Johnen Vasquez is the man
Lesson over.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Comics! 07/08/2010
Welcome to another longwinded and rarely read Lesson in Mediocrity!
Budgeting sucks. But I'm getting better as the weeks go. I said "no thank you" to many many enticing books today and I think my mother would proud of how much I DIDN'T spend today.
I picked up a few Number 1's just to see what's to come and figure out if they were books for me. Among them were Shadowland, the much anticipated adjective-less X-Men, as well as Steve Rogers: Super Soldier.
I also picked up Brightest Day 5 (my only DC book today) and the penultimate chapter of X-Men: Second Coming.
"But Tim!" you ask me in my mind, "what book tops your personal list today? That's what I really want to know!"
Okay I'll tell you! (mostly because of your enthusiastic yet terribly specific way of asking)
Top of my pile today was Scarlet #1 with art by Alex Maleev and words by Brian Michael Bendis.
I'm a Bendis nut. If you didn't know that about me then we probably aren't friends and I'm curious why you're reading my blog... you can stay but I'm keeping an eye on you...
Where was I...
ah yes Scarlet.
I had no idea what to expect from this book other than I virtually worship the ground that Bendis walks on and I'm only interested in Maleev's art when he's paired with Bendis. So based on that principle alone I was all over it (I wasn't really into Spider-Woman all that much and I don't really know why... curse you iTunes).
Right off the bat (<--- yeah I said it) the narrative absolutely hooked me. Scarlet broke the fourth wall and welcomed me to her story. Now let's define what breaking the fourth wall entails.
Aaron Haaland co-owner of the esteemed establishment in which I buy my comics http://www.acomicshop.com argued that this is the same technique used in many prose books the world over in terms of narration. I disagree and here's why: in most books (that I've read at any rate) that use first person expository dialogue, the main character is almost keeping a diary or explaining to himself what's happening all the while never actually addressing the reading him/her-self. In my world (the only one that matters thank you) the fourth wall is broken when the character leaves their setting, looks you in the eye, grabs your hand and says "hold on tight we're going on an adventure". Scarlet not only does this, at the end of the issue she alludes that you the reader are integral to her plan.
I buy into this stuff (comics) hardcore. It doesn't matter if I'm reading Batman, Daredevil, Green Lantern, what have you. I buy it hook line and sinker. While I'm reading it, it may as well be true. What Bendis has constructed here is a world that not only looks beautiful thanks to the masterful artwork of Maleev, he plunges you literally INTO the world by saying "you are a part of this, embrace it"
I have, and I plan to stick around for quite a while.
Thanks Bendis!
Lesson over
Budgeting sucks. But I'm getting better as the weeks go. I said "no thank you" to many many enticing books today and I think my mother would proud of how much I DIDN'T spend today.
I picked up a few Number 1's just to see what's to come and figure out if they were books for me. Among them were Shadowland, the much anticipated adjective-less X-Men, as well as Steve Rogers: Super Soldier.
I also picked up Brightest Day 5 (my only DC book today) and the penultimate chapter of X-Men: Second Coming.
"But Tim!" you ask me in my mind, "what book tops your personal list today? That's what I really want to know!"
Okay I'll tell you! (mostly because of your enthusiastic yet terribly specific way of asking)
Top of my pile today was Scarlet #1 with art by Alex Maleev and words by Brian Michael Bendis.
I'm a Bendis nut. If you didn't know that about me then we probably aren't friends and I'm curious why you're reading my blog... you can stay but I'm keeping an eye on you...
Where was I...
ah yes Scarlet.
I had no idea what to expect from this book other than I virtually worship the ground that Bendis walks on and I'm only interested in Maleev's art when he's paired with Bendis. So based on that principle alone I was all over it (I wasn't really into Spider-Woman all that much and I don't really know why... curse you iTunes).
Right off the bat (<--- yeah I said it) the narrative absolutely hooked me. Scarlet broke the fourth wall and welcomed me to her story. Now let's define what breaking the fourth wall entails.
