davidb dives invarious musings and babblings.

After an afternoon of painting trim, I headed over to the nearby Chinese restaurant, Fortune of Reston. I can walk to it, and as I approached it, I realized that the sign for it was gone. Indeed, the whole restaurant was gone, stripped to the concrete floor. A little Google research later, I discover that is has actually been closed since January 7th. I guess it says something that it took me until March to notice its absence. Ah, Fortune, you will be (somewhat) missed.

On my way back, I noticed that the bagel shop in the same shopping center (Manhattan Bagel) was also gone. The same Google research indicated that it had been gone for over a year. Clearly, my powers of observation need work.

I finally noticed that my TiVo was in the “Pending Restart” state. I restarted it, and bang! new version of the TiVo software (8.1.1-something!).

And this version (among other things) fixes the sound issue that I was having with Comcast SportsNet DC. Of course, this happens exactly one day after the last thing I wanted to see on this channel was aired. Figures.

Now my current issue (which I hope resolves itself) is that Verizon is in the process of moving all the channels around, and I’m currently in the state where some of the channel changes have been applied by TiVo, but not yet by Verizon. And (I think) some changes have been applied by Verizon but not yet by TiVo.

The new TiVo software adds a bunch of features, the most interesting which are “TivoCast” and the “Recently Deleted” folder that now shows up. TivoCast is (I think) the broadband video download service that Tivo is rolling out. I can’t tell how to use it yet. If I ever visited tivo.com, I would have found it obvious how to use it. However, I guess I’m on the cutting edge of this software update, since Tivo Central Online doesn’t seem to realize that the S3 now supports TivoCast.

A few months ago, I switched to Verizon FiOS TV, using two CableCARDs in my S3 TiVO. Mostly just because it was an option, and the FiOS service was at least $10 less than my other option, Comcast. Sorry, Comcast, competition prevails!

Overall, I’ve been pretty happy with this setup. However, I have this strange problem: two channels in my lineup don’t have any sound. They look OK, but no audio, ever. Now digital cable in general, and FiOS is no exception, comes with so damn many channels that there is a significant chance that these two channels might go completely unwatched, thus, no problem. And, in fact, this is largely the case. However, it turns out that one of these channels, there are basketball games that I want to watch. Of course, sound is not strictly necessary for watching a basketball game, and, sometimes, is a hinderance. Nevertheless, it sort of bugged me that I couldn’t, even if I wanted to, listen to the audio. Enough of the mystery, the two channels (for me) are Comcast SportsNet DC (CSNDC) and Mid-Atlantic Sports Net (MASN). They are consecutive, and, suspiciously, both channels from a different cable operator (Comcast, duh).

So, I called FiOS tech support. The friendly tech on the other end of the line tried resetting my CableCARDs (which also apparently had the strange side-effect of disconnection my phone call), but nothing changed. After some more internal kibitzing, she decides to send a tech out my way the next day (that being MLK day). I agree to meet the tech in the afternoon.

The idea is that CableCARDs are so weird and crappy, that this might be because of bad cards. This seemed unlikely to me, since both cards exhibited the problem. What are the chances that two cards fail in the exact same bizarre way? Nonetheless, I was game.

The tech, Mike, is basically on time, and pretty friendly and helpful. He swaps out my cards, and we spend a terribly long time on the phone getting a remote tech to activate the cards. Eventually, this gets done, but: no dice. No surprise there, but what now? Mike calls in to see if they can test this in the CO — Nope, no S3 TiVO there (yet, I think). Eventually the remote FiOS people blame the TiVO. Mike leaves promising to look into it further.

After he leaves, I call TiVO (I wanted to confirm my service level anyway), and report the problem. The TiVO support person has never ever heard of this problem, but promises to move it up the chain.

The next day (this would be…yesterday), TiVO tech support calls me and own up to the problem. It actually is a TiVO problem, that, reportedly, will be address in the next software update. No promises on when that will be, however.

Ever since I sprung for the (awesome) TiVo Series 3, getting two CableCARDs (and digital cable) for it has been on my “to do” list. I’d been avoiding it because of the various horror stories that I’d read about during the Series 3 launch.

