Why does billing have to be a hassle every month?

Every month now it seems to be the same old same old. Dealing w/ Charter Communications, trying to figure out what should be a straight forward statement.

I saw an advertisement on the internet a month or so before we moved from Charlotte to Carolina Beach. "$69.99/mo - High Speed Internet, Basic Cable, and Unlimited Digital Phone." Sounded like quite the deal, you could end up paying $69.99/mo for just High Speed internet w/ some companies.

So I set it up, online, scheduled an Install date, talked to a very polite Indian woman to verify my information. It was a breeze, so much easier than all the Bullshit Time Warner puts you through in Charlotte, with my half an hour waits to talk to customer service, or technical support.

Wow was I wrong. I haven't had anything go right, they didn't even have record that I had set up an installation, and right now, as I write this post I am sitting on 1 full hour of conversation w/ billing reps online. As I lose more hair.

I did this last month, I dont like getting a bill which states I have previous balances. Previous Balances indicate to me that I didn't pay something.. and I know that is not accurate. I paid for modems, I paid for installation, I had shit waived, all I want is a bill that says $69.99/mo + taxes and other BS connect fees and line usage BS = $85.67, not 80someodd dollars + 54.71 we pulled out of our asses = 400/mo + 10% due at signing, with an ARM and a fixed odds that we will just cut off your services in August regardless and charge you a 40 reconnect fee for each of your three services. "Thank you for calling charter, you are a valued customer."

1 hour and 20 minutes I will never get back, couldn't make it to the aquarium b/c of this BS. I am not just going to pay a bill, past due, previous balance, balance forward, blah blah blah blah, either show me what I'm paying for or accept the payments I send you.. option A or option B.

Essentially what I am trying to say here kids, is that if you set up w/ Charter a couple of things are going to happen. 1) Your internet will probably not connect for up to a week as Charter doesn't want to buy more IP addresses. 2) Your package (well not YOUR package) but the Charter package you chose may be low priced, but you will still have $30-$60 installation fees associated w/ each service. 3) You will be told, if you do not understand their complicated and rediculous statements that a service interruption could occur at any time.

The internet is quick, the cable comes in clearish, the phone is a phone is a phone.

I am so aggravated if I wasn't working tonight I'd be drinking this afternoon.

Peace and Chicken Grease.

John McCain, War Hero to Grumpy Old Man

John McCain is an idiot. He is out of touch (completely), ill-informed, and shabby. The sad thing is, prior to the 2008 general election I had a favorable view of John McCain. I saw him as a moderate-republican, a person who actually looked out for his constituents. I saw him as a centrist, a beltway republican who wasn't afraid to cross the aisle to better the US. I saw him as a person who understood war, who didn't want to repeat the failings of Vietnam, and as a candidate who had been on the receiving end of terribly negative campaigning in 2000.

However since this election has begun, he has done nothing but appall me. His first misstep, giving a "big" speech the night that Obama locked up the delegates needed to be the Democratic Presidential Nominee. Second misstep, running a dirty campaign, constantly attacking Obama as if he had stolen Karl Rove's play book even tho he swore to run a good campaign focusing on the issues. Third, not having a clue about his own talking points and furthermore admitting that he knows nothing about the economy, in fact he knows so little that he went as far as to say that the Bush tax cuts needed to stay because of their stimulating effect on the American economy. Lastly, there are so many gaffs in the McCain camp that it is difficult to show them all, impossible to list them all without a severe bout of carpal tunnels, however I will say this... whining about the media being biased against you isn't going to get the media on your side. Why do you think the media is covering Obama more? Could it be because he is the first African-American candidate with a chance of becoming president? Is it possible that his trips around the world are a bit more sensational than say an almost canceled press-conference in front of the cheese cooler at a grocery store in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania?

Anyway, I would like to follow this up with a comment to Right-Wingers, Centrists, and Left-Wingers. Especially the Right-Wingers. If you would stop supporting these half-wit candidates you'd probably have some support from across the aisle, but if you continue to support these Bush/McCain Jokers, you wont have any support from the Left. To the Centrists, you want Obama, I dont have to tell you that, just don't go and support that Ego-Maniac Nader, if Nader actually wanted to help the citizens of the US he would've aligned himself with one of our two parties and helped to fix our government from the inside-out. And to my brothers and sisters on the Left and Far-Left, stick with your man, I know Obama isn't as liberal or socially forward-thinking as most of us would like, but he is the best person for the job, and he's probably the best candidate for the job since Clinton, Bill.

I just cannot believe the amount of shit I have to put up with for this McCain fella'. Every time I turn on the news I end up with a twinge in my neck from my head shaking side to side in disapproval as they show me the next stupid thing John McCain has done or said. I thought Republicans felt strongly about personal responsibility, doesn't he realize its his own fault his campaign is going down the crapper?

Baaaah. In other news, its been a slow week on the Island, combination of considerable cloud cover and $4 gas. We need an alternative to our energy issues so people can come to the beach and tip me. It is nice today tho. I think I'm going to hop on the Cruiser and head on down to the Boardwalk, get some pizza at Frank's.

Holler atcha boy.

Pickens Plan, CNG, Hybrids... The answer may be blowing in the wind.

So I gotta say I'm pleased to see the ideas coming out of Texas. Generally not something you'd expect to hear coming from a self-proclaimed Social-Democrat. T. Boone Pickens plan to reduce America's narcissistic addiction to oil is a great example of the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that these sad (economically speaking) times should produce from successful people. The beautiful thing to me is the bi-partisan appeal of plan, who can say "I enjoy coal-fire power plants, soot, destroying the environment, and not creating thousands of high-paying jobs." I wont summarize his ideas, by simply watching the 5 minute video on the Pickens Plan website you can figure it out on your own.

It got me thinking, which gets me reading, which seems to not be popular at all.

So his plan calls for using Compressed Natural Gas or CNG to power 20% of our vehicles. While reading a few reviews of people in this country and others (it seems Argentina has quite a love affair w/ CNG powered automobiles) I realized the versatility and advantages of a Natural Gas Vehicle. Similar mileage exists for most passenger cars, with reduced emissions, and a much much lower cost. Its also cleaner burning, which lends one to believe you could operate the vehicle for a longer period of time, this however I was unable to prove. The cost is about $1.40- $2.75 a "gallon." So...

If mileage is similar, conversion is simple (and relatively inexpensive depending on vehicle make/model), and power isn't sacrificed, why haven't we tried this? Where is Detroit? What if you applied it to a Hybrid? If the numbers work out (55mpg , $2.50/gallon, 180mi. trip) could I get from Carolina Beach to Charlotte for less than $10.00 in fuel? Thats not just great, thats amazing. Why has it taken us all this time to figure this out? I am really sick of lobbyists right now.

So CNG aside I think the real story is the wind, we need to utilize this new technology and harness the wind for our power... and our purchasing power. This industry would create thousands of jobs, which, are hard to come by these days. I don't need to tell you that.

Anyway, it was a nice day on Pleasure Island, hot as hell, but nice, I drove my car for the first time in a few days, and she is running fine. Gotta love the Huffy for taking me almost everywhere I need to go. Riding on 26's, ya' heard.

So who wants to sponsor me? I want to convert a Prius to CNG and honk the horn as I pass every gas station.

Ok I'll sweeten the pot. You not only get to sponsor me, you also get to put an Ad wrap on the vehicle.

Just an idea, from me.

Holla' atcha boy.