Comcast, I will always hate you.

Well, I haven't posted in a while, so I might as well post a little ditty about Comcast because it seems that they at least read the blog here. Funny, I get more of a reaction from Comcast on this blog than their vapid customer service.

Here in Chicago we've had an ongoing bout with lousy Comcast service as exhibited in a thread at DSLReports. Now, I've experienced this for about 18 months now maybe more. Maybe less. And have had many dealings with Comcast's customer service, none of them rectifying the problem. So, finally, last night I had to call again, because it is ridiculous to pay them and get lousy service. Now, the first person I talked to was pleasant and after sorting out some administrative data that Comcast still hasn't been able to get right after about three years (like my frikin' address), she credited me a week and forwarded me to "home networking" explaining that they were going to be able to troubleshoot my problems (she actually was able to figure out that I knew what power-cycling my modem was, and that I actually knew how to use a router...refreshing).

Well, the next individual who picks up the phone isn't from 'round these parts. Which I don't really have a problem with, it's when they start reading the script and beginning all over again, and obviously don't have a clue when it comes to what the situation is to begin with before they start throwing out suggestions: "Sir, it's your router." No. It's not. Same thing happens without the router. "Oh, well, then it's your cable modem." No. It's not. It's my third cable modem. "Oh..." What a complete waste of time. It doesn't help that this is pretty much a known problem in Chicago, and that my neighbors have the same problem. No. Not at all.

And now we come to ComcastCares who keep posting comments on my blog. I'm glad you guys are reading this, but stop surfing the internet for Comcast hate mail and fix your Chicago issues. Oh, and get some decent customer service. It amazes me how the one contact companies have with their customers inevitably makes you want to get rid of that company.

The Shield Finale

I've had a week to digest the finale of The Shield and to read some critics's take on it.  I agree with some, disagree with others.  I suppose a halmark of great televsion is that it is provocative.  I know some people can't watch The Shield, they find the characters distasteful.  I think that's what makes them so enticing (and it doesn't hurt that the acting is excellent...Michael Chiklis deserves something).   I couldn't stand Forest Whitaker's Kavanaugh, but he was an excellent character.  How many shows today make you really hate their characters?  

I've talked about the comparison between Vic Mackey and Tony Soprano.  I think that the title of Most Evil goes to Vic.  There's just no way Tony could ever top what Vic did to Ronnie.  But, having said that, Vic used Ronnie just like he's used everyone else.  The one good thing you could say about Vic is that when it came down to a choice between making imaginary charges against his wife go away and Ronnie's immunity, he chose his family.  Not really sure that makes it any better, Ronnie's going to jail for the rest of his life.  

A couple of things I took away from the finale of The Shield.  There's that whole scene where Vic finally rips the camera off the wall in the interrogation room.  No more of this subtle unplugging it every time he's going to beat a confession out of someone.  And when he's looking into it, is he looking at Claudette?  Or everyone out there interested in keeping Vic from his own devices?  I see that image of Vic staring out of the monitor and just think how much he must hate a witness he can't convince to change their story.

I also can't help but think that, at the end of The Shield, how it began.  It didn't start with Vic bursting onto the scene as the corrupt and brutal strike team leader.  No.  That's where his confession starts, with the death of Terry Krowley, but that can't be the start of his descent.  By the end of the series the writers have given Vic reasons for doing what he does: autistic kids, keeping clear of the impending Krowley investigations, settling up with the Armenians, etc, etc.  But those things weren't around at the beginning.  He's far to complicated to just be evil (not that we don't get a glimpse of that from time to time).

Then there's Vic's punishment: cubicle hell.  Fitting to a degree, but did we ever really get the feeling that Vic is in love with the streets?  He found bad guys, made them pay, literally sometimes.  But I think it's more his love for the art of the deal.  Vic was always at his finest brokering a way out of a situation he had jumped into in both feet.  Not with a gun (although sometimes it was helpful) but with threats and promises.  Of course, threats get you nowhere without backing them up, and certainly Vic had a body count.  But, for Vic, death was almost always a byproduct of a bad deal.  

At the very end, Vic takes his gun out of a strongbox, puts it in the back of his pants, and smirks that little I'm not finished smirk and walks out.  Of course he has a plan.  If we've learned any one thing from the last five years, Vic always had a plan.  But what could that plan be?  

Turkey Day Confessional The Third

My third Thanksgiving post and commemorating my second year of saying
so much about so little. Well, not for the last few months, but
that's for a good reason.

Alright. So, I have a problem. I'm not spending Thanksgiving with my
family this year and blogging about my present surroundings has been
ruled out due to a NDA with a nasty retribution clause. What is one
to do?

