The battle between Good and Evil…..

Now I have Comcast for everything possible in my house. Triple play well because it was cheaper that way.  Which means I technically have Comcast home phone service, no phone hooked up to it, and I don’t even know the number I have. Like most people now a days I rely on my cell phone for pretty much every means of contact. the reason I have comcast is not because I love it, or that the service is good or the price is good. Its pretty much the only thing available other than satellite and im not a huge fan of that.  However Comcast’s customer service leaves a lot to be desired. No where near being the best.

below is my transcript from the online chat in which I try to access the online services mainly to pay my bill.

A little back ground on this: I’ve been trying for 7 months now to access the online bill pay for comcast. It started to tell me that I needed a pin, that has been requested more than a dozen times in many different ways. Website, Phone Calls, Web chat and even Twitter. Here is my latest attempt to get the pin.

LiveAssist Transcript

[Print] Print [Copy] Copy [Email] Email [Close] Close

chat id : 8375a351-ebd6-41e3-b9ea-5d38b5d11de1

Problem : I need help "securing" my online account

Anthony > I need help "securing" my online account

Comcast Support > Currently we are experiencing
unusual delays for a Chat Specialist. 
Feel free to contact us via Ask Comcast
by selecting the link off the Customers
Contact Us drop down list on Comcast.com.
You can also search FAQs via the same link,
or call 1-800 Comcast (800-266-2278) for further assistance.

Jeffrey > Hello Anthony_, Thank you for contacting
Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Jeffrey.
Please give me one moment to review your information.

Jeffrey > I apologize for the wait and thank
you for waiting.

Jeffrey > How may I help you?

Anthony_ > for six months the website told me i
needed a pin to login, i requested it at least a dozen times.

Anthony_ > i go back to try to re register

Anthony_ > and it finally lets me in but tells me
i need to secure my account

Anthony_ > but doesnt say how to accomplish this

Jeffrey > I apologize for the wait and thank you for waiting.

Jeffrey > I am sorry to hear that.

Jeffrey > I will be happy to help you with that.

Jeffrey > Please provide me the account number?

Anthony_ > let me find it

Anthony_ > (Redacted)

Jeffrey > Thank you.

Jeffrey > Please give me 2-3 minutes to pull up the account.

Jeffrey > Are you logged in to your account as of this moment?

Anthony_ > it logged me out due to inactivity

Jeffrey > Can you please try to log in again.

Jeffrey > Then let me know if you were able to log in?

Anthony_ > it let me in. still says
"This account may not be accessed until the owner
 makes the account secure"

Jeffrey > Please go to this link 

https://customer.comcast.com/Public/Home.aspx

Jeffrey > Please click on the link.

Anthony_ > im there

Jeffrey > Then click on the user and settings tab.

Anthony_ > ok

Anthony_ > still the same thing

Jeffrey > Can you please provide me the username
that you used?

Anthony_ > (Redacted)

Jeffrey > Anthony that is a gmail emil account,
you need to use the comcast.net username to access
your online accounts.

Jeffrey > Let me check on that.

Jeffrey > Anthony that is a gmail emil account,
you need to use the comcast.net username to access
your online accounts.

Jeffrey > Anthony that is a gmail emil account,
you need to use the comcast.net username to access
your online accounts.

Jeffrey > Anthony that is a gmail emil account,
you need to use the comcast.net username to access
your online accounts.

Jeffrey > Did you received my last messages?

Anthony_ > yes, 4 times

Anthony_ > the gmail account is the one that i was
instructed to use when i created the account.
up until the whole pin thing happened

Jeffrey > Let me check your comcast.net username/

Jeffrey > Please give me a moment.

Anthony_ > ok

Jeffrey > Thank you for patiently waiting.

Jeffrey > This is your username:    (redacted)@comcast.net

Jeffrey > Since I do not have access to your password
what I need to do is to reset that for you so you can
use a temporary one.

Jeffrey > Is that okay with you?

Anthony_ > thats fine

Jeffrey > Before that our system needs the account`s
security PIN?

Anthony_ > I dont have a pin that's the whole point

Jeffrey > Can I call you on your comcast phone number to
verify some information?

