night before we were off to bed. Of course, Loren was up a couple of times, so I think we greeted the new year around 1 AM.

We took Loren to church for the first time, the Church Of St. Vincent Ferrer. It is only a couple of blocks away. After some initial fussiness once the stroller stopped moving, Cheryl got Loren to settle down and she slept through the service. Not many people at church at 10AM on New Year's Day, but apparently more than the priest was expecting.

I have tomorrow off, and then I am back to work on a full-time schedule after having worked minimal hours over the past week. Business e-mail traffic was light last week, so I think most people took the week off or worked minimal hours. I think I ended up taking just shy of 40 hours of leave for the second half of December.

And if all goes well, then I should have my cell phone working by week's end (haha).

And here is a picture of Loren from Christmas for your enjoyment.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Stardate 59998.51 - The Latest on Loren

A post from Cheryl

For all of you who are checking the site for news about Loren rather than ranting about Cingular, here’s an update. (Though believe me, the rants are fully justified and I could add my own history, which includes nearly breaking into tears in the Cingular store to get a broken phone replaced one week past the warranty a couple of years ago. But I have not had any problems with them since, and stayed with them when I upgraded my phone because my existing plan was cheaper than what I could currently get from any other company for my low level of use. And not only is Curt having problems transitioning from a former AT&T customer to Cingular, so is his friend Ryan). At Loren’s 6 week checkup this week, she was 22 ¼ inches and 10 lbs 5 oz. For those keeping score, that means she’s still in the 75th percentile for height, where she was at 1 week, but has increased from 35th to 60th percentile in weight. Clearly she was not satisfied being below average and has been eating furiously to catch up. She has been smiling for a couple of weeks now, and is holding her head up well and taking in her surroundings. She’s particularly fond of the Christmas tree and pictures on the wall – during our visit to my parents she spent lots of time admiring my mom’s artwork over the couch. She also had her first sit-down and awake restaurant experience at John's Pizza on Thursday (Maggie Moos and Pie don't count). She was pretty good, she just didn't want to sit in her carseat/stroller.

We don’t have many new pictures since Christmas. Here’s one of Loren hanging out with her cousin Ellie.

Captain’s Log Supplemental – Now Cingular Tells Me Next Thursday (maybe)

The guy I spoke with at Cingular at noon (who promised to call me at 4 PM my time to confirm that my phone was working) did not call back (of course).  So at 4:20 PM, with my phone still indicating “no service”  I called the Cingular activation phone number for the fourth time and spoke with my third person, Lisa.

For the third time, I had to state which plan I purchased, and Lisa wanted the IMEI number and the SIMM number off of both SIMMs – the one from the store and the one that shipped with the phone.  At least Lisa seemed to understand that this situation was an issue beyond what she could do.  The guy at noon (didn’t catch his name) seemed to think he had everything taken care of, and the guy this morning (Brian) was useless and just sent me to the store.

Lisa told me that the system was not accepting either of the SIMM numbers, so she got in touch with the migration (since that is what I am doing, migrating from AT&T to Cingular) technical staff.  After lots of time on hold (I sure as hell wasn’t going to hang up and have Cingular once again fail to call me back), she returned to say that they had to open up a trouble ticket (my words, not hers) to solve this issue and that it would be 2-3 business days before they could get the issue resolved.  We ended our call at 4:57 PM, so I was on the phone with Cingular this fourth time for 37 minutes.

So, lets review, shall we?

20 Dec – Ordered the phone, promised “1-2 days delivery”

22 Dec – Was told the order was received, would get the phone in “1-2 business days”

27 Dec – Phone arrives in NJ (which is where I was on the 22nd but not on the 27th).

29 Dec, 1100 – Family members drive into the city with the phone.  I plug it in to charge for 8 hours.  
      1900 – I turn it on for 2 hours to “auto-register”, which it does not.  
      2100 – I call their system, but the automated portion cannot help and it is past business hours for humans.

30 Dec, 0700 – Talk to Cingular human (Brian), told SIMM shipped with phone has an issue.  Sent to store to get new SIMM.
      1200 – Talk to Cingular human #2, told all is well and in 2 hours phone should be fine.  Promised to call me at 1600 to confirm phone is working.
      1620 – Not having heard from Cingular human #2, I call Cingular and talk to Cingular human #3 (Lisa).  After more that 30 minutes on phone, told it is a technical migration issue and they will try to resolve in 2-3 business days.

Lisa is supposed to get an e-mail message once it is fixed, and then she is supposed to call me.  She said they have to work Monday so I should hear no later than Wednesday and maybe even Tuesday.  She sounds sincere, but maybe I just believe women more than men.

