Red Ring of Death

It was really just a matter of time. I knew the Red Fairy would eventually visit me and lay waste to the Xbox, as she has done for so many others. I could blame Microsoft for it, but the thing has served me very well for 21 months, and they would fix it for free. And besides, it's no fun to kick even the bully when he's (kind of) down.

So anyway, the ring of death manifests in several forms, almost always three lights around the power button. The one that is off signifies the actual error. Mine is the top right quadrant (like the one in the picture), which means a "general hardware fault," or "call Microsoft and they'll pay to have it shipped back to them, fixed in 3-4 weeks, and sent back to you."

As it happens, I got the Best Buy extended warrantee thing (which could inspire my "always buy the extended warrantee" speech, but I'll spare you that), and about ten minutes of chatting to some of the friendlier-than-Microsoft Best Buy customer service team leads me to be able to bring my Xbox back to Best Buy and get a gift card for the price I paid plus tax.

Now, I happen to have a few other Besy Buy gift cards, and I know they've dropped the price a bit since I made the original purchase, so maybe I can get something newer and prettier. I was thinking of using the cards for something else (like maybe a Wii), but really, I have a lot invested in the Xbox already, so I might as well stick with what I know.

So Best Buy made things easy, Microsoft met my moderately low expectations. Yay Best Buy! Meh Microsoft!

The End of an Era

So I'm borrowing the title of this post from David, who wrote about the same thing. Comcast is gone. Their customer service stinks, their service is unreliable and too expensive. I wash my hands of them. Our internet and phone is now handled by AT&T. Faster, more reliable, cheaper. Their customer service also stinks, but at least there's less reason for me to call them.

Now, normally, the end of cable would require an immediate subscription to DirecTV or somesuch (an option that I heartily recommend, by the way). Now, however, time is an issue, and I like to watch DVD's, and I like to play games (and the TV is GREAT for both). Battlestar Galactica isn't coming back until September or so, same with Heroes. Lost isn't coming back until January. And we can see all those on their respective networks' websites. The only purpose to continuing the cable service is to veg for an hour or two. Sure, we'll miss Pucca and Adult Swim and Alton Brown, but losing cable saves us enough that if we wanted, we could get two seasons of our favorite TV show each month and never miss it.

So begone, wicked Comcast! Never again will I bow to the filth you spew!

Two cents

Heidi and I had Cingular and Verizon, respectively. Heidi hates Cingular, and Verizon is kind of expensive (but I've had a fairly good experience with them). We just recently switched over to a T-Mobile family plan, so as to save money. We heard that T-Mobile customer service was very good (and have confirmation of that as much as two days can tell you), and everyone I've discussed it with in the Chicagoland area has been more than pleased with them. So save money, good customer service, good reception, good call.

We planned out our purchase in a big way. We read reviews (CNET is really good for tech reviews), we studied the literature, we talked to the sales folks at the mall kiosks, and lastly, we went to a standalone store with active demo models and tested the clarity of the calls. We decided on a Blackberry Pearl for me, and a Nokia 5300 for her.

Then we went to Amazon. With Amazon, they have spectacular deals on phones if you're starting up new service. Our monthly bill will be the same as everyone else's (with our stuff, that is), but our upfront cost was a grand total of two cents. One penny for her phone, another for mine, and free shipping (I'm not sure why we got that, but I'm also not complaining).

They got shipped to us activated, but we were able to get our numbers ported over as soon as we received the phones (well, that's still in the process, but it was easy to get started). So, we're both pretty excited. We're both kind of sick of our old phones, and are excited to get new ones, especially such nice new ones.

A Fine Saturday

I still don't have internet at home, so I couldn't blog about this until today, but I just want to talk about how wonderful Saturday was. I got a few errands done in the morning, then Heidi came in, and we did nothing. She lay around and read my second copy of Harry Potter (I pre-ordered a copy from Amazon.com, and forgot that it was coming, so I ordered another copy), while I did dishes and crap. I had to wait around for the DirecTV guy to show up, and he was late, but I'm OK with that. If he's late, that means he's doing things right for other people. And, sure enough, he was the most competent of the six technicians I've had in the apartment over the last two weeks. I now have HD DirecTV with Tivo, and DAMN! That's the way to watch TV!

