Direct Effect
Part two of an infrequent, rambling tirade about how the man is trying to keep me down

So Wed. was the day when the DirecTV installers were to come out and re-locate our satellite dish. Because of the drama involved in last month's installation I took the whole day off. Around 9am I get a phone call:
Install Dude: "Yeah, I am not going to be about to make it today."
Me: "Okay. I'd like to know why?"
Install Dude: "It's just one of those things. I'm really sorry."
Me: "That still doesn't explain why you're not coming out. I'd like to know why"
Install Dude: "It's just one of those things. If you would call DirecTV and reschedule."

*Sigh* so I dial up DirecTV and spin them a yarn, they become incensed (possibly feigned) and end up getting someone to come out that day. Around 5 pm I get a call telling me that the new install dude is running late. Around 6pm it starts to lightning and raining like the world is going to end. I get another phone call from the install people telling me that the install dude will be by within the hour. I check to make sure that they understand its dark, raining, and the sky is filled with lightning.
Install people: Oh, that's not a problem. They can still work in that.
When I ask them if that is, perhaps, a bit dangerous, she informs me that it’s not that dangerous. *SIGH* Of course, the guy doesn't show and at 10pm I get a call informing me of just that. Thanks, so considerate.

So I dial up DirecTV, and a guilt trip, to rat out the install people. 13 hours!!! Time off from work!!! I moan and howl. And it works. DirecTV is crediting most of my account for this month, as well as giving me a discount for the next six months. Bonus!

And this (long) story has a happy (overdue) ending. Another install dude came out this morning and re-located the dish, below the fence line with signal strength of 90% across the board. Which is a most excellent signal strength. Croc Hunter for all!!! CSPAN for everyone!!! Telemundo for the whole bar!!!

"Direct to your frontal lobe"

So.... a while back we had our DirecTV installed at the new house. However, if it was up to the two goons that were responsible for installing it they would have rather just gotten lost (twice), been three hours late, and then gone home. Instead they were three hours late, got lost twice, and I had to listen to their supervisor lie to me (twice). Finally they arrive and commence to tell me they are going to install the satellite dish here, below the fence line and in the corner. Well, I come home two hours later to find the dish has, in fact, been installed over there, above the fence line and five feet from the corner.
It's not enough to take your lunch hour waiting for them, and then come back three hours later; you also have to baby-sit them. So what happens? Well the missus & I get served a "warning" from the Home Owners Association that our dish is in violation of their laws. In a helpful twist of fate, DirecTV gives you a thirty-day grace period to change where you dish is installed - free of charge. So this Wed. I am taking the entire day off to wait for the DirecTV sub-contractors to come out and re-set the placement of the satellite dish. Or at least try to.
As a side note: the missus and I (well, just me. she kept saying this wasn't a good idea) tried to lower the dish ourselves. It took most of the afternoon and two drills to get it off. Then took the rest of the day to get it screwed back onto the fence. With a signal of 45%. For those without the DirecTV experience, anything under 65% is very,very,very poor. You may as well start saving for cable. So I went out to 'adjust' the dish in hopes of increasing the signal. However after the slightest touch I reduced our signal to a whopping 0%. That's right "0%". So now the missus and I just read things: Newspapers, TV Guide, the backs of cereal boxes, our neighbor's mail. HA!
Good luck to Sam, Lauren Scattolini and Brian White on the beginning of their new school years. Pound those books!

"Meddddic!"

So last week the company I work for send me - along with 3 other employees - to Harrisburg, PA for a video shoot. Now some might cheer or jeer if their company asked them to travel for work. I cheered; not only because I enjoy video shoots (that was part of the reason) but because were filming a triage video. Specifically, we filmed a triage video about how to treat a gunshot wound to the chest. Even though we were in a hanger with no A/C during 100 degree days and all the other companies we worked with where less than prep-pared (when compared to us) I had a great time. What's not to like? Company-purchased food, digs, fake gunshot wound. Well worth the four 12-hour days it took to shoot the whole script.
Although if I had my choice I would have joined this week's triage shoot in PA - it's a "How to perform an amputation in the field". Mmm...tasty!

Oy. I'm fried from unloading all the recent events. We are about 3/4 of the way thought this posting-dump. Check back for the conclusion of our story, were I get sent to Harrisburg PA to sweat things out.

Entertaining Days

Refreshed & recharged from sunny California, the missus and I were an unstoppable unpacking machine. Every night we threw an average of 7 boxes that once held stuff. The missus stood tall in the pocket and continued unpacking while I was at work. Then I would come home and the unpacking continued with full-force until the arrival of the missus' aunt & uncle from Allentown PA. While we did show them around DC in the evening it was they that paid for everything - dinners, drinks, movie tickets, and even house-warming gifts. Good times!

California Demise

Wedding in California! Not my wedding, but my cousin's. The first day in sunny Long Beach was spent at the outdoor rehearsal dinner, getting caught up with family and introducing the missus to everyone. I also met my cousin's son, Will Jr., for about the 4th time in his seven-year life, however this was the 1st time he actually behaved like he knew who I was. The after-dinner party was moved to some bar on the beach were I drank so much gin that I actually became sober.
Second day in Long Beach began with a pre-wedding gathering on the beach where a game of football was started up by Will Jr. The missus participated in this game and took a wicked hit from the Will Jr, the pit-sized wonder. As GREAT as a game of beach football is we did have to stop for the actual wedding.
I believe the missus has covering the actual wedding in her blog so I'm just going to say it was a perfectly gorgeous wedding, the kind of wedding that only two truly great people can create.

Holy Hell! I'm way behind on blogging. Prepare ye for an onslaught of blogs!

Moving Up
The missus and I conquered the big move. We managed to fit everything into the apartment, which you wouldn't think is a problem with the amount of space we have, however there were some last minute verdicts rendered on the larger furniture items. Big props to Kim who pitched in for a second day of moving help. With her assistance I was able to return a couch and an armoire back to mother's.
With all boxes and furniture moved in, this began the massive hemorrhaging of unwanted stuff and cardboard boxes. Then the re-arranging of bedroom furniture -twice.
For the next three days that is all we would know until...

No new posts until Verizion gets off thier asses and fixes the problem with DSL in our part - if not all - of Arlington. After mid-night tonight it will have been a full week that service has been out.

Which is a shame since I've looks to blog about - moving, trip to Long Beach California, end of Godspell. it's just too much to blog about at work.