UngsungBlog: A (Fantasy) Sports Blog

The fact that I have to write a Part 3 tells you all you need to know about how happy I’ve been with Charter HSI.

Part 1.  Part 2.

On the 13th, I got an automated call from Charter.  It was a reminder that I had a technician scheduled to install my Charter HSI the next day, between the hours of 8am and noon.

Wha???  If you’ll recall, I did a self-installation of my Charter HSI; why the heck would I need a technician out here for a SELF-installation?

The best part was that I got the message stuck on my answering machine, and I didn’t find out about the call until past midnight of the 14th.  I quickly called the number left on the message, got to an operator, and asked to have the appointment canceled.  He put me on hold, and the system disconnected me not much later.

(Argh.)

I called back, quickly got to another rep, who immediately advised me that the account holder (my sister, who was still at work) had to call in to cancel the appointment herself.  I left her a note on her desk to try to call Charter as soon as she got home, and then I went to bed.

I was told that the technician never showed up between the scheduled time, so I figured that either my sister got around to canceling the appointment, or the techs weren’t going to show up at all.  Fast forward to 4:00, and guess who shows up?

I immediately told the tech that I had done a self-installation for my HSI service, and therefore, I had no need for a technician.  The tech muttered something to his partner, and then walked away.

Fast forward to this morning, where I woke up to flu-like symptoms (I LOVE that term).  I fired up my laptop, and immediately noticed that I could not connect to the internet.   I quickly checked my modem lights, and saw that I wasn’t getting four solid greens.  I called up Charter HSI tech support, and while navigating through the IVR, I was told that there was a service outage in my area.  No problem, I thought.

Several hours later, the outage was still going on.  I called HSI support again, and again got the recorded message of the outage in my area.  I then ‘borrowed’ a neighbor’s wireless connection, and started researching this supposed outage.

It wasn’t until I stumbled upon speedtest.net (just out of curiosity) that I noticed that the problem might not have been an outage.  Speedtest.net reported that the ISP that my neighbor was on was, lo and behold, Charter HSI.  Either I was one unlucky SOB and the outage just barely spread to my house and not my neighbor’s, or something else was going on here.

I fired up Charter’s Live Chat support—hey, I had great luck with them last time, if you’ll recall—and immediately got connected to a rep.  Again, I asked if there was an ongoing service outage in my area, and she confirmed this.  Then, after a bit of questioning, she asked me what ISP I was using.  Not sure what she was specifically asking, I told her that I was on a neighbor’s connection, but then added that I was 100% sure I was a Charter HSI customer.

That’s when the rep hit me with this:  according to my sister’s account, we did not have Charter HSI among our services listed.  Huh?  Immediately, the rep advised me to call in to rectify the problem.

I called in, got a real friendly rep, and quickly explained my situation.  I also asked the rep to check to see if there were any ongoing outages in my area.  She responded by telling me that there was no longer an outage in my area.  Wait a sec; the Live Chat rep told me, five minutes earlier, that there was still an outage going on.  What gives?

I then told the rep what the Live Chat rep told me (that Charter HSI was not on my list of services), and while she did not confirm this, she did notice the outstanding installation appointment on the account.  You know, the installation appointment for my SELF-installation.  Yes, on my account, it was noted that a tech was to be sent out for a SELF-installation.

The rep put me on hold for a good fifteen minutes, and then came back on the line to announced that she had ‘closed’ the issue.  She removed the installation appointment off the account, re-established HSI on the account, and assured me that I would still be getting HSI at the promotional rate of $29.99 a month for six months.

What probably happened was, upon telling the tech that his services were never needed, that triggered Charter to assume that I never signed up with HSI, and so they removed HSI from my list of services.  Next month’s bill is gonna be a ton of fun to go over; I better not see any HSI dis/connect fees.  And does anyone know if Charter charges a customer for a ‘missed’ installation appointment?

- Time for a mini-review of the latest episode of The Office.

“The Lover” might have been the craziest episode to date.  Who didn’t see Jim and Pam’s marriage get off to a rocky start?  Lots of yelling in the episode; I hope the cast had lots of Ricola on hand.

I love Dwight’s new offensive against Jim.  Come on, who didn’t see anything suspicious about the pen Dwight put on Jim’s desk?  (By the way, can you legally record someone without his knowledge in Pennsylvania?)  I can’t believe that some Office reviewers out there actually felt that the writers couldn’t keep the Jim-Dwight rivalry fresh.  It wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see Dwight costing Jim his promotion by the end of the season, only to have Dwight passed over as Jim’s replacement.

I loved the whole opera scene with Jim, Dwight, and Andy.  Too funny.  I absolutely loved how Toby now thinks he and Michael are friends, and I wonder if Toby’s willingness to help out Michael has anything to do with his feelings for Pam.  I could imagine Toby’s friendship with Michael not lasting past one more episode.

(Oh, I REALLY loved the scene where Toby walks in and both Jim and Michael yell at him.  Toby’s “What did I do?” was priceless.)

Surprisingly, I didn’t particularly care for the whole Michael dating Pam’s mom storyline, though.  The scene in the conference room?  Didn’t do much for me. I hope this is not something the writers plan on pushing all the way to the season finale.  The last thing I need is a “Is Jim’s marriage already over?” end-of-season cliffhanger because of Michael dating Pam’s mom.

(And for the record, I would definitely be bothered if my mom dated my boss, especially if my boss were Michael Scott.  Was Pam overreacting?  Probably.  Was it justifiable?  Probably.)

All that being said, however, I wouldn’t mind seeing one Michael/Pam’s mom-Jim/Pam double date.  Oh, the possibilities!  In a dream world, this happens in the next episode.  Michael acts the way Michael does in front of everybody, and then realizes at the end of the episode what dating Pam’s mom is doing to Jim and Pam.  He then does the right thing and breaks it off with Pam’s mom.

I can dream, right?

Tags: charter cable, mini-review, the lover, The Office by Peter
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Time for part 2.

On Friday, I called Charter Cable, quickly got someone in the sales department (amazing considering I had to deal with Charter’s IVR), and started my Charter Cable inquiry with a patented “I’m a soon-to-be-former AT&T DSL customer.  Can you offer me a deal on Charter Cable?”  The rep responded with a seemingly sincere “I’m so glad to hear that!” before attempting to ask me questions geared towards figuring out which package was ‘best’ for me.

