My Anger Stages (RE-POST)

(I originally posted this in early August. Even though it was published, the Blogger app on my phone still listed it as a draft. I deleted the "draft." It ended up deleting the post itself. Fortunately, before that I had it open on my desktop, available to copy and paste.)

I came up with some self-analysis this week when I lost my temper while having difficulties straightening out the dispensation of my chemo pills at the oncologist's office over the last two weeks. (Not sure whether it was the pharmacy, who had to give me the initial supply, or the staff handling the transactions, or my insurance company. I won't go into details but I think there will be no future problems.)

As I see it, I have three stages of anger.

Stage 1: I am upset but explaining things in a calm, controlled voice. Example from Wednesday: me to my oncologist: "...when they (nurses/staff) say to me that 'there was a miscommunication' I interpret that to mean that they are placing at least some of the blame on me. Even if that wasn't their intent, that's how I feel."

Stage 2: This is the stage I reached with the nurses/staff 90 minutes after seeing the doctor and still waiting for my week's supply and being told I may have to wait another day: yelling. "This was supposed to have been resolved last week! This is unacceptable after all that happened last week! I am not going through this EVERY WEEK! I AM NOT LEAVING HERE without my meds!"

Stage 3: Similar to Stage 2 but with lots of cursing.

I suppose there could be a Stage 4 that includes physical acts such as throwing or breaking things, or worse. Let's hope we never find out.

HELP WANTED: Copy Editor. Apply Phila Daily News

Unless they're tied (which they weren't) only one team can be leading the NL Central at a time, unless they're tied.

I've written about these errors often in the last year or two. I haven't been pointing them out lately, but they're still going on. The other day a headline said someone was a "targed" of a lawsuit instead of a target.

And I haven't even gotten to my annual critique of their Sexy Singles promotion. Don't worry. It will arrive shortly.

The Comcast Xfinity Mega-FAIL

So there I was late on Sunday afternoon, in front of my computer, which is in my basement. I think I've mentioned that before, but in case you weren't aware, keep this in mind as you continue to read. I was scrolling through my Twitter feed when I noticed that none of the pictures people were posting, via Twitpic, Instagram, etc., were opening when I clicked on them. I looked at the cable modem and the little light on the side that indicates a signal is available, was out. I had no Internet service.

I tried cutting the power to my modem and rebooting, but it didn't help. I figured Comcast, or Xfinity, or whatever they're calling themselves this week, was having a temporary glitch. (I'll just use Comcast the rest of the way, because Xfinity is a monumentally stupid name.) So I went up to my living room to watch the rest of the NFC playoff game (by the way, as well as the New York Giants played, the Green Bay Packers really, really gave the game away with flat-out awful play). When it ended I watched "The Simpsons," and then went back downstairs to try the computer again.

No luck. No Internet connection. Which means, because my phone service is VoIP, I had to rely on my cell phone as I called Comcast. I was on the phone for an hour as their representative tried various things or had me try various things. Because my cell phone gets no signal in the basement, I kept having to run up and down the stairs each time the guy did something. First he sent a signal to refresh my cable modem, then tried something else, then asked me to push the reset button, then asked if I had a wireless connection of some kind. Then he asked if my modem was connected to a splitter or if it was connected directly to the main wire. Since I have an extra TV outlet in the basement, there is a splitter. One line then goes to the TV, the other to the modem. So I suggested I try switching out the cable going from the splitter to the modem, because my TV service was fine; I thought that stretch of wire might be causing the problem. I took off the old cable, put on the new cable, and...still no luck.

The rep finally said he'd have to send a technician out, but because of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday the earliest someone could come out was Tuesday. I told him I didn't want to go two days without service. He said that they have some people to work emergencies, but that in my area of the city they didn't have anyone to cover it (really!). He said he could set up a service appointment for 5 pm-7 pm Tuesday. I explained that I could not miss work and, because of my lengthy commute, wouldn't get home until 6 pm at the earliest. He said that the best he could do was put a note on the schedule to make my stop the very last stop of the day. So I told him to do that, but if everything didn't go perfectly that I'd cancel my entire Comcast service, noting that I've been a customer for over 20 years.

Friday With Equality Forum

I've got a number of things I want to talk about and am a bit pressed for time (with the Flyers starting in a half-hour, as I begin this). Plus I've been sneezing today -- I woke up to the sound of lawnmowing going on somewhere outside and I think it set off my allergies. Then I took some allergy medication and it made me sleepy. So I'm going to try and cover my odd little weekend in a few posts, starting with this one.

I decided to volunteer for this year's Equality Forum, a week-long series of LGBT-related events -- panel discussions, parties, etc. culminating in the SundayOUT festival held yesterday (more on that in a separate post). I went to an orientation meeting a couple of weeks ago and at that meeting I signed up to appear at two events to hand out fliers, surveys, etc. (according to the literature I was given at the orientation meeting). I ended up being assigned to just one event: a tribute to a choreographer, Zane Booker, held Friday at the Merriam Theater. The confirmation email said my shift was to start at 6:30 pm and we were told to arrive about 15 minutes before our shifts. It listed two other volunteers for this event as well as a board member who was to coordinate everything.

