Out of the Mouths of Babes...

On Tuesday Sebastian spent the day with my parents up in Boston. They picked me up at work at the end of the day, and drove us to the train station.

On the way there, an idiot in a big gray SUV cut us off without signaling, nearly smashing us.

"Why are people such crazy drivers?" I asked, angrily.

"Alcohol," was Sebastian's solemn reply.

Out of the Mouths of Babes...

On Tuesday Sebastian spent the day with my parents up in Boston. They picked me up at work at the end of the day, and drove us to the train station.

On the way there, an idiot in a big gray SUV cut us off without signaling, nearly smashing us.

"Why are people such crazy drivers?" I asked, angrily.

"Alcohol," was Sebastian's solemn reply.

ARGH!!! Cox is trying my patience...

They'd told me that they were going to call an internet supervisor, and that he'd contact me on Saturday. He didn't call.

So yesterday I called them, because the internet was going up and down like a jackhammer. They told me that the rule was that an internet supervisor couldn't be involved until there had been TWO visits by a repair guy. So I made an appointment for one to come over again. Incidentally, while I was on the phone the guy at the office confirmed that I'd had 37 disconnects in the past hour.

The technician came by today, looked things over, and told me that he couldn't find any problems. Although the internet connection was down for a good half hour this morning, it had no problems while he was here. He seemed to feel that I was imagining the problem. He also suggested that my ethernet card might be going bad.

But he said he'd check the outside wiring and cable box. He went outside, went up the pole...and a while later, he just took off. Didn't come back and say he couldn't find a problem, didn't come back at all - he just disappeared without a word.

In the meantime, our internet connection failed again.

I called Cox to find out whether our appointment was over. They told me that it was, and that it had been recorded that there were no problems.

What pisses me off most is that I can only assume that the technician - Eric - must have decided that I was completely full of shit and that trying to tell me that there was no problem was only going to be a waste of his time.

I'm really pissed off. So now I'm monitoring for more connectivity failures. Once I get three of them, I'm calling Cox back.

I really wanted to believe that Cox was a good company. They're relatively small and (I believe) family-owned. Until now we'd gotten good service.

ARGH!!! Cox is trying my patience...

They'd told me that they were going to call an internet supervisor, and that he'd contact me on Saturday. He didn't call.

So yesterday I called them, because the internet was going up and down like a jackhammer. They told me that the rule was that an internet supervisor couldn't be involved until there had been TWO visits by a repair guy. So I made an appointment for one to come over again. Incidentally, while I was on the phone the guy at the office confirmed that I'd had 37 disconnects in the past hour.

The technician came by today, looked things over, and told me that he couldn't find any problems. Although the internet connection was down for a good half hour this morning, it had no problems while he was here. He seemed to feel that I was imagining the problem. He also suggested that my ethernet card might be going bad.

But he said he'd check the outside wiring and cable box. He went outside, went up the pole...and a while later, he just took off. Didn't come back and say he couldn't find a problem, didn't come back at all - he just disappeared without a word.

In the meantime, our internet connection failed again.

I called Cox to find out whether our appointment was over. They told me that it was, and that it had been recorded that there were no problems.

What pisses me off most is that I can only assume that the technician - Eric - must have decided that I was completely full of shit and that trying to tell me that there was no problem was only going to be a waste of his time.

I'm really pissed off. So now I'm monitoring for more connectivity failures. Once I get three of them, I'm calling Cox back.

I really wanted to believe that Cox was a good company. They're relatively small and (I believe) family-owned. Until now we'd gotten good service.

A few Sebastian book notes

Today I pulled out The Portmanteau Book by Thomas Rockwell and read a few of the stories to Sebastian. It's really for older boys - probably eight years old at least - but although he didn't understand all of it, he loved "Hot I: Nakedness", particularly the part when the boy ran out naked into the street because his brother had told him that the water mains had burst while he was in the tub. My little guy was positively hysterical.

He also really got a kick out of "Hot II: Toiletpaper" and "Crazy Tom".

---

I should also note that a couple of weeks ago I finished reading The Adventures of Phunsi to him. It took us about eight or nine evenings, at least. Like The Portmanteau Book, it was a bit too old for him; it was first published in 1946, so the vocabulary was more advanced than you'd see these days. I'd guess it's appropriate for ages seven and up; a well-educated and intelligent seven, though.

I'd forgotten what an absolutely lovely story it was. It's about a little zebra who can run faster than anything - so fast that he can't be seen. Of course he also can't see where he's going when he's going that fast. He and his mother get captured in Africa, and are shipped to the zoo in New York. Phunsi eventually escapes, and has all sorts of interesting adventures in the greater New York area. One of the things I like best about the book is that it's filled with songs and poetry. Almost every creature Phunsi meets - and there are a lot of them - has a story to tell in song form. The one frustrating thing about that is that I'm no good at making up tunes on the fly, so I usually ended up reciting the songs rather than trying to sing them.

---

Something odd: I was driving Sebastian around not long ago, and he asked me "Is this a dream?".

"What do you mean, baby boy?"

"My life feels like a dream sometimes."

"Well, you're definitely awake now!"

A few Sebastian book notes

Today I pulled out The Portmanteau Book by Thomas Rockwell and read a few of the stories to Sebastian. It's really for older boys - probably eight years old at least - but although he didn't understand all of it, he loved "Hot I: Nakedness", particularly the part when the boy ran out naked into the street because his brother had told him that the water mains had burst while he was in the tub. My little guy was positively hysterical.

He also really got a kick out of "Hot II: Toiletpaper" and "Crazy Tom".

---

I should also note that a couple of weeks ago I finished reading The Adventures of Phunsi to him. It took us about eight or nine evenings, at least. Like The Portmanteau Book, it was a bit too old for him; it was first published in 1946, so the vocabulary was more advanced than you'd see these days. I'd guess it's appropriate for ages seven and up; a well-educated and intelligent seven, though.

I'd forgotten what an absolutely lovely story it was. It's about a little zebra who can run faster than anything - so fast that he can't be seen. Of course he also can't see where he's going when he's going that fast. He and his mother get captured in Africa, and are shipped to the zoo in New York. Phunsi eventually escapes, and has all sorts of interesting adventures in the greater New York area. One of the things I like best about the book is that it's filled with songs and poetry. Almost every creature Phunsi meets - and there are a lot of them - has a story to tell in song form. The one frustrating thing about that is that I'm no good at making up tunes on the fly, so I usually ended up reciting the songs rather than trying to sing them.

---

Something odd: I was driving Sebastian around not long ago, and he asked me "Is this a dream?".

"What do you mean, baby boy?"

"My life feels like a dream sometimes."

"Well, you're definitely awake now!"