I already knew that Charter’s 5/1 plan was good enough for me, so I quickly interrupted her and told her which package I wanted.  The rep verified that the plan was $29.99/month with an additional $3/month fee for the cable modem rental.  I then asked if there was any way I could simply give a tech my modem MAC address—a SURFBoard 5101 which I knew would work with Charter—and get online immediately; I was able to do this back in my Adelphia days.  The rep explained that this was not possible; I had to allow a tech to come and hook up the cable modem.  Fine, I thought.  I told the rep I’d call back later to put in an order for the 5/1 plan.

A few minutes later, I called back, and Charter’s IVR wouldn’t cooperate.  I got transferred to some random drone who, despite my pleads, would not transfer me to someone in sales.  I again asked for a deal on Charter Cable; this time, I forgot to lead with the patented “I’m a soon-to-be-former AT&T DSL customer” line.  The rep explained that the only deals she could offer me were $44.99 a month for 5/1 and $54.99 a month for 10/1.  Huh?  What happened to the $29.99 offer for 5/1?  “Well, I can only go by what the computer gives me, and the computer won’t give me $29.99 for that plan.”

I asked her to transfer me to someone in the sales department, and the rep refused!  I quickly hung up on her, called back, and managed to successfully navigate the IVR again to a person in sales.  Again, I asked about the 5/1 plan, and the rep offered me the $29.99 price again, but only for six months.  Six months?  The first rep never mentioned anything about a six-month term (although, as Krunk pointed out, she also didn’t say that the $29.99 plan wasn’t a promotional rate).  I quickly navigated to charter.com, looked at the price of the 5/1 plan—$29.99 a month for up to 12 months—and realized immediately that “six months” = “up to 12 months.”  Fine.  Almost defeated, I accepted the terms, and that’s when the rep snuck in this haymaker:  “There will also be a $49.99 installation fee, which you won’t have to pay immediately, but it will appear on your next bill.”

Wait a freaking second.  “A $49.99 installation fee?”, I inquired, to which I got this utterly astounding reply:  “Yes sir.  You don’t expect us to send a tech out and not pay him, do you?”  Before I could pick my jaw off the floor and respond, the tech continued, “You know what?  I could reduce the cost of the installation fee, but only if you sign up for Charter Phone!”  I responded with a simple “No thank you,” and before the rep could ask me if I still wanted to go through with the Internet order, I hung up on her.

So you might have guessed by now that I was absolutely livid by what had happened to this point.  I then realized that my best option appeared to be sticking with AT&T DSL and my Christmas tree-like DSL modem.  That’s when I decided to go with the Hail Mary equivalent of customer service:  Live Chat.

(cue ultra-dramatic music)

Figuring that I had nothing else to lose, with the exception of a few minutes and the last bits of my sanity, I logged on to Charter’s Live Chat and began praying.  A rep named “Annyvette” logged on and, after verifying some information, asked me why I was only a customer of Charter Digital TV and not Phone and Internet too.

(After what I went through today, Charter should be lucky that we’re still a customer, period.)

I politely explained that I was only interested in adding Internet service and told the rep that I wanted 5/1 service.  After trying to rent me a modem, and then a wireless gateway, the rep then sent me this:

Did you prefer to send tech to your home to install the internet or would you prefer to do a self installation? The tech installation is $49.99, and will be billed to you on your upcoming bill. Which mistranslation [sic] option did you prefer to set up with?

Wha???  Self-installation???  That first rep lied to me about not having a self-installation option!!!

Five minutes later, the order was put through, and I was chatting with an Internet support rep, getting my modem provisioned.  I was up and running a bit later.

Happy ending, right?  Not so fast.  ONE STINKING DAY after I was up and running with Charter, I had to reboot my modem.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…

Tags: at&t dsl, charter cable, high speed internet by Peter
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Sorry, I couldn’t come up with a snazzier title.

EDIT:  This is gonna have to be split up into two entries…I really need to learn how to better economize my words :P.

I moved back in with the parents in early July—long story, and I won’t get into it—and sadly had to kiss goodbye the joys of paying only $40 a month for 10/1 Road Runner Cable.  Excellent reliability (except for a disconnect at exactly 2:05 AM every day, and I never did discover why that happened) and 10/1 speeds for $40 a month?  Not a bad deal, eh?

So what did I come home to?  3/512 AT&T DSL.  Decent speeds, when I was the only one actually using the internet.  Unfortunately, that didn’t happen very often, and to compound the problem, my brother started messing around with a webcam.  At times in the evening, the connection would lag like mad.  I also noticed that my ping times were horrible, usually around 150ms, according to speedtest.net.  I figured, for $25 a month, the speeds we were getting weren’t that unbearable.

A week later, I upgraded to 6/512 for $10 more a month.  All of a sudden, my ping times dropped to the low 20s, and evening lags appeared to be a thing of the past.  Everything looked good.

A couple weeks later, the DSL connection because virtually unusable in the evenings.  After dealing with drops every few minutes for three days straight, I called AT&T DSL support to report a problem.  I told the tech that I was having internet issues, and the tech could only tell me that he detected a weak signal entering my DSL modem. He offered to send a tech out to check the wiring leading to the house.  Before I could agree, though, the tech mentioned that I could be charged if it was determined that the problem with my connection was on my end.

Thinking nothing of that remark at the time, I had the tech schedule an appointment.  For reasons that elude me at the time—perhaps the local call center was closed—he could not get me set up with an appointment right then and there.  No problem, I thought; I was given the phone number to the call center with a support ticket.

I went weeks without having a single serious line issue again, so naturally (stupidly?) I never gave the local call center a ring.  Everything looked good, until about a month ago, when the connectivity issues returned. I went two hours with a complete outage before I decided to call tech support again.

This time I was advised to remove the DSL filter from the wall and plug the phone cable directly into the modem.  That’s when I noticed something peculiar:  connected to one of those wall-mounted DSL filters was a second DSL filter!  All the connections were made properly—the second filter was connected to the correct jack on the wall-mounted filter, and the DSL modem was plugged into the “DSL” jack of the second filter—but I thought it was odd nonetheless.

I removed both filters, plugged the modem directly into the wall jack, and lo and behold, I was able to establish a connection immediately.  Coincidence?  Hmmmm.  Anyway, the tech ran his tests, and again advised me that he was detecting a very weak signal going to my DSL modem.  Like the first tech I dealt with, he advised me to allow a tech to come by and analyze the wiring leading to my house.  This time, though, in a seemingly threatening voice, the tech reminded me that I would be billed if the tech found the problem to be on my end.  Frustrated, I asked for a clarification.  The tech explained that, if the tech found no issues with the wiring, I would have been billed for the visit.

Not at all wanting to take that chance—knowing AT&T’s reputation, I certainly did not—I declined the offer.  The tech then reminded me that I could always try to fix any internet connection issues with a simple reboot of the modem…and that’s when I hung up on him.  I looked at the DSL modem, saw that the lines remained solid green, and prayed that I wouldn’t have to call back.