For the record, IF the phone is finally working on Wednesday the 4th of January, that will be 9 business days (15 calendar days) after I ordered the phone.

Captain’s Log Supplemental – Still no Phone

So I went to the store for a new SIMM. The person I dealt with at the store seemed completely confused. She did give me a new SIMM and warned me not to turn the phone on until I called to activate it, because I didn’t want to “burn out the SIMM”…whatever that means.

So by the time I got home and got Loren settled, it was noon when I called to activate my phone. This was now my third call to activate my phone. Now, after I put all my data into the automated system, it told me:

“We are unable to find your account based on the information you provided. Press 1 to re-enter your information or 0 to speak with a customer service representative.”

So I pressed 1 and put in my cell number and my billing zip again and got the same message. So I moved on to an actual person.

A 25 minute conversation later (with lots of holding while the rep "rebooted his system"), I was told to turn on my phone but that it would take 2 hours for my activation to “move through the switch”…whatever that means. The rep promised to call me back at 4 PM my time (which is 3.5 hours after I turned on the phone) to see if I had service.

He also told me it “might be quicker than 2 hours” and that once I got service I needed to “turn the phone off and then back on”.

So here I am, 18 hours after I first turned on my phone so it would “auto-activate”, and I am still without service.

Why is Cingular still in business? Is it because everyone is locked into 2-year contracts that they cannot get out of? I am considering looking into what would be involved in a class-action lawsuit against all the mobile phone companies to eliminate this practice of long contracts with expensive buy-out options. I’m sure I could find an attorney in NYC who would want to take this on. The price of the phones will go up, but maybe the f****** companies would treat their customers better if every single one of them could jump ship at any time.

Stardate 59995.57 - Pictures of Loren at Christmas

Because I've had a couple of rants against Cingular recently (I'll let everyone know how my trip to the store goes later today), I thought I'd post an intermission to all my yelling and put some pictures of Loren up here.

Going on a walk in NJ:


Opening presents at home:



Miss unhappy Loren (I think she really wanted seasons 5,6,&7 of Star Trek The Next Generation on DVD for Chrismas and she didn't get it):

:-)

Stardate 59995.36 - Cingular CONTINUES TO SUCK MY ASS

Update to my experiences with the worst. cell. phone. company. ever.

Called this morning at 0709 (within their "activation hours"). After another 3 minutes of speaking to the computer, it told me once again that "we cannot help you at this time". I was prepared for this eventuality, however, and pressed zero to go to an actual person. Brian answered my call.

After ten minutes with Brian, he told me that the SIMM that was installed and shipped with my phone is bad. I could either:

A) Go to a store to get a new SIMM

B) Wait for them to ship a replacement

So I guess I'm going to a f******* store today to get a g****** m*****f****** replacement SIMM.

If you are counting, I am now at 10 calendar days (6 business days) after placing my order, which promised I'd have my working phone in "1-2 business days".

Stardate 59994.25 - Cingular Continues to Suck my Ass

To continue my story on why Cingular sucks….

So my wife’s brother Steve and his family and my father-in-law came out to visit today and brought my phone with them. Following the instructions, I plugged it in and allowed it to charge for 8 hours. I then turned it on and left it on for 2 hours, during which time it was supposed to register on the network.

Did it happen? No.

So I called the number on the form that Cingular had inserted into the shipping box:

If you are experiencing activation issues or have issues with your order please call 1-866-391-0749. One of our order specialists will be happy to assist you.

Lies. Based on this note, you would think that this number would be the activation number (wrong!) and that the activation center would be manned 24 hours (wrong!).

First, that number did get me to a person (Chris), who told me that there is a different number for activating the phone: 1-866-895-1099. OK, that's not what the form says, but at least Chris was helpful. So he transferred me there, and at least he gave me the actual number in case I got disconnected. He failed to tell me the working hours, however, that the activation number was manned (continue reading).

So onto the second phase. Now connected to the "activation number" I proceeded to wade through about 3 solid minutes of voice prompts. I first had to figure out which one to choose right off the bat, since “activate service” was not an option. I finally figured out that “problem with my order” was the magic phrase. I then had to continue to provide information, including my cell phone number, social security number, and billing zip code. I also had to say that I agreed to some long-ass service crap that seemed to go on forever, the words of which did not seem to match the plan I selected at all (it talked about month-to-month and I am pretty sure to get the price I got for the phone I had to agree to 2-years, but WTF). And I sure wasn’t going to press anything that repeated any part of this process.

Finally, just when I think it is all about to wrap up with a positive result, I am told:

“We’re sorry, but we cannot help you at this time. Please call back or, to talk to a representative, please press zero.”

OK, the automated system has failed spectacularly, but perhaps I can finally get to my second actual person at Cingular! Maybe I can get my phone working tonight!!

