Saturday, August 25, 2007

"L is for the way you look at me..."

So... I decided to go crafty. I'm not very good at it- but i try. While Jon was playing a computer game with his buddy, Nate- I decided to have something to keep myself occupied :-) here is my masterpiece- enjoy!



It's supposed to be straight... oh well- it looks alright.
Jon says that he likes the "artistic crookedness".




Sunday, August 12, 2007

Comcast

I am proud to say that I have completed 4/7weeks of training. In that time, 4 people have been "let go" from my group (kind've sad if you ask me...) and I have learned quite a bit about the company as a whole. I have also started to learn Comcast's computer system. It can be a bit confusing if you're not used to all the "codes", but it gets easier after a little while.

This week they got us on the phones. We hadn't had very much experience with the billing program or with the different sales or prices they have to offer at the moment, so we just had to put people on hold a lot and feel really sheepish about it. It was a good learning experience though. The only thing that stinks about putting people on hold is that the company times how long they're on hold and you could potentially lose any commissions you've made- bummer. I made a few sales and I'm starting to feel really good about answering questions about products and how to troubleshoot different things. At least my degree taught me how to "relate" to others better ;-).

The other thing that happened this week was that we finally got our schedules. All the schedules they had to offer weren't the prettiest, but we are at the bottom end after all. From all my test scores I am number one in the class and therefore- I got to pick from the schedules first. I will be working from 1pm-10pm MTWThF (first wk) then MTWTh-Sat. I at least get Sundays off! I'm just glad that I have a work schedule that'll match Jon's.

One more thing that i'll quickly mention is that- Comcast had a private company party at Boondocks yesterday. For those of you who aren't familliar with it- It's a mini golf place with go-karts, bumper boats, a climbing wall, arcade, batting cages...etc. The entire thing was free from 8am-7pm it included food, drinks and unlimited use of everything. Jon and I had a really good time! We showed up at around 1pm (after helping our friends move) and stayed for quite a while. It was worth it.

It may not be a glorious job- but, for all the free stuff they give out- it's worth it.

ps: our apt complex is ridiculous: comcast can't install cable or internet here... humph.

Thursday, August 2, 2007

American Idol Pt. 1

Another Summer hopeful has been achieved. On Tuesday night (7/31/07) , much to Leanna's jealousy, we attended the American Idols Live tour.

It. Was. Awesome.

We were very excited, and when we got there, the excitement did not ebb. Here's my excitement.


Yes, that's right...it's the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile! Look at me beside myself with excitement. They were filming for future commercials where you sing into the camera and they record you to possibly be on TV later. There was a huge line though so I didn't want to wait for it. Plus the only incentive for singing is they enter you in some drawing. Not even a free hot dog.

We had pretty much the only setback at the very beginning when we got there. As you can tell from the weinermobile picture, we brought our camera. The only problem was that there was a big sign on the entry door saying no cameras allowed. Hanging my head, I returned to the car and safely stashed our sony. So unfortunately the pictures end here. Sorry.

After that everything was awesome. Once you get inside there was a ton more activities. Aside from the classic buy-our-stuff booths, they also had a few karaoke places and even one dancing place. Unfortunately again, though, long lines changed our minds from participating.

Being poor collegeish aged students, we did not purchase the close up expensive seats. We purchased the cheapest triple deck nosebleed money (or a lack thereof) could buy. Portal DDD or something like that. We went up to find our seats and at the top of the escalator we took there was a Delta Center employee to direct us. She saw that we were only two and asked if that was it. We said yes and she proceeded to ask us if we wanted closer seats. Of course! We love free stuff. The catch was we had to give her our tickets and she gave us new ones. The new ones put us on the side of the stage (it had wings that went out to each side that the singers would walk out on to sing) about 10 feet away. Way sweet. We were to perfect spot to get a great view of everything.

To begin, though, our great view was a little too much. The show was scheduled to start in about a half an hour when the crew members who do spotlights etc were climbing the rope ladders to get up to the crow's nest places. There was one who looked like Santa Claus and he was having a really hard time climbing up. He had a harness to protect him but his progress was still very slow. He got close to the top but really began to struggle. Then to everyone's horror he slipped and plummeted down. The entire audience gasped/screamed. He did a complete flip and fell half the distance before the harness caught him and seemingly gave him a bad case of whiplash. Atleast he was safe, though. The entire experience, understandingly enough, really shook him though as he clung to the ladder and would not move. Another guy without a harness climbed up to help and they had to end up lowering the crow's nest (it was suspended from the ceiling) to help him feel safe enough to get down. It actually even delayed the concert by about 30-45 minutes. We're just glad he was safe.

Then the concert started. Two security guards were standing (one on each wing) as the announcer says "we proudly present your american idols". I leaned over to Crystal as commented that I liked the hair of the one closest to us because it just looked out of place on his body. Then after the announcer said that, the security guards started walking towards the middle. That's why I realized it and leaned over and said the "goateed funny looking one is Blake". The audience was confused until suddenly Blake took off his hat, wig, costume, and goatee and they realized who it was and roared in cheering. Blake has a lot of family in Utah and apparently there were roughly 80 or so in the audience. We knew the section because we kept seeing his dad walking around everywhere.

Then the concert started. Here's what I thought:
  • Leanna won't like hearing this but...All of the Idols, INCLUDING Sanjaya, are way better in person than they are on TV. Yes, even Sanjaya was a really strong singer.
  • "You give love a bad name" by Blake is freaking awesome live and the crowd went nuts: Hands down best performance by a long shot
  • The best preformance of the night




To be continued.......