The serious connectivity issues came back last week, and yesterday, I had enough.  Between the hours of 6-10pm, I wasn’t able to stay online for more than ten minutes at a time.  It was time for me to give Charter Cable a try.

Part two to come tomorrow.

Tags: at&t dsl, charter cable, high speed internet, tech support by Peter
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Yay!  The Office is back!

Quick review (sorry, I don’t feel like doing those thorough reviews anymore) to come.

- Here’s a bit of background about my Bank of America checking account.  I use it only for eBay transactions.  Money from eBay sales go to my eBay-specific PayPal account, which gets transferred to my BofA checking account, which then goes to ING Direct, which then goes to my WaMu/Chase checking account.

(I’m gonna have to adapt to calling my checking account a Chase checking account.

(Tangent:  I know it’s only September, but that stupid Chase Sapphire commercial might already have won the Worst Commercial of the Year award.  It only took two viewings to already assign this commercial “This is Myyyyyyyyyy Country” status:  as soon as the commericial airs, I’m reaching for the remote to hit the Mute button.))

Well, I hadn’t sold anything on eBay lately, and therefore, I hadn’t had any activity on that account for about three months.  I then sold a few things, transferred the money from PayPal to my BofA account, and then immediately transferred the money to my ING account.

(Oh by the way, they charged me an inactivity fee of $8.95, and it turns out they should have been charging me this for the last three months.  Then again, when I signed up for the account, I was told that the account was completely fee-free.  Apparently fee-free means free of fees until they deem it necessary to charge fees.

EDIT:  I do recall BofA charging me a $5.xx inactivity fee months prior too.  Fortunately, I got that waived by a phone CSR, and that’s when I found out what BofA’s definition of “fee-free” really is.)

Anyway, you could imagine my surprise when, about a week later, I got a letter in the mail saying that my account could be deemed “abandoned” because of inactivity.  Three months of inactivity = possibly abandoned?, I thought to myself.  I then concluded that BofA probably sent the letter before my most recent transaction, so I decided to ignore the letter.  That’s when the listed account balance caught my attention; it was the balance on the account AFTER the PayPal transfer!

Apparently, one week of inactivity is enough for BofA to think that the account could be abandoned, not three months as I initially thought.

- For some reason, I bought some basketball cards on eBay about a month ago.

One of my items was sent a week late, because the seller was out of town.  I wasn’t notified of this, until after the seller shipped out the item.

One of my items was sent to another buyer.  I wasn’t notified of this until a week later, when I asked the seller about the whereabouts of my item.

These two transactions paled in comparison to the third transaction I had.  Let’s just say that if either of the first two transactions was like getting a root canal, the third was like getting each and every one of your teeth pulled out.

Yup, that bad.

- For the first time in years, I did not draft a Fantasy Football team prior to the start of the season.

The last part of that sentence is important; I drafted a couple teams early last Thursday, hoping to finish before the start of the Thursday night Steelers-Titans game.  Unfortunately, even though both drafts ended well before the 5:30PM start time of the game, both leagues were set to start scoring with the Week 2 games.

Oh well.  Here’s team 1, in a “competitive” league.  I actually hated my second and third picks—I really wanted to go WR-RB with those two picks, but was ‘forced’ to take Barber and Manning in that spot—but absolutely hate my WR picks.  And please don’t ask me why I like to pick DSTs so early.

Here’s team 2.  I really hated the RB options between picks 26 and 35, so I decided to go WR heavy.  Knowing that I might have to rely on McFadden, Jones, or waiver wire pickups as my RB2 is gonna keep me up at night, for sure, and Matt Schaub isn’t exactly impressing me at the moment.

Ahhhhhhhhh…it’s good to have (Fantasy) Football back!

- Speaking of things that are good to have back, I was in tears sixty seconds into tonight’s premiere of The Office.

(No joke.  And who didn’t realize that that refrigerator box was probably empty?)

As premieres go, I thought it was decent.  I loved how most (all?) of Michael’s fake rumors turned out true, especially Kelly’s eating disorder and Pam’s pregnancy.  I’m so glad the show decided not to devote several episodes to Jim and Pam trying to hide their little secret.

(Free at last!  Free at last!)

After watching the premiere, and thinking over past episodes, one has to wonder…is Andy Bernard really gay?  Think about it; how many times did we see Andy show affection towards Angela?  I’m tempted to re-watch “Business Trip” just to see if the writers planted seeds towards ‘outing’ Andy.  Then again, maybe I’m just reading too far between the lines.

The summer interns didn’t detract from the episode—that bit at the end was pretty amusing, and the scene with them and Dwight was epic—but overall, I was pretty disappointed.  Add to that the fact that this was the season premiere, and I can’t say I’m too pleased.

(Come on, NBC!  You couldn’t give The Office another one-hour premiere?)

Until next time.

Tags: abandoned, bank of america, checking account, fees, The Office by Peter
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Did Ryan Church really miss third base, costing the Mets the lead in the top half of the 11th?

Did Xavier Paul’s fly ball really fall between LF Angel Pagan and CF Carlos Beltran?

And what the heck was with that throw to the plate???

Cue Yackety Sax!

- So over at The Consumerist about a week ago, I read an article about how Chase was “inviting” certain customers to skip a payment on their credit cards, clearly with the intention to charge interest rates on existing balances.  I told myself, “Gee, I wish Chase would do that with my balance transfer!”

Fast forward to today, and I noticed something peculiar on my Excel spreadsheet made for bills.  According to the spreadsheet, I had already paid off my Chase Freedom card for the month of April (you know, the one that was made better than ever recently, if by better than ever, I mean FUBARed).  I wasn’t sure if that was right, though, so I logged in to my Chase online account.

(I know that a payment is due on a credit card account when there is a figure under the minimum payment due.  In addition, the first thing I check when I log on to my Chase account are the notices on the left hand side of the page.  Once a payment clears, the minimum payment due resets to zero, the notice goes away, and I make a note on my spreadsheet that the account is paid.)

I looked at my Freedom account, noted the minimum payment due was $0, and thought that that was peculiar.  I investigated further, and that’s when I saw the last payment date of April 13.  I knew that that didn’t sound right, so I opened up a PDF copy of my statement, and that’s when I saw the blurb quoted in the Consumerist article above:

You have the flexibility to skip a payment. you must pay past due and overlimit [sic] balances immediately. However, the remaining minimum payment for this month has been reduced to $0. Finance charges will continue to accrue. To reduce your balance, feel free to make a payment.