I figured I would give the cable companies time to come to grips with the new demand for CableCARDs. So, earlier this month, I figured enough time had passed, and I called Verizon to order the CableCARDs and ditch the (long since unplugged) DVR/cable box.

Note that to call Verizon and get anything useful done, you essentially have to call them during business hours. Otherwise you get stuck in their maddening voice response system. So I finally remember to call them during business hours, and after being transferred a few times, actually get to tell somewhat what I want: 2 CableCARDs for a TiVo. I get scheduled for 11/14. So I work from home that day. Even though it takes me most of the morning to stop swearing at my work laptop, I actually am pretty productive. However, after 3 pm (you know, long after to point where you could have salvaged your day), the Verizon tech calls and informs me both that he doesn’t know what I need, and when I tell him, that he doesn’t have CableCARDs on the truck, so he can’t get to me. Grr.

I reschedule with him for Friday. I call Verizon directly to try and connect all the dots. This is futile. That is, it appears to work, but, as you will soon see, it doesn’t work.

I spend Friday actually on vacation, but feel trapped in the house, since I have zero idea when the techs will arrive. It turns out, I needn’t have bothered. By 3:30, no one has showed, so I call the 1-800 number that I have. I’m informed of something to the effect that the order was screwed up, and could they try again on Monday (today). “Sure,” I say, already pretty annoyed. I was going to be home anyway (more vacation time). I also meant to call them in the morning to find out if anyone driving a Verizon truck even knew about me, but I forget.

Fast forward to now. Around 4, once it is somewhat clear that once again no one was going to come, I call again. This time, the human on the other end is a bit aghast at how screwed up my order is. She calls the dispatcher (this has happened every time I’ve called, except the first time, actually), and eventually tells me that all she can do is escalate. About 30 minutes later, someone from Verizon calls (apparently this is the escalation), and essentially, puts me on hold. Whee!

Currently, I’m yet again scheduled for tomorrow (11/21), this time for the morning (i.e., not an all day window). My decision tree now looks like this: If techs arrive without CableCARDs, they get to take the DVR with them, and I cancel FiOS TV. They are fired. If they arrive with CableCARDs and they work, then they remain hired. If they do not arrive, I stop asking for CableCARDs, and just tell them to cancel, they are fired.

I actually have no reason to believe that getting CableCARDs from Comcast (my other choice — I feel lucky that I even have one) will be smooth, but it is possible that they will, at least, know how to enter an appointment into their system.

Update: SUCCESS! At the outer edge of the installation window (8am to 11am), an installer came and the TiVo is now working with 2 CableCARDs. w00t!

It was harder than it should have been because, at first, the TiVo weirded out, and I had to remove the card and reboot. Next, the installer was unable to initialize the cards via his fairly nifty ruggedized laptop with built-in EV-DO due to some sort of (office-side) configuration issue. After making a few phone calls to find the right person, he got someone on the phone who could initialize the cards, and it was fairly smooth sailing from there on out.

About 40 minutes after that, I’ve re-run “guided setup” on the TiVo, and deleted all of the duplicate, spanish-language, and stupid channels.

A few weeks ago, I went to dinner with a coworker of mine, George. George is the most serious connoisseur of sushi that I’ve ever met (not counting sushi chefs themselves). We just went to the sushi place across the street, but George has developed a relationship with one of the chefs there, and that transformed the experience into something different.

For one thing, this was the first time I saw someone hand-annotate the a la carte sushi menu to request a combination of sashimi, sushi, and hand rolls. Plus, we wrote in a sushi roll that wasn’t on the menu. A whole new world!

Afterwards, George and I discussed our various theories of what consisted of levels, or dividing lines between various sushi eaters. First, I present my general theory of sushi diner progression:

1. Cooked sushi. Basically california rolls, cucumber rolls, and the like.
2. Raw fish (not sashimi). This starts with tuna and salmon and progress from there.
3. Differently textured raw seafood. Octopus, squid, clam, flying fish roe.
4. Sashimi.
5. Salmon roe.
6. Uni.
7. Fried shrimp heads

Basically, this is a progression from the familiar to the unfamiliar in the American palate. Obviously, it isn’t a hard and fast progression, but it roughly corresponds to my own progression and to that of other friends that I’ve seen. YMMV.

