John C. Bland II

Two techs left about 30 minutes ago and my connection is still good. They went through a million changes though: changed connectors, ran new cable to main box (two houses down since one behind us has a bee hive), replaced outside splitter, replaced modem battery, replaced inside splitter, etc.

Through all of that I’m still nervous as all get out because they tried leaving 3 times and the connection dropped. I’m not at all convinced but time will tell. I still have to be here from 8 am to 8 pm on Friday (nice time slot Comcast!!) so they can bury the cable under ground. Until then we have a cable line running through our yard and two others.

I’m not the one to blast service providers because things happen, even with Katapult and our customers, but today just took the wind from my sails. At this point I’m irritated beyond belief with their bad service.

Quick History

• I wanted AT&T U-verse since Verizon Fios wasn’t available but neither was U-verse. The only service in our area is Comcast. They’re reputable and have long history so should be just fine, right? So I signed up.
• Signed on July 3, 2009 (or something like that)
• Service was scheduled to cut on July 10, 2009
• My brother knows a tech so he got someone out for me on July 9, 2009 (last Thursday)

I was happy as ALL get out on Thursday. I mean…I had internet!! WOO HOO! Being in a new house with nothing but an AT&T 3G card (which is a whole other story) is not how I planned on starting my new life in Houston but hey…was only required until I was connected and on Thursday…I had my connection!

Friday morning I woke up, grabbed my laptop with slight glee in my heart, and commenced to read Gmail (a morning ritual for me) before I started my morning. Well…this was odd…I couldn’t connect. Hrmm…weird. I went through troubleshooting my laptop because I surely couldn’t have service problems less than 12 hours from initial connect…right? Sadly {insert sigh here} my connection was down. I called Comcast, they sent the signal, and we were off and running. I figured…”ehh…just a glitch in the matrix.”

Saturday morning I woke up, grabbed my laptop with slight fear in my heart, and commenced to read Gmail and again…no connection. This time I went straight to the modem. Down!! I had to drive from Houston to Sinton to grab my worldly possessions from storage so I said “Whatever!” and kept trucking through my day. Got back that night (after a trailer wreck, tow, and unloading of the trailer; eventually at 5 AM) and fooled with the modem a bit. No go.

Sunday morning I woke up and skipped even trying to connect. I went straight to the modem and tried the troubleshooting tasks I learned through the years (unplug, wait N seconds, power up, try again) and nothing worked. I called Comcast. They sent the signal, fooled with stuff, etc and it came back up. I complained big time about the inconvenience so they credited our account. We were good then…DOWN! I called back and they couldn’t restore service so I was down all day. Later that day I thought I’d try again. We got it back that night so I just knew we’d be good the next day. A tech couldn’t come out until Tuesday (which they scheduled on the first call) so I was sure I’d be good the next day since we were connected Sunday night.

Monday morning I woke up scared as heck! It was an actual work day and I was afraid I’d spend a day without internet again but this time it would hurt my productivity. Well…I did. I was without a connection all day. Then I remembered…”I have an online session scheduled for 8!” CRAP! I couldn’t do it on 3G without terrible lag, etc so I called Comcast. Service came up at 7:20′sh. Called into tech support since service went down at 7:40′sh. Service was up and good throughout the session (don’t ask how but it was) and didn’t go down until 10:30′sh. At this point I’m like “Whatever!” again since the tech was coming today. I let it go and went 3G for the night.

Today I woke up and within a few minutes the tech rang the doorbell. SWEET! He came in checked signals, connections, etc and determined my coax was the problem from the wall to the router. Changed the coax, restarted modem, and my connection was GOLDEN! {insert “Singing in the Rain” video clip here since, mentally, I was swinging from pillars}

I talked to the rep about my connection speed. I have only tested at a max of 11 megs down but was sold on a plan including 21 megs down. I WANT MY EXTRA 10 MEGS!! He said I’m only setup for the Performance plan not the Performance Plus and the fastest Comcast offers is 16 megs down. WHAT!??!?!?!? He says he can order the upgrade but it is best I do it. I told him that’s not what I was sold so I will call in and check on everything.