Thank goodness that my minimum payment of $0 was due on May 21.  It was only a $120 balance, so I suppose it wouldn’t have been a big deal if I missed the payment (even at 24%, that’s about $5 out of my pocket).  Still, that’s a few bucks of mine that Chase nearly got their hands on.

- I had a Status-Now.com rebate that was in rebate limbo from all the way back in November of 2008.  Being the lazy bastard that I am, I waited until a few days ago to inquire about the rebate.  After a brief wait on hold, I was told that the rebate was invalid due to a duplicate submission(?!?).  I couldn’t find my rebate scans, so I told the rep that I would call right back.

I checked Status-Now.com, and sure enough, it appeared that I did file duplicate rebates.  WTF, I thought to myself.  I could’ve sworn that the two rebate entries were different, and without the rebate form, how was I gonna prove it?

It took a bit of, um, URL “engineering,” but I eventually found the proper rebate form.  I called Status-Now right back, gave them the promo code of the rebate, and was stunned to hear what the rep told me.

(paraphrasing) “Sir, that rebate promotion code is for a promotion that hasn’t yet occured.”

…….

Huh?

About a minute later, I finally was able to speak again.  “Come again?” I said.

The rep put me on hold, came back on soon after, and explained that there was “probably” a typo on the rebate form.  She explained that, in the event that the promotion code is incorrect, the system automatically tries to process the rebate under the closest promotion code.

OK.

Long story short, the rep created a new record for me—she had to process it under a promotion that I’ve already done, but she assured me that it would be OK—and that she would expedite the rebate process.

Whew.

Until next time…whenever the hell that is.

Tags: angel pagan, carlos beltran, chase, chase freedom, consumerist, los angeles dodgers, minimum payment, new york mets, rebate error, ryan church, status-now, yackety sax by Peter
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You know it’ll take a huge story (or in this case, two!) to get me to blog again.

First things first, though.

Quick-hitters:

- 90 degrees with a RealFeel temp of 95.

I’ve officially turned off my internal “Complain About the Cold Weather” switch and turned on the “Complain About the Hot Weather” one.

- Time Warner strikes again, and I’m not talking about their threats to put usage caps on broadband users.

I called them up about a month ago, asking for ways to reduce my bill.  They offered me HBO and Cinemax for $10/mo—I was paying $15 for HBO alone—which I accepted.  They also offered to drop my Road Runner plan down to the ‘Basic’ level:  1.5Mbps down and 384kbps up.

(Not long ago, RoadRunner raised my speeds to about 8Mbps down/1Mbps up, from 5Mbps down/512k up.)

I couldn’t fathom those speeds, so I kept the RR package I was on.

Two billing statements later…and my bill is almost the same as it was prior to the changes.  You see, apparently, TW raised rates AGAIN in April, coinciding with my attempted rate reduction.

- Once again, Fry’s is coming through for me over a rebate hassle, this time with a pair of AVG rebates handled by the now bankrupt Continental Promotions Group (CPG).

Unfortunately, unlike past instances, Fry’s dragged their feet this time around. Back in January, I emailed Fry’s about two “lost” rebates, totaling $30.  Two days later, I got a reply saying that they needed me to fax in my rebate documentation.  I did so, and got an email soon after saying that they were going to look in to it.

Out of laziness, I didn’t follow up on my rebate resubmission until March.  I sent Fry’s another email, asking about the status of my rebates.  Here was their response:

Thank you for contacting Frys.com.

It was giving to the Rebate department and they will be handling your
paperwork. They should be e-mailing you shortly.

Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.

I wonder what would have happened if I never bothered to email them.

A month later (again, out of laziness), I still had yet to hear anything about my rebates.  I sent Fry’s another email, asking for an update.  Here was their response:

I do apologize for all the inconvenience this may have caused. We have
done a change in our rebate inquiry department. And your forms have
been misplaced. Again my sincere apologies, if you could please fax
them again and we will expedite them to get you, your refund. So if you
could please fax at the number below.

Needless to say, I was livid.  They lost my rebate documentation, and they couldn’t have told me this earlier?

Naturally, as an a**hole customer, I sent them a hate-filled email, demanding quick resolution to this situation.  Here was their latest reply:

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to assist you with your rebate
inquiry. Please be assured that we are committed to having your rebates
honored. Due to the inconvenience, we will be issuing a check for the
rebate amount of $10.00 and $20.00. You should expect your rebate check
within the next following 4-6 weeks. Again, we apologize for the
inconvenience and thank you in advance for your patience and
understanding.

Usually, Fry’s first response to a rebate resubmission resembles the response above (nice alliteration, eh?).  I should have known that I was going to be in for a fight when I didn’t receive an immediate response from the Fry’s rebate department.

I’ll update this post (I promise!) if/when I get the rebate check(s).

Sure, I understand that eating a pair of rebates because a rebate company went bankrupt sucks, but that doesn’t justify jerking around with a customer.

- So much was going right for the Dodgers so far this season that you knew something was going to happen.  Never in my wildest dreams, however, seeing this headline on Yahoo! Sports this morning:

Dodgers star slugger Manny Ramirez has been suspended 50 games for a drug violation.

Although the news still hasn’t quite sunk in yet, here are my quick thoughts on the story:

1) AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Now that I got that out of my system…

2) Am I really supposed to believe that Manny used an alleged sexual enhancer?

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the substance is supposed to boost sex drive.

Two sources said Ramirez tested positive for a gonadotropin. Major League baseball’s list of banned substances includes the gonadotropins LH and HCG, which are most commonly used by women as fertility drugs. They also can be used to trigger testosterone production. Testosterone is depleted by steroid use, which can cause sexual dysfunction.

Yeah, right, and Raffy Palmeiro really took a B-12 shot.

EDIT:  Now that I’ve had some time to digest the news, let me add that there is a chance, of course, that Manny really did just mess up, and he wasn’t really juicing.  If it really was just an honest screw up, then good, but can you really blame me for assuming the worst?

3) So what does this mean for the Dodgers this year?  I think they’ll be fine, as long as Manny produces once he’s allowed back on to the field.  In the meantime, you know Hudson and Ethier are going to take huge hits to their production, you know Furcal, Loney, and Martin are going to have to produce, and the thought of Juan Pierre in “Mannywood” has to give Dodger fans flashbacks of…2008…unless prospect OF Xavier Paul immediately starts hitting the cover off the ball.

*shudder*

Here’s a scary thought.  What if Andruw Jones had re-dedicated himself BEFORE he was paid by the Dodgers to go away, and became a semi-productive fourth OF for the Dodgers this season?

I can dream, can’t I?

