cold enough

oh yes, a market day chilly enough for me to wear both my boots and my hat!! which is a good thing, because going to bed with my hair wet last night made for a messy nest this morning.




the weather has been predictably nutty for our part of the world. it's as though this region goes, 'fall shmall, we like our people perennially dewy and in shorts, yo'. all week it was pretty warm, rainy, and extremely muggy, which resulted in an explosion of mosquitoes and other bugs, as well as all sorts of vegetation. on one of my walks in the park I noticed 'shrooms dotting the lawn:



our little rose bush out back was even tricked into sprouting a couple of buds:



I don't know how farmers manage to read the weather well enough to know when to plant/harvest. seriously. this morning at t'afia, I heard a couple of them talking about getting things picked before the rain this week, and how if it's too muddy you can't do it. I like that we're getting a little more familiar with the local farmers and vendors. we picked up more of the amazing andouille from Al, the Grateful Bread guy, along with some chicken-apple-cinnamon sausage that totally tickled our tastebuds, hit the Indian and cheese booths again, and got a smattering of veggies out front. I picked up a bunch of collard greens because they looked so fresh and green, and a little lady told me how to make them flavorful... I don't know that I've actually ever tried them before and M is dubious, so I'm hoping to sell us both on them this week. I'm also looking forward to making a sauteed squash pizza with buttercup and sweet dumpling squash and fresh mozarella... and maybe another rat-tat-too-ee...

**********

our good friends the Sargents are currently exploring the New England area, and their travels reminded me of our trip to Boston a couple of years ago. we had such a good time... I really loved the wealth of things to do there, and particularly enjoyed The Freedom Trail and the opportunity to learn so much American History while getting a ton of exercise. :) here are a few pics of our time there: (I had to do a bit of internet searching to refresh myself of some names/events... I wish I'd paid more attention in History class back in the day!)

Boston Common:

the beginning of the red line that leads you on the Freedom Trail:

the Old State House, where the Declaration of Independence was read aloud from the balcony to the people down below. the circle of cobblestones commemorates the Boston Massacre:

the Paul Revere statue and the Old North Church (the oldest standing church in Boston with the highest steeple), where lanterns would be lit in the tower to signal how the British were arriving... one if by land, two if by sea...

the USS Constitution... Old Ironsides herself.

I chose to look up the Charleston Navy yard, and on the bottom of the National Park Service webpage for the yard was this funny tidbit:

Did You Know?
The Internal Revenue Service used to conduct ceremonies rewarding its best collectors and other employees at Faneuil Hall? Considering that Faneuil Hall was the site of some notable tax resistance meetings before The Revolution, we must conclude that the IRS does have a sense of humor after all.

that's the Bunker Hill monument back there on top of Breed's Hill, where the Trail ends. when you're standing up there, the words 'don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes' take on a whole different meaning. (their ammunition was limited, so the Colonial militia had to wait for the British to get close enough so their defensive attacks were the most effective. the British eventually captured the Hill, but on the third try and not without suffering a lot of casualties.)

romantic street lamps.

we ended our day of historic sight-seeing at this wonderful, small, family-owned Italian restaurant. we were walking around looking for a place to eat and noticed a line out the front door of this place. a woman waiting for her table told us that we wouldn't regret the wait, and she was absolutely right.

can't wait to see your pictures, Chels! hope you guys are having a lovely time.

-m.y.

thank you for calling

I’ve spent the last couple of days deep in the trenches of undercover customer service research via multiple phone calls. Our internets have been on the blink, and after one unsuccessful repairman trip, I wanted to request another. Allow me to illustrate AT&T’s World of Automated Prompts, which go something like this:

‘I see you’re calling from (number). Is this the number of your AT&T account?’ me: ‘No’. ‘Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that. Is this the num-‘ me: NO! (pause) 'I see. Please say or enter the number of your AT&T account.’ me: Punching numbers. Not even going to attempt saying them. This isn’t my first rodeo. ‘We need to know why you’re calling so we’ll know how to direct you. Are you calling about your Dish network service, DSL inter-‘ me: DSL! (pause) ‘Thanks. I need some more information. Just say what problems you’re having. You could say ‘Outage’, to report an Outage, or (list of things that don’t apply to me, then finally), or say ‘Repair’ or ‘Technical Support’ me: REPAIR! (pause) ‘I think you said you need Repair service, let me transfer you to a customer service representative. In case we get disconnected, is the number on the account a good number to use to reach you?’ Me: NO. ‘Please enter a contact number’ Me: punching buttons again. ‘Thanks. You’ll be connected shortly’

A few minutes later, hopefully…

AT&T Rep: Thank you for calling AT&T my name is BlagedyBlah may I have the number on your account?