I arrived at the Merriam Theater at 6:15. The people inside the lobby had little or no idea what I was talking about when I arrived. One tried to insist I was in the wrong place. Another said he was aware of it but that he didn't know much else and that someone from Equality Forum was supposed to arrive shortly. I stood there (feeling like an idiot) waiting for nearly a half-hour while the lobby filled up with ticketholders. After this time, two people, a man and a woman, arrived from Equality Forum and eventually spoke to the man I had spoken to, who pointed me out to them. I spotted this, walked over and introduced myself.

Phils Playoff Tickets Are Mine! Or Not...

Here's the text of the email I just sent to the Phillies, who have offered me the "opportunity" to buy tickets to Game 1 of the NL Division Series tomorrow...

You sent me an email saying I have the opportunity to purchase NLDS tickets. The email instructs me to:

1. Click the "Buy Tickets" button below.
2. Underneath "Postseason Ticket Opportunity," click the "Activate Your Account Online" button.
3. Enter your Account Number and your PIN (located above) in the appropriate fields.
4. Click the "Activate" button to proceed through the purchase process.

I did all that and got a message saying my email address is already in use and to try another. I tried my other email address and got the same message. If I log in as a returning customer I get "no events/items available."

Clearly your system is flawed since I can't purchase tickets using the account number/PIN you sent me or the ones I already have, so thanks for nothing.

UPDATE: The email response from the Phillies' ticket office:

Thank you for your email. All you have to do is enter an email address that is not associated with any other offers you have received from the Phillies or your Phillies account. You may need to create an email account or use a family member's email address.

So, since I'm not a season ticket holder and doubt that I'll be able to afford to be one any time soon, I'm supposed to create another email account? And then another one next year? And yet another the year after that? Or use someone else's email address, assuming that they don't have their own Phillies account? And by the time I create a new email account, or get someone's permission to use theirs, and assuming I can access their email somehow to get my email to confirm my purchase/print out the tickets, do you think there will actually be any tickets left to buy? The sale started at 3 pm today. I logged on at 3:05 pm. Tickets for eight Eagles home games sell out in 15 minutes or less. How fast do you think the small number of tickets for this one Phillies playoff game would go? Hell, I'm sure they're gone already anyway.

Unreal. Remind me next year to not register for the lottery to buy playoff tickets.

Not Feeling So Comcastic

As I mentioned the other day, my DVR needs to be replaced. Today the Comcast technician (who is actually a contract employee, as his truck was from some other company) was supposed to be here between 5 and 7 pm. They called and asked if he could arrive earlier. I, of course, agreed. He arrived at about 3:45 pm.

They gave him the wrong type of DVR. Something about the RF In/Out jacks on the replacement DVR being wrong. After he spent a few minutes going back and forth on his cell phone with the office and one of the other technicians he finally set up an appointment to bring the correct DVR for Monday morning between 7 and 9 am. This didn't thrill me. With softball tomorrow morning and Tabu being the Bar of the Week, I anticipate getting home late tomorrow night. However, I want the DVR replaced so I can record programs again so I told him that when they call before arriving, it'll be my wake-up call.

A little while ago I got an automated call confirming my appointment tomorrow. Not Monday, tomorrow. I called the 1-800 number. The rep said there were no appointments available for Monday. He rescheduled it for Tuesday.

I first got cable TV over 20 years ago. Although in the early years I had some truly horrendous times dealing with their customer service, I can't really complain about anything in all the years since. Any time I had a problem it was promptly fixed. So I hope this is just a glitch.

Softball A Bit Screwed Up; Flyers To The Rescue!

While I eagerly await Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals I thought I'd rant about a couple of issues. As you know, today was day one of the Liberty Bell Classic softball tournament. In our D division each team played three round-robin games. Then the double-elimination portion began -- once you lose two games you're eliminated. Our team, the Tabu Nighthawks, had to play three consecutive games, at 11 am, noon and 1 pm.

Our first game was against a New York team that was filled with C-division (i.e. much better) hitters. Needless to say, we were clobbered. The fact that these teams want to not just play in tournaments, but essentially crush the real D teams -- loading up on players who are highly ranked, and possibly cheat by giving them rankings lower than they deserve -- disgusts me to no end. There's no real accomplishment here, there's no huge cash prize. So they get a trophy. Big freakin' deal. They may win a tournament but they're still losers. Pathetic.

Anyway, we rebounded with two wins in the round-robin and, after a brief break, won our first game in the double-elimination. That means we have at least two more games to play. For winning we were rewarded with a game at 8:00 am tomorrow.