With the rest of the NL Worst being plain awful, I don’t see the Dodgers losing too much ground in the standings.  Remember, we weren’t too bad last year with three automatic outs in our lineup every game:  Jones, whoever manned SS, and the pitcher’s spot.  As long as Billingsley and Wolf keep pitching well, and we get anything out of the 4 and 5 spot in the rotation, and if the bullpen holds up…

Ok, now I’m nervous.  It is really that outrageous to suggest that the entire Dodgers season might hinge on Chad Billingsley’s leg and Orlando Hudson’s wrist?

Then again, do not discount the possibility of 2008 redux, when the Dodgers acquired Manny in the summer.  When the Dodgers get him back in July, would anybody be surprised if he plays out of his mind down the stretch again?

(Would it also not surprise me if he dogs the rest of the season, accepts the option for next year, and goes “Manny?”  Sigh.)

4) So what does this mean for Manny’s HOF credibility?  Ask me again later.  I still haven’t decided if A-Rod, Bonds, and Clemens are no longer HOF worthy.

Why?  Simply put, do we know exactly when these players were juicing?  Were they HOFers before they started juicing?  Does that even matter?

5) And what does this mean for the rest of the MLB?  Albert Pujols must really be uncomfortable today.  When A-Rod got caught taking steroids in 2003, that just about make everybody skeptical about everyone in an MLB uniform.  How do we know that Pujols, Pedroia, Hamilton, Longoria, etc., never cheated either?  Manny’s suspension is only going to fan those flames even more.  I wonder how many fans got turned off by MLB over the A-Rod roid scandal, and how many more will get turned off over today’s news.

EDIT:  Despite my backtracking above (see the previous edit), I still stand by my statement that this story is going to continue to “fan those flames.”  How can it not?  And what if Manny is lying about the use of this drug?  Then what?

Oh yeah, and props to me for avoiding any Viagra- or Cialis-type jokes!

- Finally, after the Royal Rumble last night at Staples Center, I’m worried over who is going to get suspended for Game 3.

If we’re going by the letter of the law, Derek Fisher is going to get suspended for sure.  Kobe Bryant might, as well, and I’m 50/50 on whether or not Ron Artest will get suspended too.  I’m 50/50 not because I think he deserves to be suspended, but don’t tell me the “Malice at the Palace” incident still isn’t fresh in the minds of the NBA.

I’ll admit that I laughed when Scola, after talking crap to practically the entire 5 on the court for the Lakers, got smacked down by Fisher, the same way that I’m sure that Phoenix Suns fans are still laughing at Raja Bell’s “Ole!” takedown of Kobe in Game 5 of the Suns-Lakers series from a few years back.

Don’t expect me to buy Fisher’s argument that the play looked worse than it was because “because Scola stopped short of where [he] expected him to be.”  We all saw Fisher man-hug his teammates and walk off the court with a huge grin on his face.  And don’t expect Scola to apologize for running into your head with his chest.

As for the Kobe elbow to Artest, the letter of the law says he should be suspended as well; then again, Rajon Rando mistakened Brad Miller’s head for a pinata and, not only did he not get called for a flagrant or get suspended, he was revered by his own coach!  I thought the Kobe elbow was flagrant, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as Dwight Howard’s elbow “punch” to Samuel Dalembert’s head.  I do wish there was a better camera angle of the incident, though, than the one showing us only the backs of both players.  It still wouldn’t surprise me if Kobe got suspended for the elbow, however.

EDIT:  Here’s a reverse-angle replay of the elbow.  It looked pretty flagrant to me.)

(Speaking of Rondo, if the league suspends Orlando G Rafer Alston for slapping the back of Celtics G Eddie House’s head—and they should, IMO—that’s just gonna make Rondo’s non-flagrant, non-suspension after Game 5 of the Celtics-Bulls series even more ridiculous.)

So what do I think will happen?  Kobe and Fisher will be suspended for Game 3, and the Lakers will get run right off the floor.  They’ll steal Game 4 in another bloodbath, and the league will agree to line the Staples Center floor with barbed wire and a steel fence in preparation for Game 5.

If ever I wanted a series to go best of 15, this is it!

See ya in three months :P.

Tags: avg, billing, cpg, derek fisher, drug violation, eddie house, frys, hot temperatures, houston rockets, kobe bryant, los angeles dodgers, los angeles lakers, lost submission, luis scola, manny, manny being manny, PEDs, rafer alston, rebate, road runner, ron artest, steroids, time warner by Peter
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My poor blog, how I’ve ignored you over the past few days!

(What can I say? I haven’t had much to talk about lately!)

Quick-hitters:

- It’s been sunny and COLD the last few days.

I miss the heat. I also miss sunlight at 6PM.

And if it’s so cold, why the heck do I really really want some ice cream?

- Small Shot-Online update: I’m still stuck on level 52 (haven’t played much lately), and, due to a bout of complete idiocy, I blew a chance at an easy ONE HUNDRED MILLION NG profit!!!

I don’t wanna talk about it.

One of these days, I will venture onto Cads. One of these days.

- Current rebate-o-meter: $1,500 or so, but I’m sure that the total is closer to $2,000 than $1,500.

That’s what I get for keeping such poor rebate records

- For the first time ever, here’s a tangent to a previous topic topic that deserves its own section!

Tangent: Fry’s/WorldwideRebates.com update: Fry’s customer service sent me this email regarding my “lost” $20 rebate:

Hello Peter, in regards to your Trand Micro rebate in the amount of
$20.00. We have since gotten in contact with the rebate manufacturer in
regards to your denial. Unfortunately after talking with them it seems
as though they are unwilling to help there customers. What we are going
to do for you in this matter is go ahead and give all of your rebate
submission to our home office. They will be issuing you a check shortly.
Please note that this may take up to 2 months. Please feel free to get
back with us in regards to this status. Thank you.

I boldfaced the line above because I thought it looked awfully familiar to me, especially the misuse of the word “there.” Does Fry’s use a form email to respond to rebate complaints? Well, remember my American Telecom rebate rant?

Hello Peter, in regards to your Pay N Talk rebate in the amount of
$25.00. We have since gotten in contact with the rebate manufacturer in
regards to your denial. Unfortunately after talking with them it seems
as though they are unwilling to help there customers. What we are going
to do for you in this matter is go ahead and give all of your rebate
submission to our home office. They will be issuing you a check shortly.
Please note that this may take up to 2 months. Please feel free to get
back with us in regards to this status. Thank you.

That was from an email response sent to me from February 1, 2008! Notice the emphasis in the blog entry linked above!

Once again, kudos to Fry’s!