Anthony_ > call my cell phone (redacted)

Jeffrey > I am afraid I am not allowed to call any other
number but your comcast phone for security purposes.

Anthony_ > if i call the 800 number will they give me a pin

Jeffrey > Yes they will verify some security information
over the phone first.

Anthony_ > ill call them

Jeffrey > You can call them during normal business hours
only Anthony.

Anthony_ > i dont have a phone hooked up to the comcast equipment.

Anthony_ > i dont have a normal phone.

Jeffrey > I understand, however we also want to secure your
account that is why we can only
call on our customer`s phone number.

Anthony_ > my cell phone number is the number listed on the account

Anthony_ > what are the business hours.

Jeffrey > This is the number that I need to call and this is
your Comcast
Digital Voice phone number (redacted)

Anthony_ > what are the business hours?

Jeffrey > The business hours is from 8am to 5PM.

Anthony_ > thank you.

Jeffrey > You are most welcome Anthony.

Jeffrey > I hope you understand that we are only
protecting this account that is why we need to process
that verification over the comcast phone.

Jeffrey > I appreciate your time chatting with us today.
 Aside from this, is there anything else I can assist you
with at this time?

Anthony_ > no that's it

Jeffrey > Thank you for contacting Comcast, We appreciate your
business, you have a good day.

Jeffrey > Have a great day ahead and good night!

Jeffrey > Stay safe.

Jeffrey > Analyst has closed chat and left the room

/sarcasm

Chachi Says: Regardless of what they say, That is certainly not “Comcastic”. Hopefully I don’t get sued for this.

Sniff, Sniff. It’s over. so soon.

Well today is it. The end. The final day of this great holiday. Thusly here is the final post from me on the great day.

So the last two post of this week long theme were thankfully from twitter.

Im surprised that i didnt think of this one myself especially after the Favorite Game post. But i give to:

My Candidate for worst game ever!

Now im a huge nintendo fan and so was my father so growing up it was always nintendo. NES, SNES, 64 didnt matter.

This comes from the SNES:

Straight from Wikipedia:

As Rocky Rodent, the player plays a Rodent who must use four various hairstyles to rescue the daughter of the owner of Rocky’s favorite eatery. Rocky Rodent is a platform game with 6 levels with multiple stages, similar to a cross between Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario Brothers.

now if you arent hooked from the name dropping, read this exciting plot.

“When Rocky begins eating at Pie Face Balboa’s restaurant, he unintentionally eats an envelope with Balboa’s protection money. As a result, mobsters take Balboa’s daughter. Balboa asks Rocky to rescue his daughter, promising him an All-You-Can-Eat buffet for her return.”

The game has 24 or so levels. All basically the same. Took less then one hour to beat and you felt dumber for doing it.

Chachi Says: Now i feel so wrong dedicating an entrie blog post to this game. i feel even worse about giving it a Chachi Says Segment. But i feel like it is my duty to warn you about this game.  I wish i could have that time back. but it is gone.

I’m late / I’m late / For a very important date.

So Today marks the next to last day of Wintereenmas. Its almost over. But it shall be back.

At this point in the week we were unsure as to what we would write to finish up the week. So i went to the best brainstorming station i know…. Twitter.

Todays Topic is: What was the first game you pulled an all nighter to beat?

Now i’ve pulled alot of caffeine and snack fueled all nighters to spend the night gaming rather than sleeping. However the first all nighter that particular honor goes to the beast known as…………….

Final Fantasy VII !!!!

I remember this vividly. This was my introduction to all night gaming. Not out of will which i had already done.

But out of necessity, the game wasnt mine i had borrowed and needed to return it. I knew i was close to the conclusion so i did what i had to do. 14 straight hours of gaming.

To call it epic would be an understatement.

Conclusion: Oh, i beat the story and the extra “weapons” i made the game my bitch.

Chachi Says: Gamers do what they have to do in order to reach the level of awesomeness that we deem acceptable.  Each gamer has that moment where they go from casual to hardcore. what was yours?

Ps. thanks to Annoyed Angel for reminding me that i needed to do todays post.

Bears, Kumbaya, Camp Fires and Junk Food….