My familiy is currently honoring the hallowed, time-honored tradition,
of recalls when the Pilgrims called up the local restaurant and had
the turkey and all the fixings delivered ready to eat, which I also
believe involved the use of a microwave brought over on the Mayflower
specifically to reheat soup at 9am.

But that's their thing, they aren't alone in that tradition, and where
the food comes from is probably not as important as the company or the
sufficient supply of wine. So I mostly jest, and I admit I miss the
9am call for soup reheating. But new things, new traditions, etc.

Mostly I miss labradors flocking around the dinner table. They're
like little Whos from Whosville who don't realize the Grinch won't be
shoveling turkey into them.

Rumors of my demise

Greatly exaggerated. I had, for a moment, contemplated ceasing blogging. Or, maybe, blogging less. Let's face it, blogging is pretty self-aggrandizing, even if I do claim I do it just to write. And I do like to write, and I make myself laugh. But then, a lot starts happening in life and the self-aggrandizing part isn't necessary, but can I really not take the five minutes that I would otherwise be playing Fallout 3 and type a few words for a few fans? See, self-aggrandizing. Well, why the hell not?

And now, do I busy myself catching up on all the stuff I didn't blog about? The Chicago marathon, my sister's wedding, the election, my success with cold fusion? No, I don't think so. I think we'll just drive on where we left off and carry on 'til dawn.

That's it for now. Just the dip of a toe to see how the water is. More soon.

Debate

I am of the opinion that McCain was all over Obama in this evening's debate. Just sayin.

One Week!

One week from today I should be done with my first Chicago Marathon. I am excited and a little anxious. I don't necessarily care what my time is, I just want to finish. That's it. Next year, I'll worry about times.

And this morning there was the Bucktown 5k. A fun run. It wasn't far, but pfft, I wasn't happy with how I felt during the run. I've dismissed it. It doesn't do any good to dwell on such things, especially when most runs, like the marathon, tend to be largely psychological.

As far as the politics go, I could care less. The whole McCain/Obama/Palin/Biden thing is just killing me. I could not be less impressed with any of them. I think there are a lot of Dems out there who are incredibly excited about Obama, but have no idea why other than it counts as a vote against some conservative policy and the current administration. But, what does Obama actually have a plan for? A policy? I don't think they have any idea. And then there's the McCain supporters. I can think of only one word for them: begrudgingly.

In other news, my Comcast internet connectivity is the worst it has ever been. I'm sort of resigned to this crap until I can get AT&T DSL or Verizon FiOS. I've had no connection, whatsoever in the evenings for the last several days. I imagine it has to do with the fact that Comcast can't handle the traffic that's being generated by the baseball playoffs. Why I am paying for that, I have no idea. And, to call them just so they can send an idiot-tech out to tell me it's fine, that's crap.

Speaking of baseball, how about those Cubs? Unbelieveable. Really. How do you get swept in three games when you are the best team in baseball? Not to take anything away from the Dodger's. They played impressive ball, and the Cubs stunk. I don't think I am a huge Cubs fan, but I'd like to see them pull it off sometime. I think the better the Cubs are during the season, the worst the heart break at the end. There are fathers out there, life-long Cubs fans, telling their sons not to follow their team. No, no, I'm sure they'd rather be Pirates fans instead. There's no dissappointment if you have no expectations.

Sorry about the infrequent postings lately. I think I post more when I am not content with my everyday life. Things have been pretty damn good lately so I find myself with less to bitch about. Even Comcast can't keep me angry. I'm just going to deal with them when I can. I do need to keep up with the blogging from the 'writing is good' standpoint though.

Whoa

It has been well over a month since my last post, which is pretty much a huge no-no when it comes to blogging.  I haven't had a lot to say in the last month, because, well, I haven't had a lot to say.  A lot has happened in that month: political conventions, stock market shenanigans, and well, I don't know, other stuff.  

I'm in the middle of training for the marathon, which probably also keeps me occupied.  Running 18 miles during the week, and then 20 on the weekend (okay, this Sunday is my first 20-miler) is something of a time-sync.  You don't really realize how much time you spend running until, one-day, you're a mile into a 6-miler and your iPod is out of power.  That's funny, I swear I plugged it in last week.  Yeah, it's getting a lot of use.  So far, so good though.  No IT band problems, or stuff like that.  

It's my first marathon, so anybody with more than a couple under their belt will be less than impressed by my musings.  But, something I've known for a while now, running is a tremendously psychological experience.  The one truth about running is that there will be pain.  Now, you take steps to limit the pain: good shoes that fit, eating/hydrating, body glide.  But there will be pain.  So, at some point, it's all about managing it.  But what a tremendous lesson that can prove to be too. 

So far it has been a tremendous experience, let's see how I feel after 26.2.