Aaron Haaland co-owner of the esteemed establishment in which I buy my comics http://www.acomicshop.com argued that this is the same technique used in many prose books the world over in terms of narration. I disagree and here's why: in most books (that I've read at any rate) that use first person expository dialogue, the main character is almost keeping a diary or explaining to himself what's happening all the while never actually addressing the reading him/her-self. In my world (the only one that matters thank you) the fourth wall is broken when the character leaves their setting, looks you in the eye, grabs your hand and says "hold on tight we're going on an adventure". Scarlet not only does this, at the end of the issue she alludes that you the reader are integral to her plan.
I buy into this stuff (comics) hardcore. It doesn't matter if I'm reading Batman, Daredevil, Green Lantern, what have you. I buy it hook line and sinker. While I'm reading it, it may as well be true. What Bendis has constructed here is a world that not only looks beautiful thanks to the masterful artwork of Maleev, he plunges you literally INTO the world by saying "you are a part of this, embrace it"
I have, and I plan to stick around for quite a while.
Thanks Bendis!
Lesson over
Monday, June 14, 2010
Documentary Journal
Tim Runge
Documentary
Journal 1
I felt a definite progression in my abilities as a filmmaker this month. For Digital Cinematography we got tossed into a trial by fire scenario that made us think on our feet and try to make the most out (essentially) a bad situation. Through the various trials and speed bumps many of us found a foothold or at least a comfortable place from which to stand in order to serve various projects in the future. DC class notwithstanding I think that our documentary “Admit One” is going to be what I will look back on fondly as my first real foray into the world of film.
Our film essentially showcases The Enzian, which is a local movie theater that shows indie films, foreign films, and films that you won’t see in the big chain theaters. They also serve amazing food as well as having their own bar. It’s a place that many people in our group held very dear and those that didn’t, quickly learned to.
Day 1:
I have a small background in camerawork and felt that running the camera would be the best way for me to facilitate myself for the group, but I did feel trepidation because of the passion that was involved. I had been to The Enzian twice before and I loved it, but our co-directors and our DP were virtual regulars as well as some of my best friends, so I had to live up to a standard of greatness that I knew I couldn’t achieve on my own but would reach for none-the-less. (Only time will tell how it turned out.)
Our first day of filming was nerve wracking. We would be talking to the president of the company. We were already nervous because we wanted to do well across the board for our film and for each other, and the first interview that they could supply us with was the big man himself.
We got everything set up for his shot, lights were perfect, I had managed to get the camera in a respectable spot. All we had left to do was get the sound calibrated. Robert was our sound guy and he had set everything up properly and his levels were good. The camera on the other hand was showing everything blown out so I stepped down the gain on the back of the camera to adjust properly and plugged in my headphones.
I found that the levels were at a tolerable level but everything sounded a bit tinny to me. I asked Robert if he thought it was a concern, he mentioned that everything sounded fine to him, I brought also brought it up to the rest of the crew and we all collectively decided it must have been a flub with the headphones. Our biggest downfall for the project rested in our not checking into the issue further.
The interview was amazing. He was a very engaging speaker and seemed to almost intrinsically know where the frame of the camera was as he rarely leaned out of it. I noticed that I was going to have to work on my headroom but overall I was proud of how it looked and, after an informative half hour, we thanked him for his time and tore down the interview to prep for B-Roll. As we put our equipment away our editor Libby moved the footage on to her computer and discovered our sound discrepancy, and it was a doozy. Everything I had heard in my headphones was committed to the picture. We were devastated. Luckily Robert had brought a backup camera that managed to record all of the sound and helped us to overcome a potential disaster. We managed to hit our biggest speed bump right out of the gate unscathed. We managed to get the sound adjusted inside the camera and any hesitation we had felt at the beginning was replaced by a cautious confidence. We shot some exterior B-Roll without issue. We didn’t really have a lot of shots to get on location based on what the president had talked about but we got some good stuff at any rate.