Welcome to Friday of Wintereenmas, There is only a few days left of this years greatest holiday. Yes, i’ll be sad when it’s gone again but realize it will be back again next year. As long as you believe….

So, we were racking our brains as to what todays video game topic would be. And came to the conclusion that we would discuss our first “camp-out”.

Camp out being defined as the first time we waited for a store to open to acquire a new game, or accessory or console.

Now before i was born my dad was huge in video games, this apple doesnt fall far from the tree.  However once i came along he slowed down alot. He still played just not as much. Do i feel bad? nah not really. wasnt my fault.

However so he may have gotten me started in the venture but my uncle is the one who really pushed the issue. He supplied my fixes and gave me someone to discuss games with whenever i wanted.

So in this sense Camping out is being used as getting to a store way before it opened to get a new game. now being excited as i was i didnt sleep much the night before and was up early. Now he got me pumped for the game. However wasnt able to go get it. Luckily i had a source within walking distance. Unfortunately i was only able to rent it at this time because it was a rental place not a buying place which was fine with me.  so i woke up. extremely early. and waited. and waited and waited. i counted and recounted the money i needed to rent the game for a decent amount of time to make sure i could enjoy it.

The Year was 1994, the month, August. The Game.

The Game was Super Metroid

With updated graphics new and old baddies combined you prepare to do battle once again to secure or destroy the last of the remaining parasites known as The Metroid. The continuing storyline meant that you left off right where the last one did.  Which in those times, was a big deal.

This also lead to my first video game related injury.  Now before you laugh it was a neck stiffness issue. the video games were setup in a different room away from the main tv so that we could play and play and play and not piss anyone off. well after a few hours my ass went numb. so i switched from the chair to the floor and was looking up at the tv. For waaaaaaay too long. that lead to me not being able to turn my head and meant a trip to get it aligned and loosened up. im a genius.

Chachi Says: i had the game for a week. I made it through 1 and a half times. which means i beat it and then made it half way back through. I returned it and bought it an hour later to continue my conquest. This wouldnt be the first time something like this happened and I know it wont be the last time.

Rain Drops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens

Continuing on with the wintereenmas theme, todays topic is favorite game. Now unlike most things where people find it difficult to narrow it down to one. I can honestly do this. I can pinpoint my favorite video game of all time. this is actually quite obvious if you know me and have seen me in person.

If your reading this then you have already seen my header. Which should answer the question itself.  However i will spell it out for you here now.

Introducing my favorite game of all time.

The Legend of Zelda. End of story. hands down. Now before the haters start jumping on me, i’m not saying that this is the greatest game of all time. Just happens to be my favorite.

The story, the opening roaming world, the monsters, the side characters. Its a toss up between the Shop keeper whose only line is “Buy Something Will Ya?” and the Old wise guy at the Beginning who says “Its dangerous to go alone, Take This.” as to which side character is my favorite. The old guy has the edge though because he gives you a sword and sends you out to whoop some ass. Free Weapons are always great.

Then you’re off to defeat the evil Ganon, Save the triforce, the world and dammit your woman! Now i cannot begin to tell you the number of times i’ve beat this game on the normal setting. I can however tell you the number of times i have beat the Master Quest version of this game. One. thats it. it is by far a hard ass game. but you boost up the baddies and the amount of damage you take and daaaaamn.  This game is my go to game. if i feel like just relaxing and not thinking i pop this in my working nintendo and go to town.

Chachi Says: This is also the first game i ever beat in my video game career. The challenges, the adventure it was all there begging me to go through and save the princess.

Nerdy Poetry.

Sorg thought that we should do a nerdy themed poetry post. I agreed.

So here is my Horrible haiku Entitled Ninja Man

Run Ninja Man Run

Swords, Knives, Guns, No Kitchen Sink Though

Fight Ninja Man Fight

Chachi Says: and there you have it. nerdy gamer haiku. Go check out what Sorgy Poo has posted over at www.sorgatron.com

Show your geekdom.

Sorg wanted to do this post. This was not my idea. He decided that the Second day of Wintereenmas we should show our true geekdom.