(EDIT: Just as I finished typing this, I got an email from WorldWideRebates…it appears that they finally got my rebate submission! Should they successfully process my rebate claim, I will contact Fry’s and see if I can get them to not issue me a check. If not, I’ll just destroy it.)

- Fantasy football updates:

I’m riding a three-game winning streak in one league, the third win coming via a 132-88 beatdown of my opponent. It helps that my two RBs, Thomas Jones and Maurice Jones-Drew, combined to score 59 points by themselves. I am now 5-5 in this league, tied for fifth overall, and still a game out of a playoff spot (though I’m trailing badly in the tiebreaker, which is points scored overall.)

In my other league, I won for the sixth straight week. I’m not going to take too much pride in this win, though, as my opponent played three guys on their bye week, and one was on IR. I’m now in first place in this league, and I face the team that I leapfrogged in Week 11. The receivers on this team are really killing me, save for Andre Johnson.

Non-fantasy football thoughts:

- Ask and ye shall receive.  Thank you, T.O., for giving me my lead story of Week 10!  I need not even comment on this (though I will):

“We have to go back to the drawing table and look at the things that made us successful last year, moving me around a little bit, really just making an effort to get the ball in my hands on certain routes,” Owens said Tuesday, during a signing for his new book in Manhattan.

Well, at least he was smart enough to say the word “certain.”  You know, he wouldn’t want to appear to be demanding the ball, or anything like that…

I cannot wait for the upcoming Cowboys-Redskins game.  What will spew out of T.O.’s mouth if the Cowboys happen to lose THAT game???

- As soon as I found out that the Monday Night game was San Francisco at Arizona, I decided that I wasn’t going to watch it.

Boy did I miss out!  What a crazy goal-line “stand” by Arizona!  Of course, I say “stand” because Arizona’s field turf played a huge role on that series, tackling 49ers’ RB Frank Gore on 2nd and goal.  Why was Frank Gore not on the field on the final play of the game?  And why didn’t the 49ers spike the ball on the final play, since it was only 3rd down?

By the way, if Kurt Warner wins his third MVP this season—and personally, I think he’s the front-runner—tying himself with that guy currently on the Jets, that has to be enough to get him in the Hall of Fame, right?  Maybe he doesn’t get in on the first ballot, but he’s gotta get in, right?

- Speaking of the Jets, did you see them running up the score against my hapless Rams?  How sickening!

OK, fine, my Rams horribly stink, and the Jets did not run the score up on them.  However, can we stop giving Favre all the credit for the Jets’ “resurgence,” a 6-3 record against a cupcake schedule, including a LOSS to the RAIDERS?

Kris Jenkins?  Alan Faneca?  Thomas Jones?  Leon Washington?  Eh, forget it; let’s give all the credit to Diva Favre.

(And please stop with the “Oh, if Favre were still a Packer, they wouldn’t be 4-5!  It is not completely Aaron Rodgers’ fault that the Packers are struggling.  That defense of theirs is terrible, and it only got worse with the loss of LB Nick Barnett for the season.)

- Colts fans, begin to send your hate mail!

Is it just me, or are the Colts quickly rounding into that struggling team that, all of a sudden, gets white-hot, and earns the “We don’t want to play THEM!” label?  After back-to-back victories over New England and Pittsburgh (did the Colts really keep the Steelers out of the end zone when Pittsburgh was on the Colts’ 1???), the could-have-been 1-8 Colts could very well be 10-4 going into the final two games of the season.

Of course, they could also get upset by Houston, lose @SD, and then lose one of @CLE, CIN, or DET (shudder…), and miss the playoffs.

- And finally, thank goodness that Jacksonville remembered who they were…as did Detroit.

By the way, would you bet on Detroit going 0-16, or Tennessee going 16-0?  You’d have to be on the latter being more likely, wouldn’t you?

I would…but just barely.

Until next time!

Tags: cadeiger, diva favre, fantasy football, frys, green bay packers, indianapolis colts, kurt warner, mvp, new york jets, nick barnett, rebate-o-meter, shot-online, t.o., worldwiderebates by Peter
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Wow, it seems that I have abandoned this blog for quite some time.

I hope I still remember how to do this…assuming I knew how to do this in the first place.

Random thoughts (aka a super sized “Quick hitters”):

- My loyal readers (all none of you) might have realized that I have yet to post a review for last week’s episode of The Office. That might have something to do with the fact that I have yet to watch last week’s episode!

Yes, I’m ashamed of myself…unfortunately, I skipped The Office to play Shot-Online during the bonus EXP days.

- Speaking of Shot-Online, a brief update: after grinding out the game over the weekend, I haven’t played much since. I logged in for several hours, nonetheless, but mostly just to go auction house hunting.

I’m at the point in the game where I should really be playing on Cadeiger. However, I hate the course so much that I’ve been pretty much sticking to Rufus Arena or easier courses for the caddy experience.

I might just quit using this character and start working on one of my other characters.

- It’s been rainy and cold…and yet pretty warm at the same time (???) the last few days.

Can’t the weather gods make up their damn mind?

- We swung by Costco a couple days ago, and somehow managed to only spend $50!

(Well, we really spent $100, but half of that was on a membership renewal.)

Of course, we dropped by VONS right after that and blew $30 on junk food and steaks :P.

- Current rebate-o-meter: $1650 and rising.

(And it’s not even Black Friday yet!)

(EDIT: Haha…I need to add another $210 to that total :P)

Time for a couple customer service-related rants!

(If I’ve ranted about WorldwideRebates.com before, I do apologize.)

- Back in early September, I mailed out four rebates to WorldwideRebates.com. Three of the rebates showed up in their system rather quickly, but the fourth has still yet to show up.

I called the 800# on the rebate form, and once I got to the “We’ll connect you to an operator” prompt, I waited on hold for a couple seconds. That’s when I got a message that said something like “Thanks for calling…all of our operators are busy…please call back.”

*click*

Seriously? I can’t stay on hold? I have to call back, sit through the IVR, connect to an operator, and repeat ad nauseum until I can actually reach a live operator?

Fortunately, Frys.com is going to assist me in this matter.

- Thank you, Fedex. Thank you for not leaving me a Door Tag when you supposedly delivered my package at my doorstep on Thursday. Thank you for not returning my call 48 hours after I called in on the following Monday to inquire about the whereabouts of my package. Thank you for making me wait an additional 48 hours after I called in on the following Thursday to check the status of my case. And thank you for finally telling me, yesterday, that the package was lost and that I should contact the shipper to initiate a claim.

The best part is, I’ve got two more packages coming from Fedex this week! YAY!

