I think one of the things I’m enjoying most about our new house is the community. Up until last week, we were actually the only ones living here. Even before we moved in, though, we had talked to our new neighbors more than we ever talked to any of our neighbors in 4 years in our old house. Each time we see our new neighbors outside, though, checking out the progress of their houses, we go out to talk to them. And they’re all very friendly and very nice and we’re getting to know eachother. I love that. I’m excited to have neighbors I can talk to, and to know that there will be other kids for Cindi to play with, and to live in a real neighborhood, like I did growing up. I can remember sitting outside of our house with my dad and talking to the neighbors, and going to play at their houses. I think that’s great and I think that’s important. We never had that in our old house, so I’m thrilled that we have it here. I can’t wait until some of these people actually get to move in.

Just a quick thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate my birthday. I appreciate it.

And the promised post is coming. I started it, and it’s saved as a draft, I just haven’t gotten around to finishing it.

This is not the post you’re looking for…
This is not the post I’m looking for…..

My wireless mouse seems to be so full of gunk, I’m not even sure I can clean it out anymore. I might have to just chuck it and get a new one. That’s really a bummer.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am back. There is quite a long and involved, sometimes humorous, sometimes enraging, story revolving around my return, and if you’re good, perhaps someday I will tell that story. Right now, however, I’m going to go check my e-mail…

Someone reminded me that I have not updated in a while. So, here’s a quick update.

We’ve moved. We closed on the new house last Monday, so today makes it a week. We still don’t have internet, although we have television and phones (finally). The new house is great, despite some inconviences of being the first ones on the block (literally). I can’t wait until some of our neighbors move in and things start to settle on the construction front. Ali has been doing a lot of painting and decorating and when she’s done, the place is going to look awesome. If you need my new address or phone number, e-mail me.

Hopefully I’ll be back online for real sometime later this week….

Am I the only one, lately, who has seen a dramatic increase in the number of junk e-mails I’ve been getting? It’s really starting to get out of hand…

So the closing date is now set for Monday at 11 am. HOPEFULLY it won’t change again….

Guess what there’s a 95% chance I’m NOT doing on Thursday….

Hi, all. I’m back from a short hiatus. Don’t get too excited…it’s not permanent.

As many of you know, we moved on Friday. But we didn’t REALLY move. You see, our stuff moved from our old house to our new house. We, however, are not allowed to live there until Thursday. So, Stacey is being kind enough to play host to me until I can move. Ali and Cindi have gone on a cruise with Ali’s mother, grandmother, sister and niece.

Now a story about Cablevision (who I will not post a link to as I feel people should avoid giving them any business) and Verizon, a company I have a newfound respect for.

The story starts last week on Thursday, when I called Cablevision in an attempt to set up cable and internet service for my new house. I was told by the Cablevision salesperson that they would not be able to provide me with any services until the middle to end of September. Outraged, I told the salesperson that this was unacceptable. She said something about problems with construction and blah blah blah, and I told her that I was going to call the construction office. Which I did. The construction office told me that they hear this complaint a lot. The problem, however, is that the issue has nothing to do with them. There is a third party company that comes into the development during each phase of construction and opens a public trench. At that time, they call of the utility companies and tell them to come and lay their cables. Verizon, PSE&G…they all show up. Cablevision? No such luck. Eventually, the trench has to be closed, because it’s a public safety issue. So the trench gets closed, and Cablevision has no lines installed. So I call Cablevision back and explain to them what the construction office has just explained to me. They tell me that they will need to schedule a survey (which could take up to 5 days) and then they will contact me and let me know what can be done. On Saturday I get a call from the surveyor asking how to find the house. I take this as a good sign. I’m wrong…

Today, I call Cablevision again. They look things up, and tell me that construction (their construction office, now) is scheduled to be complete in that section on September 5th. This is, of course, not acceptable. They then transfer me to a service and support person, who proceeds to tell me the same thing. I ask why. They say that they have to finish construction. I explain to them what I had previously been told about the trench. They say that’s true. I ask what they intend to do about that. They tell me that they intend to complete construction around September 5th. I hang up.

I then call Verizon, who are incredibly helpful and tell me that, yes, they can install DSL for me, and while they will work as fast as they can, it will probably not be installed before August 16th. That’s lousy, I say, but still better than September 5th (maybe). I then order DirectTV from them, which they say they will be happy to come and install on Friday. FRIDAY. Not September.

All told, the satellite/DSL combo is going to cost me considerably less than cable would have cost me. And with less of the hassle, too. I therefore give the finger to Cablevision.

Anyway, to wrap all of this up, I’m here at Stacey’s until Thursday. I have access to my e-mail here, and my cell phone number has stayed the same for those of you that have it and need to reach me. Hopefully, Stacey will be kind enough to allow me to continue to come here to check my e-mail after Thursday and until the 16th, so I shouldn’t be too far out of touch. I’ll keep everyone updated as things progress.