Day 2:
Our group quickly got accustomed to what we called in the military “hurry up and wait”. We had various interviews laid out for the rest our shooting schedule so we would collectively meet an hour or so before hand, make sure everything was set up properly then continually check our color and light while sitting around waiting for our subject to arrive.
On this day we were interviewing a manager and we set everything up properly and waited. And waited. And waited. We started to get antsy, checking our sound to make sure we didn’t run into the same issues, making sure we were white balanced, checking the sun to make sure she would actually show up on camera. We all understood that she had duties to perform and an actual “job” to do so we weren’t frustrated, we just felt… unproductive.
When she finally made her way over to us we did a final check of everything with her in frame and got about 15 minutes or so of her answering Yorgo’s questions. The sound recorded fine and everything went smoothly. The only hiccup from my point of view was that it didn’t seem that she had anything different to say from the president of the company. I trusted Eric and Yorgo though and pushed through my hesitation.
After her interview we broke for a good chunk of the day. Eric wanted to return at dusk to get some time-lapse photography on the marquee on the outside of the building. So again we all meet and get the camera set up. Robert had a family situation that needed attending and of course we let him go home to take care of his wife. He wasn’t going to be needed for the rest of the day. We proceeded to sit for about four hours while the time-lapse photography did it’s thing. We all managed to sit through this time talking about nothing and learning of various uncomfortable awkward silences. We got about 4 minutes of footage.
Day 3
This was the day where any nervousness we had about filming went away. We had an interview with a gentleman who worked in the projection booth. We arrived early as usual, got everything set up properly and waited a fairly small amount of time. His interview went smoothly and he gave us a ton of new information. He was also more engaging than the manager had been and, since he was so close in age to us, knew how to communicate in a way that captivated our attention as a group.
We had gotten another 20 minutes or so out of our interview with him and Eric and Yorgo had us tear down the interview and re-arrange everything to make it better than it was before. The same man we had just interviewed would be down in an hour or so to take some of us up to the projection room to get some footage of “Caddyshack” being loaded onto the reel as it was going to be played the next day (as well as serve as the centerpiece of our film).
He came and got us and we recorded some B-Roll inside with Eric’s camera. I flubbed on the sound but it turned out alright because it would have been too loud and nonsensical to use anyway.
Day 4:
This was our big day. They were showing Caddyshack and we had one more staff interview to lock down. We arrived early as always and got our interview set up. We would be interviewing Liz who not only worked at The Enzian, but was related to the people who had actually had it built. She talked for quite a while about the history of the place, the celebrities that came through and just added that extra layer that our project needed to lend it some validity. She spoke for about 45 minutes and we broke for an extended lunch. We would return that night before the Caddyshack crowd and get the finishing touches
We arrived an hour or two before the crowds and got some amazing shots of the foliage and the mural on the wall by the bar. We got some crowd shots of people purchasing tickets and mingling. They let me and Robert into the kitchen to shoot the cooks doing their thing. Most of all it was another game of hurry up and wait.
About 30 minutes before the show they let Eric, Robert and myself in to set up a camera. Before each film at The Enzian, someone comes out and gives some general trivia about the movie as well as updates on what’s happening at The Enzian itself. We got some good footage of the speaker and exited the theater quietly.
Once outside all we really had to do was get some shots of the streetside sign at night and grab some interviews with patrons. At the end of the evening Eric told us that we were pretty much wrapped.
Wrap up:
I’m proud of our work on this film. We put in a lot of time, effort, and stress into this project and I think that passion will shine through. I’m sure there will be flubs and mistakes. There will be things that make us smack our heads and question why we did what we did, but we’re students. Still learning. Overall I think we knocked it out of the park as a group and I think that our work will stand out on it’s own.
Documentary
Journal 1
I felt a definite progression in my abilities as a filmmaker this month. For Digital Cinematography we got tossed into a trial by fire scenario that made us think on our feet and try to make the most out (essentially) a bad situation. Through the various trials and speed bumps many of us found a foothold or at least a comfortable place from which to stand in order to serve various projects in the future. DC class notwithstanding I think that our documentary “Admit One” is going to be what I will look back on fondly as my first real foray into the world of film.
