Writing Life

In my previous post, I celebrated the election of our 44th President, Barack Obama. It’s been 8 days since that glorious night and I’ve been reflecting on my comment about that being a great way to go out with this blog. I haven’t been blogging as much lately, partly due to having a contract that took up a great deal of time over the last few months. I wrapped that up yesterday and will finish out some other volunteer work in the next few days.

So, what’s next? Back to writing. Full-time writing. Working on my novel and potentially a book on my experiences working in the electoral politics arena during the last three election cycles. I think that blogging might detract from my writing, i.e., give me an excuse to burn words here instead of in my novel. While I’ve had a ball blogging, it is very distracting. I think I want to let it lie.

Additionally, I’ve made snide and sly comments to people lately about blogging in general. It’s very egotistical to put out your own thoughts as if someone else just has to know what you’re thinking. You might respond that that’s precisely what I’m planning to do with a novel or a book. For some reason, that seems different to me. Blogging too has evolved, going more mainstream with hip new writers and former reporters working digitally instead of in newsprint. There are still outsider blogs out there, especially in the art scene and local politics. I’ll probably still read those on a regular basis.

And, for those who are interested, I don’t think I’m going to be able to give up my twitter fixation. Microblogging (140 characters or less) is really something I’ve taken to and perhaps a better format than a full-fledged “blog” to convey my thoughts. I’ve always loved writers’ notebooks, little sketches of plot, a one-line piece of dialogue, or an idea for a story written down. I think I’d like to use twitter that way. If you want to follow my tweets, just head over to my Twitter page.

For those who’ve read my posts, and especially those who added a comment, I thank you. To anyone who happens upon this blog, I hope you enjoy it and find something of value to take from it.

Cheers!

The final strike!

The Kings Contrivance Village Center will have its new gucci market on May 20th. After ages of now market, demolition and construction, the Harris Teeter store is set to open. The Baltimore Sun has a good story on the chain, though talks more about stores in other locations rather than the new one opening up here.

One thing I’m worried about, reading this story, is the fact that they say Harris Teeter is known for their prepared foods. It’s nice to be able to pick up something that’s pre-made, but I’d prefer a store that sells high-quality and diverse components, so that I can make my own meal. I want a vegetable section that rivals Weis (the best produce though they sometimes run out of staples), a fish section like a fish monger (or some of the better Giants), a meat section like the former Giant butcher department in Hickory Ridge or the meat market in downtown Laurel (on Main Street), etc.

As the economy winds down and gas and food prices soar, it’s hard to see how this store will be a community store, rather than a store for a select few. I hope that I’m being overly harsh and that once the store opens, it’ll meet the community expectations and its needs. We’ve been without for too long.

No, that’s not a typo but a salutation to our new kitty, Page! We adopted her this past weekend from the Animal Welfare Society of Howard County. She’s just over one year old, with a birthday of March 24th. She’s an adorable, playful and beautifully marked tabby, just what we wanted. We were originally looking for a male, to keep the matched set with our older kitty Xicco, but Page called out to Diane and I. We’re so glad to have her home, and are going through the separation period between her and Xicco while Page fully recovers from an upper respiratory infection (treated before we adopted her but better to be safe with any potential for infecting Xicco) and to allow the two cats to acclimate to each other. It was nice to be able to save an older cat instead of just getting a kitten. We got our first (and wonderful) kitty Buddy when he was 8 weeks old. We got Xicco at 6 months and now page at 13 months. Below is a cute picture (take note of the picture in the background, it’s our beloved Buddy).

Harris Teeter is nearly here! It’ll be almost two years since our Safeway supermarket closed in the Kings Contrivance Village Center. It’s been just shy of a year since workers started to demolish the Safeway facility and the neighboring, but long-closed, Friendlies Restaurant building (also see here). Now, the exterior of the Harris Teeter building looks complete and the inside is shaping up as well. It’s very exciting. Officials in the Village have said it should open on Wednesday, May 21st.

You can’t see from the picture below, but there is one thing that really strikes me when you view the new building as a whole. (To be fair, others have mentioned it in the local newspapers.) The entrance to the market is directly from the parking lot. For those who remember, you entered the Safeway from inside the area of the village center. All store entrances used to open onto a central courtyard, architecturally tying all the shops together. You could ambulate around the center, walking in and out of stores while still enjoying the ambience of the open space. The new Harris Teeter only has what looks like a fire door along its courtyard facing side. The rest is all brick. While aesthetically pleasing from the parking lot, the new occupant looks divided and separated from the rest of the center.

While this might seem an academic argument, foot traffic is paramount for the survival of small businesses in the village center. We’ve already lost Keighley Jewelers, which closed last December. Owner Terry Keighley noted a decline in visits to the store after the Safeway closed and the delay in finding a new anchor and rebuilding. If people come to shop who don’t know about the other stores in the center, they might just park in the lot, run in the front door, and never wonder what’s around the corner. They might see the liquor store but that’s about it. If the entrance were inside the courtyard area, they’d see almost every storefront or at least see that there were plenty more shops only steps away.

Village centers in Columbia might not be as important as they once were. But, if you’re refurbishing them with brand new construction and a first-in-the-area supermarket, I’d think you’d want to help the center thrive.

