I had to do the Cable Company dance again. I had to cancel one and switch to the other again in order to receive the better deal. I will, most likely, have to do this again in two years because our “deal” will have expired and the bill will spike up another $30-40. It’s ridiculous that I have to do this dance every other year. I don’t understand why cable companies can’t be more like cell phone companies, every two years renew your contract at a discounted rate.
Yea, I get that they probably make most of their money from people that suddenly decide they don’t give a damn when their current deal ends and they just pay the extra charges. Perhaps the number of people that actually do drop service to switch to a cheaper service is a smaller percentage. Be that as it may, I still don’t understand why they are so difficult to negotiate with when I call a month before my contract expires to try to extend my coverage and keep my lower rate. I would think they would want to keep me as a customer. Loyalty builds a steadier stream of income. I shouldn’t have to go to twitter and start berating them before I get cooperation.
I’m getting close to just “cutting-the-cord” on cable in general, I know several of my friends already have. The technology available in Blu-ray players and Smart TVs today almost make it more affordable to ditch cable and access all the shows and movies from the Internet. We just switched so, for the time being, I’m going to endure with this cable provider but when it gets close to the end of my contract then I think it will be time to be the biggest pain in the ass as possible. I’m just tired of the hassle of switching providers all the time.
/endsoapbox
Issue 98: March 14th is the almighty Pi Day (3.14), I have acknowledged this day since high school trigonometry (Thanks Mr. Urban). How did you celebrate Pi Day? Sadly I had to work today, but I think a Cheesecake (I know, it says cake, but it looks like a pie) this evening. Be that as it may, check out these awesome headlines in the MMO world lately.
Back in the day, around 1997 – 1998, I picked up a book called “Teach Yourself HTML4 in 24 Hours”. It was my first glimpse into the world of web development. Thanks to SamsNet Publishing, I read that book cover to cover and referenced is so much the cover literally came off. CSS was still in its early stages and JavaScript was hated by everyone. Creating dynamic content was a test in perseverance and willpower. If I wanted a cool menu system, and I didn’t want to write it myself, I had to find something I liked on places like http://www.dynamicdrive.com or research how to do it using DHTML (which I don’t think even exists anymore).
My total weight loss goal was 60 pounds. The closest I came was 55 pounds before I plateaued again. Granted I haven’t been working out as much as I was a couple of months ago. I attribute most of that to the busy Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday and the obnoxious, freezing weather we have had this winter. I’ve been pondering if perhaps I may not actually lose those last five pounds.
Issue 97: If you want to know why this is titled “Fat Chocobo”, you will have to read the post, but I will give you a hint … it might provide a means to get from point A to point B much faster. Beyond that it looks like folks are starting to thaw out from this crazy winter weather (well, most of us are thawing out anyway). As the weather gets nicer I’m sure our in-door activities will decrease. I know the “day star burns us” but you should find some time to get outside and get some Vitamin D (whether that means yard work or exercise). But there are plenty of hours in the day to get back in and pwn some mobs.