Best PSA ever...

So I just saw a Public Service Announcement put on tv by major league baseball charities. It's in a locker room, a close up on a basketball, football, baseball, and volleyball. One by one, the narrator says a negative effect of steroids (stops bone growth, kidney problems, etc.). After each side effect, a ball deflates and shinks to about 1/10 it's original size. Then when all four balls have shriveled up to nothing, the narrator says, "And guys, it can do something else to your body too."

Let me know if you don't get it; I will enlighten you.

Baseball's Back!

The Cubs started the season with a bang...they beat the Reds in a slugfest. Is this the year? I'd say probably not, but I hope the boys can prove me wrong!

Daylight Savings Time Rules!

So, Indiana has apparently finally switched to daylight savings time. There goes one of my reasons to hate that state. For you Hoosiers that still aren't convinced DST is a good thing, check this out:

So at work, the co-ops are conducting a lighting survey of various areas at the refinery. Doing crap in the dark can apparently be dangerous (go figure) so we're finding what areas really need more light. Obviously, this must be done overnight between 9:30 and 3:30, which isn't so bad because that means the project is pure overtime! So I worked from 9 til 3:30 last night. However, due to the great gift of DST, the hour between 2 and 3 (or was it 1 and 2?) went by instantaneously. Yay! Anyone working at that time just gets lucky and gets paid, or in my case gets paid overtime!

So all you Hoosiers can zip it.

Anyway, last night was fun. After work, the four of us went to Waffle House (the South's answer for IHOP, but you should already know that). We went back to their apartments and started drinking strawberry daiquiri's (no liquor stores open at 5 am on Sunday morning). The party raged on until seven in the morning. Good times.

And a final note: Happy Birthday Kelly, hope you had a great day.

Huntington Heroes

Kinda sounds like a cartoon, doesn't it? As it turns out, it is the local AIFL football team. This isn't the AFL, which you may have seen on TV at one time or another. It's indoor football, and poor indoor football at that. It's like the minor leagues of the minor leagues of the NFL. Apparently, three fourths of the team were actually from Huntington; they just didn't want to stop playing football after graduating Marshall University (in Huntington, Chad Pennington's alma mater, as well as others).

The other co-ops and I weren't expecting very much. I was expecting the Indy Ice with a football, which is really what it turned out to be, but was still a great time. We knew it was gonna be a good time when after the third or forth play, a fight broke out. One of the refs literally tackled a guy to end it. It was great. The announcer made fun of the game too. The refs couldn't decide what way to move the ball after a penalty and he made a "duh-duh-duh-duh" sound along the lines of Carlos Mencia. A good time.

Wait 'til next year? Already?

So the Cubs are already in trouble. This team is a bunch of glass-jaws, everyone's already injured. Prior and Wood are starting the season on the DL. They'll be back soon enough, but it won't be enough. Someone else will go down, and Maddux needs a wheelchair.

Oh well. So why am I still looking forward to the game I'm going to in June? This must be some kind of disease.

Eye opening

You know those times when someone tells you something that really opens up your eyes? The last few days have really done that. And I don't like what I see.

Cable's out

A long post, but kind of funny, especially if you hate cable companies/customer service.

This whole cable thing is getting rediculous. I moved in 2 weeks ago tomorrow, and the cable hadn't been cut off from the last guy to live here. I needed internet though, so I called the cable company, knowing that I would have to start paying for it. No big deal, it's only 3 months anyway.

So I call the cable company, tell the saleswoman that I want the high speed internet as well as a basic cable package. She asks me if I would like a deal that packages the two together and saves me money. Sounds great right? She starts me on some package that costs over $100 a month (and that's a promotional rate). I tell her that seems high, and that I was expecting to pay around $50 a month (remember that for later). She says she can put me on a "bronze package" that's $80 a month (digital cable, DVR, internet, etc.). I tell her that still seems high and make it abundantly clear that I want a BASIC cable plan with internet, and don't need a DVR or any bells and whistles. I tell her there must be something cheaper.

Turns out there IS something cheaper she informs me. If I add a premium channel, I can save $5 a month for the first three months. I realize I'm not going to get anywhere with her, decide this is good enough, and give in.

Now we need to schedule an appointment. It was morning, and I was free all day, so I hoped to get it installed that day. No such luck. The earliest she could take care of me was a week from that day. I told her I would be starting work, which goes until 4. She offers me a 4-6 slot. I tell her I can't get home before 4:30 and ask if the landlord can just let the tech in. She battles with me on that for a bit, and offers me some other weekday afternoon. I tell her that I work full time and can't be the only one who works and still gets cable. The lightbulb finally goes on in this woman's head and offers me a Saturday time. FINALLY!

I know I can get a better price, so I go to the library and go online to their site. Sure enough, there's a cheaper package that has EXACTLY what I asked her for. I call back Customer service and get it worked out. My new bill: $49.94 a month.

So, after all that, the tech comes yesterday and installs my cable modem for me. The cable already worked, so he didn't touch that. 3 hours after he's gone, I'm watching one of the NCAA conference tourneys and the sound goes to a soft static. Internet's fine, picture's fine, but the sound is gone. When it doesn't come back after a bit, I cycle through the channels to assess the damage. Somehow, one channel has sound. It's channel 7. PBS.

I called them late last night and they can't get a tech out here until Saturday. A whole week. Son of a bitch. I'm going to Blockbuster.

BTW, the cable company is Adelphia. I'd suggest you avoid them at all costs.