Our film essentially showcases The Enzian, which is a local movie theater that shows indie films, foreign films, and films that you won’t see in the big chain theaters. They also serve amazing food as well as having their own bar. It’s a place that many people in our group held very dear and those that didn’t, quickly learned to.
Day 1:
I have a small background in camerawork and felt that running the camera would be the best way for me to facilitate myself for the group, but I did feel trepidation because of the passion that was involved. I had been to The Enzian twice before and I loved it, but our co-directors and our DP were virtual regulars as well as some of my best friends, so I had to live up to a standard of greatness that I knew I couldn’t achieve on my own but would reach for none-the-less. (Only time will tell how it turned out.)
Our first day of filming was nerve wracking. We would be talking to the president of the company. We were already nervous because we wanted to do well across the board for our film and for each other, and the first interview that they could supply us with was the big man himself.
We got everything set up for his shot, lights were perfect, I had managed to get the camera in a respectable spot. All we had left to do was get the sound calibrated. Robert was our sound guy and he had set everything up properly and his levels were good. The camera on the other hand was showing everything blown out so I stepped down the gain on the back of the camera to adjust properly and plugged in my headphones.
I found that the levels were at a tolerable level but everything sounded a bit tinny to me. I asked Robert if he thought it was a concern, he mentioned that everything sounded fine to him, I brought also brought it up to the rest of the crew and we all collectively decided it must have been a flub with the headphones. Our biggest downfall for the project rested in our not checking into the issue further.
The interview was amazing. He was a very engaging speaker and seemed to almost intrinsically know where the frame of the camera was as he rarely leaned out of it. I noticed that I was going to have to work on my headroom but overall I was proud of how it looked and, after an informative half hour, we thanked him for his time and tore down the interview to prep for B-Roll. As we put our equipment away our editor Libby moved the footage on to her computer and discovered our sound discrepancy, and it was a doozy. Everything I had heard in my headphones was committed to the picture. We were devastated. Luckily Robert had brought a backup camera that managed to record all of the sound and helped us to overcome a potential disaster. We managed to hit our biggest speed bump right out of the gate unscathed. We managed to get the sound adjusted inside the camera and any hesitation we had felt at the beginning was replaced by a cautious confidence. We shot some exterior B-Roll without issue. We didn’t really have a lot of shots to get on location based on what the president had talked about but we got some good stuff at any rate.
Day 2:
Our group quickly got accustomed to what we called in the military “hurry up and wait”. We had various interviews laid out for the rest our shooting schedule so we would collectively meet an hour or so before hand, make sure everything was set up properly then continually check our color and light while sitting around waiting for our subject to arrive.
On this day we were interviewing a manager and we set everything up properly and waited. And waited. And waited. We started to get antsy, checking our sound to make sure we didn’t run into the same issues, making sure we were white balanced, checking the sun to make sure she would actually show up on camera. We all understood that she had duties to perform and an actual “job” to do so we weren’t frustrated, we just felt… unproductive.
When she finally made her way over to us we did a final check of everything with her in frame and got about 15 minutes or so of her answering Yorgo’s questions. The sound recorded fine and everything went smoothly. The only hiccup from my point of view was that it didn’t seem that she had anything different to say from the president of the company. I trusted Eric and Yorgo though and pushed through my hesitation.
After her interview we broke for a good chunk of the day. Eric wanted to return at dusk to get some time-lapse photography on the marquee on the outside of the building. So again we all meet and get the camera set up. Robert had a family situation that needed attending and of course we let him go home to take care of his wife. He wasn’t going to be needed for the rest of the day. We proceeded to sit for about four hours while the time-lapse photography did it’s thing. We all managed to sit through this time talking about nothing and learning of various uncomfortable awkward silences. We got about 4 minutes of footage.