*cry*

- Fantasy football updates:

Kyle Orton’s injury didn’t sink me in one league, as I eked out a 66-65 victory to get to 4-5, tied for seventh place. Four teams are only one game ahead of me, at 5-4, meaning I might still have a shot at a playoff spot!

Chad Pennington was available on the waiver wire, so he’ll be my Week 10 QB.

In my other league, a strong effort by Pittsburgh’s D—seven sacks, two picks, a blocked kick, and six points allowed—propelled me to my fifth straight win and a 6-2-1 record, good for tied for second in that league. In fact, the top three teams in the league have now won a combined fourteen games in a row!

Non fantasy-football thoughts:

- Another bad Dallas Cowboys loss, and…NOTHING FROM T.O.??? WTF??? What am I supposed to talk about?

Well, how about the fact that the New York Giants are coping without Jeremy Shockey and Michael Strahan just fine?

Eh, that’s no fun.

- Is it just me, or is Indy rounding into “Team that nobody wants to face” form? Sure, they struggled to get past a Tom Brady-less Patriots team, and yeah, they still don’t have a run game, and yeah, the Colts won the game on a couple boneheaded decisions by the Pats (that timeout called by Belicheck which nullified a first down and that idiotic personal foul penalty on what would have been third and short), and yeah, the Colts needed a 52 yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri, and…

Wait…what was my point?

Yeah, the Colts are finished.

- Minus-2 first half yards? ZERO first downs? Seventy-seven total yards?

Was I watching the Oakland Raiders offense or the Washington State offense against USC? The Raiders should be forced to forfeit their next game just for that abomination.

- So the Titans are now 8-0. Are they for real yet, after being a solid Green Bay Packers team?

Yeah, they’re for real, and they could conceivably be 14-0 going into their final two games (PIT, @IND). They play @CHI (minus Kyle Orton), @JAX (more on them later), NYJ (Brett Favre = Pick Six potential?), @DET, CLE, and @HOU. Which of those teams will Tennessee be underdogs against?

- And finally, didn’t I say last week that JAX @ Cincy was a “trap game”???

And who does JAX play next week? Freaking Detroit! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I’m tired, so that will have to be it for tonight. Until next time!

(Look, Ma! No Diva Favre commentary!)

Tags: bill belicheck, cadeiger, costco, dallas cowboys, fedex, indianapolis colts, new england patriots, oakland raiders, random thoughts, rebate-o-meter, rufus arena, shot-online, tennessee titans, The Office, vons, worldwiderebates by Peter
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I’m in a pretty bad mood right now, so pardon me if this blog is a bit more negative than usual.

(I know, I know…MORE negative?)

Quick-hitters:

- Still no resolution from Costco…though the manager is only partially to blame. I tried calling him twice more last week, and he was not in on either day.

I have yet to call since :P.

- My forehead is still sore from the smackdown I received from my favorite cashier at the Encino CVS.

(You remember this, right?)

Two days ago, I dropped by for the first time in a month (!!!!!), and I ended up spending $7 out of pocket! You should have seen her reaction this time!

“SEVEN DOLLARS??? YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO HAND ME A QUARTER!!!”

And then…***SMACK***, right on the forehead!

(OK, so it was more like a V8 commercial-like tap on the forehead, but still, it was pretty damn funny.)

Fortunately, after seeing the 3-4 ECBs that printed out, she decided that it would be OK to return to the store for my future CVS shopping needs.

- Current rebate-o-meter: $1052, and rising.

Thank goodness for the 2009 FAR software “season!”

Yeah, I know I skipped last week’s NFL Thoughts, but I promise I’ll make it up to you.

- Fantasy football updates:

Fortunately for me, what will forever be known as the “Steven Jackson game” did not ruin me. I was blown out anyway. I am now 2-5 in that league, and facing the top team next week.

(So should I hex the other Steven Jackson owners in the Fantasy Football universe and play him this week?)

In my other league, I’m on a 3-0-1 run to get to 4-2-1, good for third place. I really like my chances in this league, even without a healthy Brian Westbrook.

Non-fantasy football thoughts:

- Awwwww…Brett Favre is angry, over the reports that he spoke with former Lions’ GM Matt Millen, offering “strategic Packers information” to the Lions.

Poor baby.

Where should I start?

“It happens more than you know,” Favre said. “Don’t think for a second that, you know, when Mike McCarthy left in ‘99, went to the Saints, the next year we played them, they put it to us, that he didn’t tell his guys what they thought. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Note to Diva Favre: the “Other people do it, so it must be OK” argument never works! Nice try, though.

“I guess I’m a little bit angry because I think my reputation has been well respected throughout the years,” Favre said. “Any time that’s questioned, the type of teammate I am, it does anger me, I’m not going to lie to you.”

You must have been quite angry over the damage your rep took over this past offseason, huh? Then again, that’s probably the media’s fault.

“Believe me,” Favre said, “I’m trying my best to help this team win, the New York Jets. Spending no time trying to make the Packers lose. I got enough on my plate, believe me.”

“Believe me. I’m trying my best to help this team win by thinking about retirement until training camp.” I can’t wait for him to try this line out during the offseason.

Now that I got the cheap shots out of the way, let me just say that Favre is…R…RIIII…RIGHT. People talk all the time. Exactly how is anybody going to prove that Favre told Millen (assuming they did speak about schemes and strategies) what the Lions’ coaches couldn’t already figure out by watching tapes? More importantly, the NFL has already considered it a non-issue, so I guess that’s good enough for me.

- Do you realize that:

The Cowboys could be 4-6 after their game at Washington?

(Speaking of the Cowboys, how I will live without some T.O. news this week???)

The Colts could be 3-6 after their game at Pittsburgh, and could easily be 1-8?

The Rams are three upsets away from being a legitimate playoff contender?

(I can dream, can’t I?)

The New York Bretts could be 4-8 after their game versus Denver, sparking Favre to consider returning to his team the following week at San Francisco?

(I can dream, can’t I?)

- I thought Chicago and Minny had two premier defenses. Eighty-nine points combined? Yikes.

- So is New England that good, or is Denver that…average?

Of course, Cutler’s finger injury played a huge role in the outcome of that game, but Denver’s D couldn’t stop a Pop Warner RB right now.

(Fantasy football tangent: Selvin Young, please stay injured. I am enjoying the Michael Pittman show.)

EDIT: OK, the tangent above was a bit of a low blow, on the heels of this article chronicling the Broncos’ injury woes. It’s incredible that the 3-4 Chargers (no, you guys should not be 5-2…please stop that) are only a game out of first place in the AFC West, and could very well beat out the Broncos for the division title.