George basically agreed with my theory, but insisted that it was only half the picture. The key, he said, was saba (mackerel). Now, in my progression, typical Americans will eat saba fairly early on — it is just another form of raw fish, after all. But they won’t like it. But once it becomes your favorite, and you can convince the sushi chef that it is your favorite, then the relationship with the sushi chef changes, and they start to take you seriously. Saba is apparently the first step to the Japanese sushi progression.

We had saba (sashimi) that night, and I have to admit, I thought it was pretty good. Of course, we started the meal with the fried shrimp heads.

My new toy arrived about a week ahead of schedule:

(It is the thing on the bottom. Above it is the old toy that this thing is replacing).

I apologize for the horrible photo. I’ll try to get a better one when I can photograph during the day. Well, at least a less gloomy day.

Anyway, I bought a Tivo Series 3 to replace my aging (6+ years old!) series 1 TiVo. Of course, my series 1 still works and I was still using it, but I became gripped by The Fear, so I’ve gone ahead and replaced it.

It is probably mostly that I’ve switched from a series 1, which hasn’t had a software update in 5 years, but I love this new Tivo. I don’t have it hooked up the digital cable yet, however, so there is more exploration of this thing to do.

Update: I have at least ordered CableCards from Verizon, so I may be able to get my TiVo to realize its full potential. The cards will apparently be $2.95 per month, each.

… like I did, by accident.

I had gotten a wee bit behind on paying my cable bill. This might be because I’m on the cusp of canceling the service, but that doesn’t really matter. So, I go to my online bank and pay my now 60-day overdue cable bill via the online bill pay feature. Ah, the perils of online bill pay. Somehow, instead of paying Comcast $204.98, I pay them $20498.00. No doubt a typo, but who can say for certain? Of course, I actually have enough money in this account to actually pay this, although just barely.

I actually don’t notice this error until one of my repeating, auto-scheduled payments (my mortgage payment, actually), miserably fails due to lack of funds, some 16 days later. “Whaaa?” I think to myself. “How the hell could this happen?” I log on to the bank’s website, and pretty much immediately notice the giant sum of money going to the cable company.

So, I call the bank. They are understanding, but cannot actually do anything. They tell me that I must talk to Comcast to get anything done. So I call Comcast. Somehow, I still owe them money. In fact, it looks like my $20k never got there. Ok, so where the hell is it? If it isn’t at my bank, nor at Comcast, is it lost in the ether? After explaining my problem to the poor guy at the Comcast call center, he informs me that in his experience, they reject payments of over $500. I admit that sounds like a good idea, but reiterate that my money is actually missing. I get escalated.

This is where the story might make an unexpected turn for some of you. I actually get escalated to someone in the finance department of the particular Comcast unit that I deal with. I.e., someone local. A real human. Actually, I very nice person named Sharon. I have a chat with her about my problem, and she promises to do what she can, but needs some sort of evidence of this event to start. Fair enough. I fax her a bank statement, and the actual page from the online billing portion showing the payment. I call the bank again to see if they can help. They promise to send more information to Comcast, using the fax number I forward to them. Then I call Sharon again and tell her this. She tells me that she should be able to get their bank to find this transaction, as it will stand out. She will call me back. One hour (or so) later, she calls back. They have found my lost loot and will refund it, but it will take 3-5 business days. I thank her profusely, and take what I can get.

Three (business) days later, my money has returned. And the bank reversed the service charge I incurred when my mortgage payment failed. So, I’m not really out much money (3 weeks of interest on the $20k).

So, the moral of this story: 1) don’t pay your cable company $20k. 2) if you do, don’t be mean to the customer service people. They will help. 3) Comcast actually handled this very well. I sort of feel guilty canceling them.