For those of you who were Hogan’s Heroes fans, you will remember Ivan Dixon. He played the role of Staff Sergeant James “Kinch” Kinchloe. The master of all things electronic and a vocal impersonator of German officers, Kinch was a fabulous character on the show. Sadly, he has passed away. The Washington Post reported on his death on Wednesday, though he died on March 16th. In addition to the details in the Post article, Wikipedia has a good entry on his life. I never realized how much he did as an actor and later in life as a director. Ivan Dixon: you will be greatly missed.

As I wrote earlier, I just cancelled my landline Verizon service. I was a little scared (comfort and nostalgia), but went through with it. Below summarizes my experience with Verizon’s customer service folks during this “trying” time.

Any doubt I had about getting rid of my service was wiped away with Verizon’s frustrating, dare I label it as customer, service. I looked on their website to find a number to cancel my service. Nothing obvious nor did anything come up using their handy-dandy search service. There was the “I’m moving” option, so I looked into that. But, that seemed primarily to transfer my Verizon account from one address to another. So, I figured I’d call “Billing” That seemed right since I was hoping to cancel my bills along with my service.

At 3:36 pm, I made the call. I was greeted with a voice-activated response system. Happily, within a minute, I’d been able to select “Cancel my account” as an option. This is pretty easy. Here we go, no turning back now!

I was on hold for 28 minutes. With horribly loud and poorly selected classical music. Twenty-eight minutes! After that seemingly endless wait, I got connected with a person who asked me for my phone number! When I dialed in 28 minutes ago, the stupid computer told me my phone number and I told it that was the number I was calling about to boot! This guy didn’t know? Oh well, I told him and also provided my name. He asked how he could help me today. Well, since I selected “Cancel my service” from the menu of options 28 minutes ago, maybe that’s what I’d stick with. That’s great, he said, and told me he’d transfer me to the Cancellation Department to help me. I interrupted him, asking if I’d have to be on hold again after having waited so long. He said it shouldn’t be long. So, after being on hold for 28 minutes, I spoke with a person for about 1.5 minutes and now I was headed back to that liminal space known as On Hold.

The line went quiet. There was no horrid classical music, no ringing to connect me, no voices. I panicked, 30 mintues of my life gone and now I’d been disconnected! I pushed a few buttons (0 and 1 mainly, perhaps a hark back to my previous career as a computer scientist), and prayed that I hadn’t been disconnected. I hung on, prepared to retry only if I heard a dial tone or one of those weird fast-busy sounds. Deep breaths, control and channel that anger. It’d all be over soon.

At 4:16, after 12 minutes in the silent abyss of Cancellation Department Transfer Hold Hell, a person picked up. She asked for my number and name. I grumbled out the digits and my name. She asked what she could do for me today. OMG…WTF…ARGH! With a bit a strain in my voice, I said I was calling to cancel my account. Her first pitch was “we can offer you a $12.95 per month plan that’s cheaper than your current service.” I told her no, I wanted to cancel. She asked if I was moving. I said no. She said she could cancel the service. Woohoo! Finally, it seemed like I’d called last century. But, then she asked me for a contact number. I asked why, to which she said it was in case there was a problem. After going through legal gyrations to make sure they would not sell, reveal, use, or do anything with my new number unless it was in regard to the current cancellation process of my landline, I gave up my cell phone number. I hope that doesn’t come back to haunt me. She asked if my contact number was a cell phone. I told her yes. She asked if I was using Verizon Wireless. Oh god, not another pitch. I said no, and thankfully, she moved on. Though, I wonder if I’ll start receiving mail solicitations for signing up to their mobile service!

She asked if I wanted the line to offer a forwarded number or just list it as disconnected. Those were my only choices…I asked. I chose the latter, preferring not to have a dutiful person copy down my new number to sell to more telemarketers. We scheduled the service to be shut off at 8 am this Wednesday. I couldn’t say tomorrow, Tuesday. I wanted a day with my line, just to say goodbye.

So, 43 minutes and 37 seconds after I dialed Verizon, I said goodbye to my service person. I really have to wonder if the long holds, transfers and pitches were aimed at wearing me down, hoping that I’d hang up and keep sending my money to Verizon. I hung in there though, and now all I’ve got is a cell phone. I’m pretty excited about saving the more than $400 per year I spent on my landline. Here’s hoping it goes well!

Okay, deep slow breaths. Sit up straight, focus ahead of you. That’s what I was wondering if I’d have to do once I did what I just did. Won the lottery? Finished burying a body in the backyard? Put a just emptied cartoon of milk back into the fridge? Nope, I cut my ties to Verizon.

I just cancelled my landline home service. I gave up a phone number I’ve had since 1991. I’ve been talking about doing this for a few years now, having grown accustomed to my cell phone as the main conduit through which people connect to me. It took me awhile to convince Diane that we’d be better off without it. Since going back to grad school in 2001 and working in a DC nonprofit and politics since 2004, most of the people I met were under 30 and never had a land line in their life. They’d always had a cell and lived full lives.

We’ve been spending approximately $34 per month for the honor of being harassed by telemarketers during odd hours of the day and evening. If we call our friends out of the area, we’d use our cell phones, which gave us free long distance. If we called each other, it was free (no minutes used) on our cells. I rarely sent or received faxes, and there are online or store options (e.g. Mailboxes) that can handle that rarity from a previous era. I ditched long distance service on our home line years ago, but still hung on to the basic service. Partly, it was due to the nostalgia for a number I’ve known for so long, second only to the one I grew up with at my parent’s house.

Feel free to contact us on our respective cell phones. We’ll be listening! See this post for my actual cancellation experience. Grab a hot dog, it’s entertaining…