Happy Halloween!!!

Last night we decided to carve pumpkins! It was snowing and we didn't feel like getting soaked in a corn maze. It was a lot of fun and I'm sure the pictures will show that :-) Oh yes- Jon did the pirate ship and I did the monster.

We decided it was time for aprons...

Comcast is now Big Brother....

I hope this story gives everyone a laugh.

I had a gentleman on the phone the other night at work and he was having problems getting his cable box working. He had a thick Asian accent and I could barely understand him- which can make things a little difficult when giving directions.

I started to ask him all the standard questions of "Is your box on?", "Have you checked all of your connections?" etc.... I sent a few signals to his box and still, nothing worked. I then asked him for a second time what he was seeing on his tv screen. This was his response:

"The tv is cloudy. I can't see anything. Wait! I can see myself!! What did you do!!??? Are you recording me!!???"

It then dawned on me that I would really have to ask him if his tv was actually on... something you shouldn't ever need to ask. I asked him to press the power button on his tv. As he did so I could hear the volume come on in the background and he was all excited and then said to me,

"I'm gone! What did you do? Did you stop recording me?"

I had to break it to him that he was seeing his reflection and that his tv just needed to be turned on and that we aren't recording him- the red light on his box is just the power light not a camera.

Things like this aren't always often at Comcast, but you do get a few a week that you really have to scratch your head and wonder. hehe.....


Anyways, nothing really new. We're looking forward to seeing Beth, Zak and Jak tomorrow or Sunday. We've been thinking about going to a corn maze but it may snow again and that would squash that plan. So, we're just going to post pone that one and probably carve a pumpkin this weekend!

99.9% of all techincal problems are UE's

Since our last blog- our schedule has changed- hurray! Instead of waking up at 4am we now get up around 6:45am- much better. I work from 1pm-10pm. This company doesn't believe in a half hour lunch... Oh well. However, in the last 3 1/2 months I have realized that the only thing that is constant at my job is change. For example, my schedule is about to change again at the end of this month. I will have an 8:30am-5:30pm schedule (not bad at all!!) however, they told me not to get too comfortable with that schedule... or my desk. That's the part that makes my job less "robotic".

You have to know- I was told that I was going to be in sales, but I seemed to have found myself in billing and technical support. I can get my way around on computers alright- but when it comes to plugging cables into tv's and adding different equipment other than a dvd/vcr player- forget it. Our Bishop said it best when he said "It's like they have to get a urim and thummin when you're asking them how to work all the technical stuff." Hey, if any one knows where I can get one- that would be greatly appreciated. hehe... In training they gave us a 2hr crash course on all the equipment- but during those 2 hours, the trainers were only there for 15 minutes- they had an "emergency"- so I feel completely inadequate. If only I could I could fit Jon in my purse so he could help me...

On a funny note- I did get a call on Friday night that made me laugh all the way home. A gentleman was transfered to me from internet support- they told me he was having problems with his DVR (kind've like tivo). I told her to transfer him and I started to talk with him and I pulled up his account and was looking at all of his services while asking what things he was having problems with. As he was talking I was looking all over his account and I didn't see that he had a DVR at all. Not wanting this gentleman to feel sheepish- I struggled to tell him that he didn't have one and that the box he had was a regular receiver and the only special feature about it was that it was HD compatible. After I did so, he went completely silent. I was afraid that it was the calm before the storm (as what usually happens). However, after a bit of venting from his side he agreed with me after looking at his bill and hung up the phone with an immense amount of bitterness in his voice.

Sorry if this is a bit long- but I do want to give an update on what Jon has been up to. This past week we were invited to a "pre-interview" dinner reception at a five-star restaurant. The food was amazing. There was a lot of sea food- I mean, it is rare to get good sea food in Utah compared to living on the coast (that's why it's rated 5-stars!). Jon and I didn't recognize most of it- seeing as it was decorated to be deceiving. For example, there was "bread" that ended up being made entirely of cheese- Jon was excited about that one. Don't ask me what I ate for desert. All I know is that it had apples and cinnamon in it.

The next day, Jon had his interview with UHY Advisors- and accounting and consulting firm. They are based out of Houston and they also have offices all around the country including New York, Chicago, and Boston. Jon wants me to add that they are currently the 11th largest accounting firm in the nation. This interview was for a summer internship doing digital forensics and litigation and we hope to hear back from them by the end of this week. Jon is really excited and really hopes to get it, however, we'll have more opportunities to see what is available during winter semester- he's just getting a head start.

Other than that, Jon stays really busy with his school work (individual and group work). His group members are great guys and they get along really well. It's lucky to find a group that actually work together well.

A Day in the Life of these Criddles

Sorry for the lack of postings, but now that school has started, things have gotten intense for our little family. Here's our usual schedule:

4:30 a.m. - BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP (you get the picture)
5 a.m. - Crystal leaves for work, Jonathan does his readings and works on homework not finished the night before
7:30 a.m. - Jon leaves for school
9:45 a.m. - Crystal has lunch break (no really, 9:45 - makes a late dinner real rough!)
12 p.m. - Jon comes homes from school and a group meeting with just enough time to change clothes and eat
12:40 p.m. - Jon goes to work
3:30 p.m. - Crystal gets home from work, collapses
5 p.m. - Jon gets home from work, revives wife
5:30 p.m. - Dinner (begin and end) and more school readings and homework for Jon and cleaning up after Jon for Crystal
7:30 p.m. - brush teeth and get in bed by 8pm
9 p.m. - hopefully asleep, but considering the sun is still shining through our bedroom window and we can still hear children playing right outside it, we're probably laying in bed, eyes wide open, definitely NOT sleeping

Welcome to our lives. Heaven forbid I want to take a shower or any other hygienic or enjoyable activity during the day. That's what Saturdays are for I guess. Hey, in England they only shower once a week, right?


Starting Monday, our schedule will again change...oh...dramatically. Crystal is supposed to change to the evening shift at her job that was originally to happen 1 month ago. This means, that within the period of 2 days, we need to completely change her sleep pattern so that she is able to stay wide awake until after 10pm so that she can drive home safely from Sandy. With the current schedule, Crystal is a zombie by 830.

Bon Voyage.

Anywho, we don't want to come across like we are complaining at all, I hope I did not write it that way. We just wanted to show off to the family how great our schedules are right now. Hopefully we will be able to start posting with a little more frequency especially because I have so much I need to spread among the family about my new life as an Isys-pawn. Until next time!

"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".

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.

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.......