When I called in I got to tech support and let them know about my speed issues. While on the phone with Comcast, which was an hour later, my connection…{sigh}…died. So I had the rep put in an order for another tech to come out, which is scheduled for tomorrow, as well as expedite a tech to come out today. Supposedly the tech will address my speed issues but the most I’ll get is the 16 unless a faster speed is available in my area, which is unlikely or at least an easy excuse for them to say “16 is it buddy!” I’ll fight it though since we were sold on a 21 megs down plan that, apparently, doesn’t exist.

5 days + intermittent internet  = one seriously frustrated customer who uses the web to live

I won’t say don’t get Comcast. Once they get me fixed up I’m sure all will flow well but my experience has been CRAP. It is unfortunate many people are having the same or similar problems. I would expect much more from a reputable company like Comcast. Their service should be much stronger than it is.

http://experts.na3.acrobat.com/p35104921/

The session ended up covering Flash Builder 4 (briefly just to explain what we were looking at), mxml vs AS differences (ie – how to do the same thing either way), a brief on custom components, event architecture, data binding, and we started to go into custom events but decided to roll with a part 2. I will update the my schedule with a date/time for part 2. It’ll most likely be next Monday at the same bat time.

Take a look at it and let me know what you want to see in part 2.

Thanks to all who attended!

My good buddy Guillermo (gman) asked me about some Flex info. He’s a solid PHP’er and said he wanted to get into Flex so I hit him back with some info on where to get started. I also, as I typically do, jumped on the opportunity to do a Connect session to help him ramp up. Last time I did this for a friend it was one on one. This time…I’m opening it up to the public.

Session Description
The Flex Dev Primer is a pure development session (don’t expect theory and graphics although you might get some) focused on helping non-flex developers ramp up to become comfortable with Flex in a short period of time. We will focus on Flex 3/Halo but will spend the last while discussing the shift in Flex 4/Spark.

This session will be recorded.

Connect URL
http://experts.na3.acrobat.com/flexdevprimer/

Session Details
Date: 7/13/2009
Time: 8-9 PM CST

I’ve updated my speaking calendar with the details. I will keep it updated regularly with any and all of my engagements as well as any changes to this session.

Flex 4 in Action

I’ve been hesitant to post anything about this ordeal (co-authoring Flex 4 in Action or Fx4iA for short) until things were solid but since things are flowing forward and the light is green…why not? There isn’t a ton of details to give at this point beyond what Tariq Ahmed (author) posted on FlexInAction.com. Manning, so far, is a great publisher to work for and I’m REALLY enjoying their style, support, and overall preparedness for their authors. They really have their stuff together.

For a while now I’ve, as I told Tariq in my initial email to him, “yearned” to write in a Flash Platform specific book. Tariq has a great plan together and it feels like I’m working with an all-star team. Project planning is an art perfected by Tariq and shown evident in this book process. He has the whole thing spec’d to the letter and planned with a full project plan including dates, etc. Along with planning he’s writing and running a team at Amcom Technologies…where does he find the time!!?!??

Dan Orlando and I met a bit ago on the interwebs and, little did i know, this dude is a Flash Platform PIMP! (shameless plug: get your pimp shirts here) What’s crazy is, when I resided in AZ, I lived probably ~10 minutes from him and didn’t know him. I’m excited to work with him in this capacity. Dan is writing all over the place in all sorts of magazines and online pub’s all the while holding down a consulting gig. Rock on!

Overall I’m thoroughly excited, if you can’t tell, and gracious for the opportunity. I’m going to do my best to put down some great writing to help each and every reader get from 0 to 60 in as short a time as possible! That is our goal as a whole and I’m taking it personally.

[in my best infomercial voice] BUT WAIT!

You don’t have to wait for the book to come out…”Buy now through MEAP (Manning Early Access Program) and get early access to the book, chapter by chapter, as soon as they become available.”

Support us in our venture. Let us know how we can make it better and we will!