Also, one thing I really like about DirecTV, is that with Comcast, the best I can do to avoid the temptation of the "naughty channels" is to lock them. With DirecTV, I can remove them entirely. Out of sight, out of mind, capische?

Anyway, while waiting for Mr. Tech, when not reading, Heidi and I had a really good conversation, and the opportunity to pray together about some big stuff.

Then we went out. The weather on Saturday was quite nice after the rain. A little humid, but the temperature was quite pleasant. I did a search on Citysearch for a good date restaurant, and found Deleece. It got a fairly high rating, but I'd never heard of it, so I thought I'd take a gamble. We ended up having to change our reservation because of the lateness of the DirecTV guy, but they were able to take it. The inside was crowded and noisy, and the outside was practically empty and freakin' gorgeous, so we chose to sit outside. The waiter came up and gave us the specials, and my mouth was beginning to water already. We chose a lamb thingy and a beef tenderloin thingy and we split them. We also had a beef satay appetizer and a brownie dessert. To anybody reading this, wherever you may be, if you are ever anywhere near Chicago, I recommend coming to this restaurant. This was the best dining experience I've had for years. The waiter was the best I'd had in probably two years, and the food was freakin insanely amazing. When I commented this to the waiter, he even chose that opportunity to suavely complement Heidi, ensuring that she would have an even better time (if she was previously insecure, which she isn't). And yes, the company made the evening, but that was a kickass restaurant.

Yes, Saturday was a wonderful wonderful wonderful day. Sunday was a pain in the ass because of the heat, but Saturday made up for it all.

The King is Dead. Long Live the King!

So my Comcast woes are left behind, now. I fear no cable company, nor do I attempt any further fixes. Not that I'm expecting a lot better now, especially that I now have contracts out the wazoo. I'm now working with DirectTV and SBC to combine my magical mystery home into a massive behemoth of electronic funstuff. And no, I didn't really understand what I just wrote, either.

Direct TV comes on Saturday. DSL gets turned on August 1st. Perhaps I'll have my speakers up this weekend (I'm thinking bookshelves near the TV ought to do the trick, in addition to storing the equal parts DVDs and books that I have around the place). Of course, the couch doesn't come for another 5 weeks, minimum, so I'm not in any huge rush. Perhaps I can use this time productively, like building the mighty costume.

The move

So I moved over the weekend. I was unable to blog about it until now, because I got Comcast as my internet provider. Yep, you guessed it. Not working. I'll give them a little bit of time, because they are the fastest option I have, and they tend to be very good with their customer service. Of course, customer service without actual service is kind of pointless, but I'll be a little patient.

Anyway, so on Friday, Heidi was coming in to help me out with the last few details before the big move, and her parents (who live way the heck out in Bartlett) called her: "We have some back braces for John." Heidi was on her way into the city, and said, "I can't come out there." "That's OK, we drive in." This is from people who aren't particularly comfortable driving in the city. So I guess I made a good impression.

Anyway, the move started out slow, and I was terrified that I was going to be doing it alone, but this was also at 8:45am. My brother and mother showed up at about 9:15am, and we got most of the old place unloaded by 10:15, when Zach and Richard showed up. When I was on my way to the new place, I got a call from Joe, saying he and Nancy were at my old place. Since I didn't have much stuff, we started in earnest loading up (3 flights!) about 11:00, and finished before noon. Everybody was talking about how easy the move was. We were all sweating like pigs, but relaxing in the one air-conditioned room, and, what's more important, my back was in pretty good shape. I still had to get things organized, and I still have a fair amount to do, but I can keep going with that. Let me just say, I have some really cool friends.

But the Comcast tech pissed me off. My computer wasn't set up, but I could tell very clearly that the modem wasn't working (one blinking light means a bad connection). Still, he was all excited that he might get done by two, so he took off to finish up his last job for the day. So now I have to take off early on Thursday to get a technician to come in and get the connection working. Dammit.