And finally…

- Raise your hand if you had the Tennessee Titans as the only unbeaten team left in the league. To borrow a thought from ESPN’s Bill Simmons, there’s some serious “Ewing Potential” with this team, now that Vince Young is no longer the QB.

It’s probably the media’s fault that Young isn’t the QB any more, though.

Until next time (later tonight, that is!).

Tags: brett favre, brian westbrook, cashier, costco, cvs, dallas cowboys, denver broncos, diva favre, fantasy football, indianapolis colts, matt millen, new england patriots, new york jets, rebate-o-meter, steven jackson, tennessee titans by Peter
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Lots to get off my chest, and I promise a full NFL (Fantasy) Week in Review next time.  But until then…

Random thoughts (an HGH-boosted version of Quick-hitters):

- Seriously, what happened to Fall?  Mid 80s to low 90s all week last week, and now AccuWeather says it’s 78 right now.  If it’s 78 degrees outside right now, then I’m the freaking Pope.

Time to make my hot coffee iced.

(Tangent:  I dropped my coffee press!  Now the pot itself won’t stay secured to the round metal base, causing the pot to lean in one direction!  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Worse yet, my local 99 Ranch no longer carries this thing.  Bah.)

- Read this article, if you haven’t already.  What an absolutely heart-wrenching story.

(Kinda make my complaining about a broken coffee pot trivial by comparison, huh?)

- After the Boston Red Sox made that improbable rally to upset the Rays in Game Five of the ALCS, I had to brace myself for something that I hadn’t seen since June.

The Return of the Boston Myopians, led by Mr. Myopian himself!

Thank goodness the comeback was squashed by a J.D. Drew half-swing.  And yes, Boston fan, he went around.  Stop complaining.

(And yes, the fact that J.D. Drew was the one to kill the rally made it extra gratifying to watch.  I can’t wait for Boston fans to turn on this guy.)

- Raise your hand if you had Steven Jackson on your fantasy team, and you benched him this past week.

(raises hand)

It’s a damn good thing that I got blown out of the water anyway!  I’m headed for a 2-5 record in one league, and possibly 4-2-1 in the other.  Full recap next time.

- This article caught my eye this morning:  When has a video game ever made you cry?

I could think of one video game example which really got to me.  I’m pretty sure I didn’t go running for the nearest box of Kleenex, but it was pretty heart-wrenching.

I’ll post what video game that was (specifically, what scene) at the end of this blog.

- Current rebate-o-meter:  $1222, including a $20 rebate from Norton/Symantec that Parago just refuses to pay out, despite numerous fax attempts.

I hate the rebate game.

- WalMart (groan) rant time!

On the 29th of September, I bought a Philips DVD-RW drive from WalMart, because the item page said it was a ten-pack.

(Anyone who has ever jumped on deals like this already know that this was, more often than not, a description error.  Part of the reason why I decided to take a chance on this deal, however, was the fact that I had a $20 WalMart gift certificate from this ordeal.)

As expected, I received a single drive.  As I am known to do, I waited until the 10th of October to contact WalMart about the “incorrect” item in my order.  I sent them an email that day, and got a reply that night telling me to log in to my account, print an RMA label, and return the package.

Simple enough, I guess.  I decided not to pursue this further.  On Sunday, however, I got this email:

We are writing in reference to order #xxxxxxxxxx. To ensure that we
provide you with accurate information, we are researching the matter, to
see why you didn’t receive the Philips 20x DVD-RW 10-Pack, SATA
Interface. We will contact you with an update within the next 2-3
business days.

What quickly got my attention was that last line.  Two to three business days after that Sunday would have been the 15th or the 16th (that Monday was Columbus Day), both dates being past the 15 day return window.

Again, I had decided not to deal with the issue, and I requested my RMA label that day.

On Tuesday, I got another email from WalMart:

I am writing in regards to your recent order with us for the Philips 20x
DVD-RW 10-Pack, SATA Interface. Unfortunately, due to an error at our
fulfillment centers and on our site, we will not be able to replace the
order at this time. These items are only sold in singles. You may
return the item for a full refund. Please call us at 1-866-625-0507 to
discuss this issue.

“Discuss,” huh?  I liked the sound of that.

I quickly called WalMart, and here’s the gist of our conversation:

Me:  (blah blah blah…error…let’s “discuss.”)

CSR:  Log in to your account, request a return label, and return the item back to us.

Some discussion, huh?  Thank you, CSR, for telling me exactly what the previous email CSR told me to do! What, no apologies?  No “we’re sorry for the inconvenience”?  That’s it?

(Yes, I realize that the last email did tell me to return the item for a full refund.  What irks me is that the CSR is telling me to call in to “discuss this issue,” only to get the same information again???)

- Shot-Online update:  lvl 49, awesome clubs, and unfortunately I am now guild-less.

One of the things I have learned about MMORPGs—Shot-Online is the first MMORPG that I have actually spent more than a week playing :P—is that, at some point in the game, it becomes a social setting first and a game second.  I learned that the hard way after a recent ordeal with one of my now-former guildmates.

An innocent comment about club selection somehow escalated into a vicious attack on my character and intent, and I got so pissed off over the whole affair that I had no choice but to leave the guild.  I had even entertained the thought of quitting the game altogether.

I told my guildmaster what happened, and I could tell that he wasn’t exactly thrilled with the situation, acknowledging how much I had done for his guild.  Some of my friends in the guild weren’t too pleased as well, acknowledging how much I had helped them with the game to that point.

Part of me then realized, “I’m getting worked up over a GAME!  WTF?”  So I decided to discuss this situation with another friend of mine, and I asked him:  “At some point, does an MMORPG become more of a social setting than a game?”

He explained that people play MMORPGs for the social atmosphere first and foremost, and that everything I was feeling—guilt, frustration, anger, etc.—was perfectly normal, and, unfortunately, part of the “appeal” of the MMORPG genre.  He did agree with my decision to leave the guild, as others did, and that I should have expected drama like this to happen, he explained; after all, MMORPGs boil down to glorified chat rooms full of strangers.

Now I know that an MMORPG isn’t just a video game.

Will I still be playing Shot-Onlne?  Hell yes!  I want the Tour Pro title :P.

- So what was the video game moment that was so emotional to me?

Easy:  The scene in Final Fantasy VII where that bastard Sephiroth killed Aeris.  Be honest!  Who didn’t scream “F**K YOU SEPHIROTH!!!” at the TV when that happened?

(OK…maybe it was just me and a couple friends.)

Tags: boston myopians, cry, csr, fall, fantasy football, hot weather, jd drew, lost kids of willows, mmorpg, rebate-o-meter, shot-online, steven jackson, video game, walmart by Peter
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