Day 3
This was the day where any nervousness we had about filming went away. We had an interview with a gentleman who worked in the projection booth. We arrived early as usual, got everything set up properly and waited a fairly small amount of time. His interview went smoothly and he gave us a ton of new information. He was also more engaging than the manager had been and, since he was so close in age to us, knew how to communicate in a way that captivated our attention as a group.
We had gotten another 20 minutes or so out of our interview with him and Eric and Yorgo had us tear down the interview and re-arrange everything to make it better than it was before. The same man we had just interviewed would be down in an hour or so to take some of us up to the projection room to get some footage of “Caddyshack” being loaded onto the reel as it was going to be played the next day (as well as serve as the centerpiece of our film).
He came and got us and we recorded some B-Roll inside with Eric’s camera. I flubbed on the sound but it turned out alright because it would have been too loud and nonsensical to use anyway.
Day 4:
This was our big day. They were showing Caddyshack and we had one more staff interview to lock down. We arrived early as always and got our interview set up. We would be interviewing Liz who not only worked at The Enzian, but was related to the people who had actually had it built. She talked for quite a while about the history of the place, the celebrities that came through and just added that extra layer that our project needed to lend it some validity. She spoke for about 45 minutes and we broke for an extended lunch. We would return that night before the Caddyshack crowd and get the finishing touches
We arrived an hour or two before the crowds and got some amazing shots of the foliage and the mural on the wall by the bar. We got some crowd shots of people purchasing tickets and mingling. They let me and Robert into the kitchen to shoot the cooks doing their thing. Most of all it was another game of hurry up and wait.
About 30 minutes before the show they let Eric, Robert and myself in to set up a camera. Before each film at The Enzian, someone comes out and gives some general trivia about the movie as well as updates on what’s happening at The Enzian itself. We got some good footage of the speaker and exited the theater quietly.
Once outside all we really had to do was get some shots of the streetside sign at night and grab some interviews with patrons. At the end of the evening Eric told us that we were pretty much wrapped.
Wrap up:
I’m proud of our work on this film. We put in a lot of time, effort, and stress into this project and I think that passion will shine through. I’m sure there will be flubs and mistakes. There will be things that make us smack our heads and question why we did what we did, but we’re students. Still learning. Overall I think we knocked it out of the park as a group and I think that our work will stand out on it’s own.
quick update
Hi interwebs! (and mom)
So I've been busy what with shooting our first "film" (I prefer to call it a "learning experience") and editing it. Then going into working my butt off with the finest group of future filmmakers anyone could have the privilege to work with in my documentary class.
We've been shooting a documentary on a local theater called The Enzian (www.enzian.org) and it's been wonderfully exhausting. They show indie movies, foreign films, cult classics, you name it. (And it seems as though all of the females that work there are required to be hot -not a complaint-)
aaaannnnyyyyway the hard part for me is over. I was a cameraman on the shoot so when it's eventually posted online you will all (both of you) get to see my handiwork! Hooray!
Right after this post I will be posting our mandatory "journal" chronicling our experience making our film (entitled Admit One). It's and excellent example of tedium and mediocrity!
So I'm off. Hopefully I'll be back in dour spirits soon and go off on another rant. Until then I suppose I'll just have to be chipper.
oh wait! It's 1am and my neighbors are listening to the TV uber loud! Oh hi headache!
Lesson Over
So I've been busy what with shooting our first "film" (I prefer to call it a "learning experience") and editing it. Then going into working my butt off with the finest group of future filmmakers anyone could have the privilege to work with in my documentary class.
We've been shooting a documentary on a local theater called The Enzian (www.enzian.org) and it's been wonderfully exhausting. They show indie movies, foreign films, cult classics, you name it. (And it seems as though all of the females that work there are required to be hot -not a complaint-)
aaaannnnyyyyway the hard part for me is over. I was a cameraman on the shoot so when it's eventually posted online you will all (both of you) get to see my handiwork! Hooray!