Me: mumble the number again. Didn’t I just give you this?

AT&T Rep: And is this a good number to reach you in case we get disconnected?

Me. MumbleNO. Mumble cell number. Why did I have to punch this into your system if it doesn’t show up in front of you?

AT&T Rep: Who am I speaking with?

Me: Mumble info.

AT&T Rep: Okay, how can I help you today?

Me: Tell my story. Again. My internet is cutting out. Still. There’ve got to be notes about it in the system, right? This is the sixth time I’ve called in a week. I just want another repairman to come to my house. Please. Repair.

From here it’s gone 2 ways. First, I was put in a cue to speak to tech support, only to find that I was really just in another cue for another rep who needed to hear the whole story again before saying something like ‘oh, you need line maintenance’ me: YES! ‘call this number and select your state and go from there’. Me: Can’t you just transfer me somewhere to make an appointment with a technician? Them: ‘NO.’

So I call the line maintenance number, and as the automated system starts reeling off states I’m ready. Except they never say Texas. So I wait, and wait, they’ve finished the list and there’s nothing else, and finally I push a ‘0’ out of desperation and get kicked to another sales rep, who needs to hear it all again. And everyone I speak to needs both my AT&T account number and my contact number.

Which is funny to me, because they don’t want to call you back. Case in point, during one of my calls yesterday, something was actually wrong with their side of the line…it was cutting in and out, and the lady rep kept apologizing and asking me to repeat what I was saying. I shouted to her to just call me back at my contact number so we could get a better connection, to which she replied, ‘I’d rather not do that, ma’am!’ I shouted back that I could call her back if she’d give me a direct line, but apparently that’s a no-no. Of course, I was welcome to call back and go through the prompt system again. So we kept shouting at each other until she transferred me to another rep that magically lined up a guy to come out this morning. I asked if she was with Line Maintenance. She said she wasn’t and if my problem was taken care of I should have a good day and thanks for choosing AT&T.

The other way it’s gone is that I’ve been told Line Maintenance would be calling me… so I wait, and an automated system calls me that says: ‘We’ve checked your line and it seems to be fine. If your problem has gone away, press 9. If not-‘ and the call is dropped. ‘If not…’ what?! It hasn’t gone away, it cuts in and out, I need you guys to come still! But you can’t call them back at the number that shows up in your caller ID. You have to call AT&T again. And begin the whole ordeal from the beginning.

Horrible. Frustrating, awful system of customer service. We went with AT&T because we dislike Comcast so much… my experience with them was also plagued with shoddy customer service.

CRAZINESS. John the AT&T guy just left – he messed with wires and gave me a new modem, so we’ll see. But holy mackerel.

I would also like to offer up the following wish… I would love to be able to go to a Jiffy Lube or another of those express oil change/state inspection joints and just get a good oil change/fluid check/inspection without them trying to up-sell me on sixty and eighty dollar filters, fuel injection flushes, and who knows what else. Seriously.

To end on a pleasant note, yesterday I needed to kill some time and decided to head for my favorite pho place in the city, Pho Tan Loc over on Bellaire just down the street from Sharpstown Mall. I was introduced to it back when I started working for one of my anime companies. I doubt I would've had the courage to go in and try it by myself, but those guys had canvassed the area and knew what was what... plus, one of my friends was Korean and we relied on his knowledge and experience to guide us. The prices have gone up a bit... a number 15 small used to be $5.50, and now I think it's $7, but it's still the most flavorful pho ever. (and it's out to your table in 5 minutes!)




then I went down Bellaire toward the Beltway to Star to get a lovely and refreshing bubble coffee drink... sooo tasty, and cheaper in this part of town:





Another great place in this part of town is House of Bowls ... really good food, and the noodle and egg plate looks sort of gross but is totally delicious.