Gisteren werd mijn spanning niet betrekking gehad op huwelijk plannend (Iâ die m wordt die in November wordt gehuwd), maar eerder verstrekte hoffelijkheid van Comcast. I took the day off work to be home for the switch to Comcast’s Triple Play digital television-Internet-phone package — partly because it’s cheaper than what I had with RCN, partly to get a DVR, and partly because Comcast carries Versus & NHL Center Ice.

No, this isn't me, but it's how I feel right nowFriday, 8:00 AM—The phone rings; I awaken and fumble for the receiver. I muzzily hear someone talking about Comcast, so I press “9â€? to buzz them in, impressed they showed up so early. Doesn’t work. I press “9â€? again, to no avail. Finally I’m awake enough to understand what the caller is saying: it’s Comcast HQ calling to make sure I’ll be home in the 8-11 AM installation window—not someone downstairs waiting to be let in. D’oh. I sheepishly apologize and say yes, I will be here.

Friday, 10:45 AM—The installation technician arrives within the originally scheduled time window, which was a nice surprise. However, while my name and phone number are on the work order, everything else is wrong: the address is a different unit in my building; the order is for a Comcast service upgrade rather than a whole new installation; and they didn’t start the process to port my existing phone number to the new account.

As I type this he’s been here over an hour and a half, mostly on the phone to his headquarters. From what I can gather it seems they’ll be able to install everything, but they won’t be able to port my phone number today. So for a few days I’ll have a new phone number with Comcast, yet I’ll have to continue paying RCN to keep the other phone line active otherwise I risk losing the phone number I’ve had for eleven years. Wonderful.

Friday, 1:30 PM—After three long hours, the technician has finally gone. Most of a day wasted, but at least my high-speed Internet is back up (as evidenced by this post). The tech was very polite, and installed my DVR, cable box, and cable modem successfully . . . well, for the most part he did—I had to configure my own wireless router, as he was stumped by my pretty typical LINKSYS router. He did stay until it was working though.

This cable installation play-by-play is on OFB for two reasons. First, venting makes me feel a little better. Second, I was unable to get to the Kettler rinks today as I planned, so I apologize for being unable to provide coverage of the day’s events as I’d hoped.

So my cable service installation is only 2/3 complete, yet it consumed most of a day. Now all I have to do is wait five days for the number port to be complete, then schedule another technician visit to switch my phone lines. In the meantime, I have to continue paying RCN to keep my existing phone number active.

Thank you, Comcast, for perpetuating the well-deserved stereotype of disorganized and indifferent cable company service.

Filed in Comcast SportsNet, Internet, NHL CenterIce, Training Camp, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (14)

In Summer’s Sun, a Stunning Sports Page, June 22, 2007

By The OFB Team
Wednesday, June 27, 2007

All of us had travel commitments last Friday and missed hard copies of the day’s newspapers. A copy of Friday’s Washington Times, however, remained for pucksandbooks in his office on Monday, and Friday’s sports section front from it knocked him out of his chair. Take a gander at the hockey love dramatically illustrated by the Times’ editors for Corey Masisak’s fabulous feature on the lofty state of American hockey these days:

Washington Times Sports Page - 22 June, 2007

That’s not a blowup of the story, that’s its actual layout. Allegedly there are two other stories on C1 from the Times on Friday — you just can’t find them! Patrick Kane’s hometown paper, the Buffalo News, can’t match this hockey journalism feast.

But beyond the sheer size and splendor of the piece, Corey Masisak delivered a grade A overview of the rocket rise of American hockey development today. “Massive gains” American hockey is enjoying, Masisak wrote. We hockey fans in Washington gained massively from his paper and him on Entry Draft Friday.  

Filed in American Hockey, College Hockey, Corey Masisak, DraftGeek, Media, NHL CenterIce, National Hockey League, Print, USA Hockey, Washington Times| Permalink| Comments (5)

Blogger Rebecca at It Again

By pucksandbooks
Friday, April 13, 2007

The way I’ve been touting A View From the Cheap Seats this week, you’d think Rebecca has incriminating photos of me. Not so. She’s just had a stupendous week on her blog. Today she published the first part of an interview she recently had with Caps’ owner Ted Leonsis. She asked great questions, and for me there were wide swaths of responses from the owner meriting wider showcasing.

Ted on the Year of the Hockey Blogger in D.C.:

“I actually felt that there was more talent in the blogosphere. It’s proven true when you read the collective blog posts about a subject versus a newspaper [article] there’s more analysis. You learn things from the blogosphere . . .

“I believe that traditional media, especially newspapers are in peril right now. Their circulation is decreasing, their advertising revenue is shrinking, and as a result they’re losing talent. They’re laying off people all over the place and they’re being forced to cut back on their coverage. We want and need and thrive on coverage — good and bad. I don’t care if a blogger writes badly about us, I just want them to write . . .

“I just knew in our fanbase, based on the e-mails I’ve been getting over the years, there were some very bright people. We knew if we could help activate a blogosphere it would be a very good experience for the bloggers but it would also be beneficial to our franchise because the more dialogue, the more conversation, the more coverage, the better for us.”

He also told Rebecca that the Greater D.C. area was one of the fastest growing for sales of DirecTV, and with it lots of NHL CenterIce subscriptions: “the DC/Maryland/Virginia area is one of their best, fastest growing subscription bases. People are paying money to watch lots of out of town hockey on DirecTV.”

The rest of the exchange is a terrific read as well. I can’t wait for the back half of it.

Congrats to Rebecca on a stellar week of new media reporting.

Filed in Blogs, Internet, Media, NHL CenterIce, Print, TV, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (1)