random thoughts – Day 2,369 (Wednesday) – breaking up, moving on happily

Bob Ross!

After a nearly decade-long relationship, Xfinity and I have broken up. It was a long time coming, mostly because in both cities I’ve lived in, I was waiting for there to be an alternative available in my area. I was excited when I saw the new provider’s trucks and techs working in my neighborhood several months ago. A postcard campaign followed and I responded by phone and again online, and last week, the promised message to schedule installation arrived and today was that most glorious and exalted day.

The installation window was between 10 and 12 and the technician arrived at 10:15. Magical cable was strung to a new box on the house, a modem and router were connected, and the account was set up. The installer said his colleague was doing an installation down the street and I’m the second house on the neighborhood to be connected. Danggit. If I’d taken the 8-10 installation slot I could have been first in the hood.

The installation was easy, just like the company claims. Cancelling the old service was a little less easy. First there was the quest of reaching a human, which required getting past the gatekeeping recording and then dealing with the “AI Assistant” Boss. The “Assistant” asked the reason of the call (“I want to cancel service”). It asked if I wanted to “review service” or “downgrade service.” I repeated “cancel service” in a highly enunciated, probably bordering on aggressive manner. Then the robot said “discontinue service.” Right. Because that is how mere mortals talk. Yes, “DISCONTINUE.” At least I was finally connected to a human.

The robot may prefer pretentious-speak, but the human was well versed in sales-speak. She thanked me for being a customer since December 2016, asked how she should help (“cancel my service”), then why I was cancelling (“I have a new provider and it is $100 a month less expensive”). She went into a spiel about their other “new lower priced tiers and packages” blah blah blah. She asked when I got my latest pricing info, said she didn’t see any calls logged on my account, then seemed to suggest it was my fault for not knowing they had lower priced packages because I never called to ask. I told her the menu and AI hell involved in calling were a huge deterrent, but I used their online tool which informed me I was already getting the best package and price. I wish I told her I wasn’t aware of the need for an annual college level research project into my pricing.

Anyway. The cancellation order was placed as of 11:59 tonight and I will be receiving a refund of a chunk of the payment made last week. That got us into the return of the TV box, power cord/adapter, and remote. The two options were to bring it to The UPS Store, which required an 18-mile trip to the only nearby location; or UPS could pick it at my house, which would require packing/boxing the equipment and printing a label, which is easy except for the part where I don’t have a printer.

At The UPS Store, the clerk was a delight, the other customers in line were fun, and the visit went by quickly and pleasantly. With a massive WalMart across the parking lot, I once again set aside my general objections to the place and went in. I had driven for a half hour, so I might as well make it worth the journey.

New (mostly clearance) craft supplies!

The Leominster WalMart is spacious. The crafts section felt huge compared to Gardner’s. The pattern file drawers are labeled and there are pattern catalogues to browse. There is a larger inventory of pre-cut fabrics. There were items I didn’t recall seeing in Gardner in my many craft department visits, and I engaged in my renewed hobby of buying craft supplies with the purchase of reusable stencils, stencil brushes, and five clearance priced wood crafty frames (75 cents each!).

Then, I trudged the quarter mile across the store to the grocery section and discovered the store brand pints of sea salt caramel ice cream cost less in Leominster than what I paid in Gardner five days ago ($1.78 vs $1.96). And the Gardner price of five days ago was nine cents higher than what I paid a few weeks ago and it’s starting to feel like the same mysterious, magical pricing the old cable/internet company uses. Maybe WalMart thinks the Gardner folks are fancier or have deeper pockets or want us to call and ask for better pricing or something.

Back at home, it was a toss-up whether to finally explore the channels available through my Samsung Smart TV that I’ve had for many years, or start stenciling every smooth surface in the house. The TV exploration won (for now) and I learned I have a Bob Ross channel! Had I discovered this years ago I might be an expert at painting happy little trees for squirrels to play in. Bob Ross said, “It's so important to do something every day that will make you happy.” Well, today it was multiple things, including cutting the bondage of cable and shopping craft supplies.