WRONG AGAIN!!

Third phase, I press zero, and am told:

“We’re sorry, but our offices are closed. Our offices are open Monday through Friday from 7 AM until 9 PM, and on Saturday…”

And, of course, since I turned my phone on at 7 and waited the damn 2 hours for it to auto-register it is now past 9 PM. So now I have to wait until tomorrow.

So in review, Cingular doesn’t have the correct activation number on their insert with the phone, they do not have 24 hour customer service, and their telephone system just sucks.

I should have just gone with T-Mobile. Sprint has nice ads also. And Verizon’s network is supposed to be the best. Consumer reports did a review recently of all the cell plans and AT&T/Cingular customer service deservedly received a low score.

Captains Log Supplemental - Loren REALLY Hates her Shots

Oh. My. Goodness.

Loren woke up from her nap and in the middle of nursing began to scream. We have never had her do that before. We had to (according to advice from our doctor) give her infant Tylenol. That seems to have eased her pain and she has been sleeping a lot this afternoon. Hopefully this does not mean we are in for a rough night.

Stardate 59990.7 - Christmas Joy

So for Christmas we spent 5 days in NJ eating too much and visiting my wife's family. Well, Christmas was pretty good overall, despite my Mother-In-Law ending up in the hospital overnight Friday and my Brother-In-Law Steve crashing his Aunt Marie's Durango with his wife and two kids in it.

Luckily, Cheryl's Mom is fine (it was not appendicitis) and Steve and his family are fine as well. I don't know about the Durango. I was hoping Marie's boyfriend would have posted his thoughts regarding the accident on his blog for a different perspective, but no such luck. I was also hoping for some pictures of the Durango post-crash on Steve's Blog.

Steve, Rachel, Ethan, and Ellie may come into the city tomorrow for a visit, so we'll get more details at that time. They should (if they remember) be bringing me my new cell phone. I am also waiting for Ryan to post on his blog about his horrible Cingular experience. I only have hints of what that is all about.

Loren had her 6-week check up today. All is well, and here are her vitals for those keeping track:

Height: 22.25 Inches
Weight 10 pounds 5 oz

She also got her Diphtheria/Tetanus/Pertussis, Polio, Heamophilus Influenzae Type b, and Pneumococcal Conjugate vaccines. She did not care for receiving the actual shots, and now has four band-aids on her thighs. But she didn't yell too badly during the shots. She and Cheryl are off taking a nap as I make this entry. Cheryl is still on maternity leave of course, and I am trying to work half-days for the rest of the week.

So all-in-all, a good holiday. I do miss having the entire week off between Christmas and New Year's. I may have to start just taking that time off. The issue is that Cheryl earns 6 weeks of vacation per year, but I only earn 3 weeks. In May I will have been with the same company for 10 years, but I have to be promoted to Principal or be an employee for 15 years before I go to 4 weeks.

But I shouldn't be complaining during the holidays.

Happy New Year to everyone!!

Captain's Log Supplemental - Christmas Pictures

Daddy (me) and Loren:


The Chriss family:


Mom and Loren:


The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...


Early morning, before all the action started:

Enjoy! Merry Christmas to everyone!!

Stardate 59981.6 - Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone!! Hope everyone is enjoying time with friends and family.

It has been a couple of interesting days. The bad news is that Cheryl's Mom went into the hospital on Friday and had to stay overnight. The good news is that it does not appear to be anything too serious and she was home in time for Christmas Eve dinner and festivities.

Cheryl's Dad's camera is a similar model to our own, so his cable may work. I may get some pictures posted later today.

Stardate 59976.42 – Furious at Cingular Wireless – Spoiled Christmas

All I wanted for Christmas was to upgrade my crappy AT&T Wireless cell phone…and Cingular (who purchased AT&T Wireless) let me down, as I’m sure they let other customers down if this is how they run their business.

I’ve been going to the Cingluar website once a month or so for the past 6 months or more, trying to upgrade my phone. At first, the site told me that because I was a former AT&T Wireless customer with an international plan, I was ineligible to upgrade via the web. I finally went into a Cingular store where an associate told me that I had to wait until 3 months or so from my contract expiration before I could upgrade. I continued to check the web site, and finally in October it told me I couldn’t upgrade because I had not met the requirements of the contract. Finally! Light at the end of the tunnel!

In late November I went to the site and it permitted me to upgrade! I picked a phone and plan, and I ordered accessories from Amazon (cheaper than from Cingular). The next day, I received an e-mail that told me “Unfortunately, either we have not heard from you in several days, or you have chosen to cancel your order. In either case, this e-mail confirms your order cancellation.” Huh??? You heard from me yesterday, you bastards, when I placed my order! And I sure as hell didn't cancel it!

