The Visiting Nephew, XG/MGE Fiasco Update #6, Time Warner Does Not Nickel And Dime, And What Happened to the “Ultra-Competitive” NBA Playoffs?
No quick-hitters tonight; I’ll save them for next time.
- While it was fun to see my three-year-old (not four yet, as I said earlier!) nephew this past weekend, I also got a headache from seeing him.
I constantly had to remind myself that he was a three-year-old. Whining, crying, bitching…and that was just my reactions to his behavior!
It was good to see the kid again, though, even though he is much too smart for his own good.
(Tangent: I found out, this weekend, that my laptop’s lid could support the weight of a small child!
How did I find out? Well, my nephew thought it would be fun to crawl over my laptop—it was laying on the carpet, in front of me. As soon as I heard the lid buckle, I instinctively shoved the kid off my laptop (I might have shoved him a good three feet; I forget how strong I am at times), fired it up, and was relieved to see it boot up.
Who needs a Panasonic toughbook? :P)
- I can’t believe nobody took my bet regarding the XG/MGE fiasco I’ve been dealing with over the past year:
I’ll lay 2-1 odds to anybody who is willing to bet that I will, within the next four weeks, receive the second rebate check.
Anyone who would have taken the bet would be counting his/her money right about now. On Thursday, I got the second XG/MGE Company check for $19 that was owed to me!
Finally, I can close this dark chapter of my life :P.
- Time Warner keeps advertising on my television that they do not nickel-and-dime like the phone companies do. I can attest to that! I don’t think Time Warner has ever nickel-and-dimed me.
Case in point: my Time Warner bill has gone up from $61, to $65, to $72, in a span of three months! That’s no nickel-and-diming; that’s a pretty significant rate hike, no?
Kudos, Time Warner, for keeping your word and not nickel-and-diming customers.
By the way, on my most recent bill, there was this gem:
“This statement reflects your new 2008 pricing as previously communicated. Please see the next page for the new pricing.”
Either Time Warner “communicated” this new pricing scheme via telepathy, or they issued a statement regarding these price increases via television…during the latter part of last week, when my TV signal and internet connection were flaky as hell. By “flaky,” of course, I mean “works for ten minutes, and then goes out for two hours.” Of course, there’s also the possibility that Time Warner NEVER SENT ME ANYTHING REGARDING THESE PRICE INCREASES.
All I know for sure is that Road Runner (Time Warner’s HSI) used to cost me $34.99 a month, then it went up to $39.99 a month last month, and now it’s costing me $44.99 a month. Remember, though: Time Warner doesn’t nickel-and-dime, and they certainly didn’t do so here!
I’ll update my List soon.
- Finally, I’ve been hearing all NBA season that this year’s playoffs were going to be the most competitive playoffs of all time. The Eastern Conference first-round didn’t look compelling, save the Washington-Cleveland series, but wasn’t the Western Conference first-round supposed to be all potential seven-game series? Weren’t we supposed to see at least one “upset” in the making? Wasn’t Denver’s 1-2 scoring duo of Melo and AI supposed to push the Lakers? Weren’t the Hornets supposed to be too young to contend against the Mavs? Weren’t the new-look Suns supposed to push around the suddenly-aging Spurs (save for tonight)?
I see three 3-1 series leads for the favorites, and a series heading for a four game sweep. Yes, I’m burying the Nuggets right now. What a horrible performance by the Nuggets’ stars on Saturday!
BTW, Melo, “we” didn’t quit…at least, not all at the same time. It sure looked like YOU quit first, and then your team followed suit. I guess coach George Karl better start updating his resume, and either AI or Melo better start packing their bags. Clearly the Melo/AI experiment is NOT working.
Other random NBA playoff thoughts:
1) What took so long for the Suns to show something against the Spurs? Could they be working a miracle comeback?
(Nah.)
2) T-Mac, enjoy your vacation. Maybe you and Gilbert Arenas could go fishing together or something. They could take coaches Karl, D’Antoni, and Avery Johnson with them!
(Tangent: Is D’Antoni really on the chopping block if the Suns get eliminated? Last I checked, he wasn’t the one that traded for Shaq!)
3) Anyone see Al Horford smack-talking the Celtics after Atlanta’s Game 3 victory? I thought Joakim Noah was the “vocal” one of Florida’s two championship teams of not so long ago.
4) Raise your hand if you didn’t know that Toronto and Orlando were facing each other.
The NHL playoffs couldn’t find the Tor-Orl series on TV.
I’m tired, so that’s all I’ve got for tonight. No NFL Draft thoughts, by the way, for no reason in particular.