cable wars

me and the cable company are not getting along very well at the moment. i was on a promotion that gave me cable and internet for around $70 and all was well with the world until they cancelled the promotion i was on. they told me that the promotion might come back in september but i was shit our of luck until then. i asked to be transferred the retention department but they told me to fuck off. since i was coming off a promotion they insisted that i pay the full price of around $145 including taxes. i told them i wasn't happy.

as luck would have it, the competing cable provider had a promotion where i'd get a free smart tv if i signed a 3 year contract with the monthly charge being about $130. i said sign me up. i then called my current cable provider to cancel my service. i had to talk to 3 different service reps and each time i thought they'd offer me something to keep my business but no luck. they just kept telling how their service was superior so finally i cancelled and all was well with the world.

a few days later i received a call from the provider i was cancelling and was offered a great deal. a 3 month promo at $59, a $40 credit to make up for my frustration, a free gateway system and an extra digital tuner should i need it. this sounded good so i asked how much my bill would be after the promo and was told $100 so i jumped at the deal and cancelled the free tv deal with the competitor.

a few days later i received an email confirming the installation appointment for the gateway system and a break down of my charges. they had set my monthly fee at $122.95 plus tax. of course i saw red and immediately called the provider. they told me the rep made a mistake and that $122.95 was the correct charge. i was so sick of these insufferable pricks that i didn't bother arguing. when the $59 promo ends in 3 months i'll cancel the service and go through all this bullshit one more time. this stupid gateway system will be at least 3 pieces of equipment that i'll have to return at the end of the promotion. they will deliver to set the system up and get you hooked on the service but if you want to cancel, you have to return the shit yourself. i will not be very gentle with the equipment when i return it.

on the plus side, donald is doing very well and i haven't had to have the missus gently wipe any tears from my face.

i love you sons of bitches.

election day

it's election day in beautiful british columbia. it looks like our liberal government will be tossed out on their ear. they are liberals in name only. truth be told, our provincial liberals are to the right of our federal conservatives. it's not like our federal conservatives are center right, no they are strongly right. so it goes.

i hemmed and hawed all day as to whether or not i'd bother voting since i find the leaders of both major parties to be steaming piles of shit. in the end i walked up the hill and into the polling station only to realize that i had forgot my glasses. after providing i.d. and receiving my ballot i asked the guy handing out the ballots which candidate was with the green party. he pointed to a name and i put my x on the ballot right in front of him and handed it to him. he seemed a little miffed. so it goes.

years ago i took sonny with me to the polling station, he was about 6 years old. when the official gave me the ballot i handed it to sonny and told him to put an x beside which ever name looked good. a female election official was horrified and was ready to throw me in jail but her boss, an elderly man, just smiled and helped sonny place the ballot in the box.

all of the major parties will tax the shit out of me and will direct the discretionary spending at some special interest group that bugs me. that's why i don't take the whole voting bullshit seriously.

i love you sons of bitches.

ouch

i made the mistake of looking at my cable/internet bill. somehow that son of a bitch has increased to $143/month. it seems like yesterday i was paying about $60 for this shit. i don't really mind paying for the internet connection but the $80 for cable tv that i don't watch is really a pain in the ass. i'd be happy watching deadwood every night for the rest of my life. i wonder how much everyone else is paying for a bunch of shitty channels?

mickey and donald continue to do well. they've turned into a nice little experiment. donald is the bigger plant but i moved mickey to an area in the yard that gets more sunshine so it should be interesting to see if mickey can catch up to donald by the end of the summer. i named them after the two alien lizards being raised by sam yeager in the harry turtledove colonization series. it's all part of the world war series i've been babbling about for months.

here's an excellent version of an old hank snow classic.

i love you sons of bitches, maybe even more than i love donald and mickey.