Right after this post I will be posting our mandatory "journal" chronicling our experience making our film (entitled Admit One). It's and excellent example of tedium and mediocrity!
So I'm off. Hopefully I'll be back in dour spirits soon and go off on another rant. Until then I suppose I'll just have to be chipper.
oh wait! It's 1am and my neighbors are listening to the TV uber loud! Oh hi headache!
Lesson Over
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Just when I thought I was out!
So I want to remove the insurance from my VZW phone and working there for a year or so I know a thing or two about a thing or two when it comes to making adjustments. I just hop onto my trusty interwebs, clickity clack away on the keyboard and/or mouse and then I'm done.
It seems as though I can't remove the feature from the website any longer which is a bit of a shame cause now I have to call customer service.
I don't want to call customer service.... at all...
I have no desire to be on the other end of that call. IN FACT; I know how the conversation will go EXACTLY!
here's the transcript for if I call in:
VZW: Thank you for calling Verizon Wireless my name is: X. May I have your name please?
ME: uh sure, my name is Tim Runge
VZW: Okay Mr. Runge just to verify can I have only the last four of your ssn?
ME: 2288
VZW: Very cool, how can I help you out today Mr. Runge?
ME: I just want to remove the insurance from my phone
VZW: So you'd like to remove your insurance feature from your phone, well I can help you with that. Is there any special reason why you'd like to adjust your account in this manner?
ME: I get a new phone next month.
VZW: Oh yeah! I can see that on your account right now Mr. Runge. Hold on just a second while I make some adjustments.
(TYPING ON A KEYBOARD)
VZW (CONTD.): Now Mr. Runge did you know that through our website Verizonwireless.com you can make changes like this to your account?
ME: I did in fact know that X. I tried to make the change there and couldn't find it for the life of me.
VZW: That's unfortunate, sometimes that website can be tricky.
ME: yup
VZW: Well Mr. Runge I got that insurance feature adjusted is there anything else I can do for you while I have you on the line?
ME: no
VZW: Alright well thank you so much for calling Verizon Wireless we...
then I'll hang up.
I really don't want to deal with this right now! Blerg.
Oh the horror's of my life
It seems as though I can't remove the feature from the website any longer which is a bit of a shame cause now I have to call customer service.
I don't want to call customer service.... at all...
I have no desire to be on the other end of that call. IN FACT; I know how the conversation will go EXACTLY!
here's the transcript for if I call in:
VZW: Thank you for calling Verizon Wireless my name is: X. May I have your name please?
ME: uh sure, my name is Tim Runge
VZW: Okay Mr. Runge just to verify can I have only the last four of your ssn?
ME: 2288
VZW: Very cool, how can I help you out today Mr. Runge?
ME: I just want to remove the insurance from my phone
VZW: So you'd like to remove your insurance feature from your phone, well I can help you with that. Is there any special reason why you'd like to adjust your account in this manner?
ME: I get a new phone next month.
VZW: Oh yeah! I can see that on your account right now Mr. Runge. Hold on just a second while I make some adjustments.
(TYPING ON A KEYBOARD)
VZW (CONTD.): Now Mr. Runge did you know that through our website Verizonwireless.com you can make changes like this to your account?
ME: I did in fact know that X. I tried to make the change there and couldn't find it for the life of me.
VZW: That's unfortunate, sometimes that website can be tricky.
ME: yup
VZW: Well Mr. Runge I got that insurance feature adjusted is there anything else I can do for you while I have you on the line?
ME: no
VZW: Alright well thank you so much for calling Verizon Wireless we...
then I'll hang up.
I really don't want to deal with this right now! Blerg.
Oh the horror's of my life
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Brighthouse note.
After my "On Suggestion" fiasco I wrote this to Brighthouse.
"I didn't get the name of the lady who "helped" me when I called in today. My cable box was working appropriately but my screen was black and wasn't transmitting picture or audio.
Now I understand that you have to ask if my TV is on the right setting and if the cable box itself is in fact on. I get it. But This lady was INCREDIBLY rude. I was insulted.