The visual effects are just the easiest examples i could there is also the hacked xbox, the og nes, the ps2, the wands, the replica zelda sword so on and so forth.

So here as if you forgot……..

Those are just a few of many examples for you.

Chachi Says: Now, normally i would say that i win, but i’ve known sorg a very very very very long time now and Know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is just as geeky as i am.

Now run along and see what Sorg posted: www.sorgatron.com

Why don’t you show us your geeky side?

Damn Dude, that Girl is fiiiiiineee.

Happy Wintereenmas one and all! it is finally the greatest week and my favorite week of the year.  Today marks the start of a week long blog exchanging video game themed series from @sorgatron (www.sorgatron.com) and I.

Today’s topic is what video game character we believe to be the finest in the land.

I had several ideas as to who i thought this could be.  Princess Peach, Nah to dependent.  Carman Sandeigo nah too klepto.  Then it hit me.

My choice is non other than Princess Zelda!

Now here is a beautiful, strong, intelligent women. Sure she needed rescued a couple times but honestly who doesnt. However after that she learned to take care of herself Doubt me? Oh, then you must not remember this. Sheik! or Princess Zelda with super bad ass Ninja training. So not only do we have a hot ass princess who is more intelligent than alot of the other damsels out there this one is super hero like with the skillz of a ninja. Winner all around!

Chachi Says: So lets recap, Royalty: Check! Sexy: Check! Smart: Check! Bad Ass Super Hero like Ninja: ahhhh hellls yeah!

eat it sorg!

Now run along and see what Sorg posted: www.sorgatron.com

New Year oh what a new year…….

So Tis been awhile since i last sat down to do a bloggy blog.  Let’s catch up shall we……

Dec 31st 2009, i spent this at the BEV lounge with a bunch of tweeps and brought the new year in right aka lots of drinking and very lil sleep. The sleep i did get was no where near enough for what we would do early the next morning……..

Jan 1st 2010, After waking up later than i was supposed too thanks to a wake up call from teh sorg(it was supposed to be vice versa) and my attempts to wake others to which i heard the best logical half asleep comment ever from @burghseyeview when i tried to wake him for the polar plunge. “we’re late? fuck it, im not going.”  greatest response ever. He and everyone else however did go. and we did jump.  as shown here thanks to Rob’s video skillz http://vimeo.com/8709029 .

After that long weekend it was back to work, where if you follow me on twitter (@chachisays )  you know that i was offered a full time position with the firm themselves which was consuming alot of my time. And i mean alot.

And that brings us up to the present, i missed most of last week due to an upper respiratory infection and get to return to work monday finally.

Which happens to bring us to my most favoritest week of the entire week.  The week when i rejoice in my nerdom.let me explain.

web comic Ctrl-alt-del introduced this “holiday” a few years ago. and to me it is the greatest.

I give to you www.wintereenmas.com

Now this year, Myself and @Sorgatron from www.sorgatron.com are going to trade blog post all about video games in one way or another. this is starting monday with our posts dedicated to which video game character we think is the finest.

Chachi Says: I dont stomp on your beliefs but feel free to laugh at mine. It is really funny. Stay tuned lots of blog posts are on their way!

Local Politician will Jump In the Mon…..AGAIN!

Local Politician Anthony (last name redacted.) is spending his New Years Eve, the way most are. Friends, music and good times, it’s the morning after events that are a little questionable. On the first morning of 2010, Anthony and a group of his friends will once again be joining the polar bears as they take their yearly plunge into one of Pittsburgh’s three famed river. When asked about doing the event Anthony had the following to say, “Well, i do it because i feel to need too. There’s no real reason to do it, other than a story to brag about later to those who were to afraid to try it. Also, my supporters need to see that i am a politician of the people.”  To see which social media celebs are planning to jump or watch you can check it out at http://pittsburghtweetup.ning.com/events/pittsburgh-tropical-paradise .

Theres also this pic of the prejump from last year. Hang over and all i was awake.

And you can go here and catch a glimpse of me coming out of the water in Uncle Crappy’s video.  http://unclecrappy.com/2009/01/02/action/

Chachi Says: it’s a great way to start the new year and a great hangover cure, it shocks it right out of your system.