I called them up, and the customer service rep (who was actually helpful!) told me that there was a bug in the web page and I should not have been permitted to upgrade until December 20th, as that was the date close enough to the end of my contract to make me eligible to upgrade. I set a reminder in my calendar for December 20, and looked forward to getting my new phone as a Christmas present to myself (and to Cheryl, because I'd finally have a decent phone and she would not have to hear me bitching about my old phone any more).

On the morning of December 20 I went to the web site and upgraded my phone and plan. I received the following e-mail later that day:

“Thank you for upgrading your former AT&T Wireless account. We look forward to providing you with the best coverage over the largest digital voice and data network in America. Remember, if you need help at any time, you can count on our knowledgeable customer service representatives and convenient online account management tools to be there when you need them.
You should receive your item(s) within one to two business days, based on the shipping method you selected.”

Now, since we were going to NJ for Christmas in 2 days, I had the phone shipped there. Even though it said 1-2 days, I figured I was safe just sending it to NJ. We went to NJ on Thursday. IThe phone did not arrive 2 days after the order, and instead I received the following e-mail Thursday near 5 PM:

“Cingular Wireless - Order Status UpdateDear Cust Sawyer ,Thank you for choosing Cingular Wireless. Your order has been received. We’re glad to have you join the largest digital voice and data network in America.
We look forward to servicing your wireless needs for a long time to come.”

SO, I ORDERED ON TUESDAY FROM CINGULAR’S WEBSITE AND THEY JUST RECEIVED MY ORDER ON THURSDAY?!?!?!?

I checked the link they provided and was able to get to the UPS site, and it tells me:

“Your package is in the UPS system and is on time with a scheduled delivery date of Dec 27, 2005.”

For the record, we'll be back in NY on the 27th.

So, to recap, I ordered the phone on the 20th with a promise of 1-2 day delivery, Cingular claims to not have even received my order until 2 days later, with the phone showing up two days after Christmas. Just for the record, that is four business days (7 calendar days) after I placed my order.

Cingular sucks. Spoiled my Christmas.

Stardate 59974.57 - No Pictures Until Tuesday

We're in NJ now until Tuesday, having arranged for our usual cat-sitters to watch Squirt and Magic for the next few days. We remembered the camera, but forgot the cable to connect the camera to the PC. So this means we cannot post any pictures until we get back to the apartment on Tuesday. Sorry! I know everyone has nothing better to do than to wait for our latest updates!

By the way, this is our first overnight trip with Loren. I am amazed at the amount of crap we have to take with us now that we have a child. Amazing! It took us much longer than anticipated to get out of the apartment, and the car was full of bags.

Stardate 59971.1 - Some More Pictures

Cheryl purchased me a cool tripod for the camera for Christmas (since it arrived in an obvious B&H box, we didn't need to wait to open it). My gift to myself arrived also - the new video card. I put it in with absolutely no problems and it fired right up and I launched Everquest and was able to play the demo for about 20 minutes before our D&D game last night. So mission accomplished - I can now play modern (released in the last 2 years) games. Here are some shots we took with the tripod.


Andy should like the shirt I'm wearing. And I'm sure my hair is a fright. We are in the middle of the transit strike here in NYC so Cheryl and I both had to walk over 60 blocks yesterday, and pulling off a sweater does these things to your hair.

Stardate 59968.08 - More of Loren

Since I've been posting about me recently, here are some shots of Loren.



Su Ming with Loren.

Stardate 59962.97 - Review of Aidmheil

Review of Aidmheil,
Mine will be set to Haiku.
Truly a great read.

Scottish luck prevailed.
Buyer number one
received a rare gift indeed.

Could never write it,
poetry in any way.
Admire those who do.

Dust, Wind, and Stone was
lonely, bleak, and uplifting.
I drank Zima, too.

Fiction skills displayed,
Greyfeather was but a taste.
Is there more to come?

Revenge of the nerds
among the first entries read.
Classic humor – fun.

Journal conveys much.
Witness to your awesomeness,
constant and steady.

Review is over.
Remember that we believe,
Wingmen stand ready.

Captain's Log Supplemental - First Bottle and First Hat That Fits

Here I am giving Loren her first bottle (pure breastmilk!). Cheryl finds this a great relief because she can now leave to get her hair done without Loren starving! Also, we had $10 in gift cards for Cold Stone Creamery, so we took Loren for a walk up 19 blocks to the nearest so Cheryl and I could pig out. When we got her dressed we discovered that she has grown into at least one of her hats! Enjoy the pictures.



The hat fits!!!




















¨Am I really going outside????¨

Stardate 59960.98 - Book Signing Attendance?

So did anyone go to Jessica's book signing?