I worked for a time doing customer service myself and I understand that sometimes it's tedious and sometimes you have a bad day but I didn't appreciate being talked down to.
I'm not going to threaten to leave Brighthouse due to this one hiccup, I'm an adult and above such things. On that note if I have to continue calling in to deal with rude people AND my cable doesn't work like I pay for it to, then I will absolutely be seeking an alternative."
That will teach them.
"I didn't get the name of the lady who "helped" me when I called in today. My cable box was working appropriately but my screen was black and wasn't transmitting picture or audio.
Now I understand that you have to ask if my TV is on the right setting and if the cable box itself is in fact on. I get it. But This lady was INCREDIBLY rude. I was insulted.
I worked for a time doing customer service myself and I understand that sometimes it's tedious and sometimes you have a bad day but I didn't appreciate being talked down to.
I'm not going to threaten to leave Brighthouse due to this one hiccup, I'm an adult and above such things. On that note if I have to continue calling in to deal with rude people AND my cable doesn't work like I pay for it to, then I will absolutely be seeking an alternative."
That will teach them.
On Suggestion
I paid my bill. I love my TV and I love my internet. I do NOT however, love my provider.
I was enjoying an episode of 30 Rock (as I am prone to do cause I love Tina Fey) and had a whole other episode to get through. I was all excited to get my laugh on when my TV froze up and told me that it was "unavailable". I get that technology can be iffy so I do what most people would do (I assume).
I shut off the cable box then turned it back on. My cable itself was working so I switched over to "On Demand" and I could go through all of my menus just fine I selected NBC, then 30 Rock, then the most recent episode. Completely ready to laugh minus the minor irritant.
It was "unavailable at this time". Okay, we just went through a hiccup together, I can dig this. My cable box has to catch up. Just to double check, I try watching something else on demand. CSI Miami (the Rob Zombie episode wasn't up yet but I thought I'd give it a shot) I clicked it. "Currently unavailable" well crap. At least I could switch over to "live" TV and see what was up.
My screen was black. Huh. I paid my bill in full more than 24 hours ago. I was online so obviously they hadn't shut off all of my stuff and my menus were all showing what was "on" but nothing. No sound and no picture but a black screen.
Same old song and dance, shut it off, turn it on, no dice. Which leads me to what I hate most. Calling customer service.
Those of you who read this (Hi mom!) probably know me and know that I worked for Verizon Wireless answering phones for customer service and I hated it, I don't like making other people do it but what other choice did I have?
I should have gotten her name.
I'm pretty hard to offend most days. I'm pretty chill and I can take most things off the cuff and not worry about it. But this lady... (by the way VZW peeps, she didn't even TRY to call sequence me).
One of the things I hated at VZW was trying to find out if people were as un-smart as they sounded. Tip toeing around trying to find out if their phone is on or if they have a battery inserted is almost uncomfortable while you try to help solve your customer's issue.
Man I wish I had gotten her name!
She was extremely put out by the fact that I called (I bet that new issue of Cosmo is pretty darn engaging). She asked what was wrong and I explained what was up with the menus and the screen and no sound yadda yadda yadda. So she takes one of those irritated inhales and our journy begins.
"okay is your TV turned to channel zero zero three?" she asked through her nose
"of course it is, but let me double check" I sat down and double checked the settings I know she has to do her thing and maybe I was being flighty, "yes it's all set properly"
(another sigh)
"Is the little green light to left of the box lit indicating that it's turned on?"
at this point I'm beyond irritated
"okay of course it's on, did you miss the part where I said I could see the menus? yes it's turned on." Now we get to be miserable together
"Fine, what I'm going to do now is send a signal to your cable box, let me know when it says it's resetting and you should see some lines on the cable box."
"okay I can do that" I trusted that I wasn't an idiot. She didn't
I stared intently at the cable box and my TV (At the same time! CAUSE I'M AWESOME!.... ladies) and nothing changed.
"Well?" She asked, presumably flipping through the latest personality test in her magazine.
"Yeah I got nothing yet." I assured her.
A couple seconds later I tell her "ah there it is."
"great. let me know when it says mystro"
we wait for a couple more minutes. Finally my screen changes. and I advise her appropriately.
"Okay what I'm going to do now is put you on hold for 2 minutes while the process finishes"
She puts me on hold. Thirty seconds later my TV resets and I sit there on hold for a little while. Finally I hung up. Irritated but with Tina Fey once again, I started musing. I thought about what would happen if I treated someone like that at VZW. So I provided feedback on our friend.
I should have gotten her name.
I was enjoying an episode of 30 Rock (as I am prone to do cause I love Tina Fey) and had a whole other episode to get through. I was all excited to get my laugh on when my TV froze up and told me that it was "unavailable". I get that technology can be iffy so I do what most people would do (I assume).
I shut off the cable box then turned it back on. My cable itself was working so I switched over to "On Demand" and I could go through all of my menus just fine I selected NBC, then 30 Rock, then the most recent episode. Completely ready to laugh minus the minor irritant.
It was "unavailable at this time". Okay, we just went through a hiccup together, I can dig this. My cable box has to catch up. Just to double check, I try watching something else on demand. CSI Miami (the Rob Zombie episode wasn't up yet but I thought I'd give it a shot) I clicked it. "Currently unavailable" well crap. At least I could switch over to "live" TV and see what was up.
My screen was black. Huh. I paid my bill in full more than 24 hours ago. I was online so obviously they hadn't shut off all of my stuff and my menus were all showing what was "on" but nothing. No sound and no picture but a black screen.
Same old song and dance, shut it off, turn it on, no dice. Which leads me to what I hate most. Calling customer service.
Those of you who read this (Hi mom!) probably know me and know that I worked for Verizon Wireless answering phones for customer service and I hated it, I don't like making other people do it but what other choice did I have?
I should have gotten her name.
I'm pretty hard to offend most days. I'm pretty chill and I can take most things off the cuff and not worry about it. But this lady... (by the way VZW peeps, she didn't even TRY to call sequence me).
One of the things I hated at VZW was trying to find out if people were as un-smart as they sounded. Tip toeing around trying to find out if their phone is on or if they have a battery inserted is almost uncomfortable while you try to help solve your customer's issue.
Man I wish I had gotten her name!
She was extremely put out by the fact that I called (I bet that new issue of Cosmo is pretty darn engaging). She asked what was wrong and I explained what was up with the menus and the screen and no sound yadda yadda yadda. So she takes one of those irritated inhales and our journy begins.
"okay is your TV turned to channel zero zero three?" she asked through her nose
"of course it is, but let me double check" I sat down and double checked the settings I know she has to do her thing and maybe I was being flighty, "yes it's all set properly"
(another sigh)
"Is the little green light to left of the box lit indicating that it's turned on?"
at this point I'm beyond irritated
"okay of course it's on, did you miss the part where I said I could see the menus? yes it's turned on." Now we get to be miserable together
"Fine, what I'm going to do now is send a signal to your cable box, let me know when it says it's resetting and you should see some lines on the cable box."
"okay I can do that" I trusted that I wasn't an idiot. She didn't
I stared intently at the cable box and my TV (At the same time! CAUSE I'M AWESOME!.... ladies) and nothing changed.
"Well?" She asked, presumably flipping through the latest personality test in her magazine.
"Yeah I got nothing yet." I assured her.
A couple seconds later I tell her "ah there it is."
"great. let me know when it says mystro"
we wait for a couple more minutes. Finally my screen changes. and I advise her appropriately.
"Okay what I'm going to do now is put you on hold for 2 minutes while the process finishes"
She puts me on hold. Thirty seconds later my TV resets and I sit there on hold for a little while. Finally I hung up. Irritated but with Tina Fey once again, I started musing. I thought about what would happen if I treated someone like that at VZW. So I provided feedback on our friend.
I should have gotten her name.
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