Random Thoughts - Part III The Search for Spark (No Politics)

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

The soundbar went out on our main TV this week. It's about 15 years old so rather than repairing it (it's the power supply I'm pretty sure) I decided to buy a new one. Ran to Sam's Club because they had the one I wanted for the lowest price without driving 30 miles.

Got it home, went to install. It's a 5.1 system with remote subwoofer and two satellite speakers in addition to the bar. Open the box and everything looks OK except that the sound bar wasn't in the protective foam just right. No big deal. Unboxed the soundbar and went to hook it to the TV. WTF, it had the wrong power cord in the box. Then, I notice 1 of the two satellite speakers is missing.

All I can determine is someone did a reall good job or reboxing it before returning and Sams stuck it back on the shelf. Now I have to make a return trip and explain that it is missing pieces.

been getting things from home depot like that lately, but worse.

just had a job that the last can light trim we went to install was a completely different model that looked like it fell down an elevator shaft and then was jammed into the box and returned.

last year, my brother got a pack of 6 disc lights, and the entire box was only full of garbage.

[Capt Spaulding]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

Strong argument for unboxing in the parking lot before heading home.

Since we are less than 10 miles from the Rio Grande local retailers get a lot of cross border traffic. A LOT. Mexico imposes pretty steep import duties on goods bought in the US and taken across the border. The result is a large number of Mexican shoppers unbox their purchases in the parking lot, toss the packaging and tell the Mexican customs droids that they had taken the (name your product) to the US for repairs and are just bringing it back.

My wife’s employer owns or has owned a number of the larger shopping centers in the area. Not sure how it works now, but at one time they had to hire extra help on weekends to clean the debris.

[cjd]

Ugh. Mostly disappointing day.
Upside... Breakfast was delicious listening to music on my now fixed turntable.
Went out for a new dishwasher, projector, and kitchen reno planning. Bumped a curb and it tore half the splitter off... later I discovered my side marker had been pulled apart - actually a small square still well secured and a hole in the back. Splitter at least just pulled out the inserts so I think I can reinstall.
Get home... Projector not working right. 3 hours of troubleshooting and I suspect I may just have counterfeit cables. Brand is on the short list of certified and enthusiast vouched HDMI cables... so now I'll be playing the cable swap game hoping that's the issue.
Did the shopping today because I care not at all about sports all but I knew crowds would be smaller than usual.
Sigh.
Tomorrow is another day to fill with new and old frustrations...

[humfrz]

Speaking of bummers, last week the cable company (Comcast) sent me a "new" modem/router. Said it would boost my internet speed to 1.2 whatchamacallets.

So, I went to hook it up and the box was missing the instructions. So, how hard could this be? Cable in, powercord to a plug, phone line in, eithernet cable to my desktop.

After several failed attempts I called "tech" support. Got a barely English speaking dude from India. He said to download the "app" and follow the instructions. So, I hooked up the old modem and downloaded the app to my ancient phone.

That wasn't helpful, so I called tech support again and got a barely English speaking Asian girl. She was telling me to do certain things while still on my land line. I explained that my phone was hooked up to the modem, so that won't work. Nope, without wifi my mobile phone won't work here in the hole I live in.

So, I ask for a technician to come out and hook this mothea up. They gave me the ol app runaround. FINALLY, I TOLD them to send a technician out.

The next day a technician arrived. He said that the instructions I downloaded was for a different modem. OK, fine, so fix it.

After about 30 minutes of him fucking around with the system, he concluded that the modem they sent me was not any good. He went out to his truck and brought in a new modem and hooked it up. YAAAAAA.......it worked!

Now my internet speed went from .75 megawhaps to .95 megawhaps (not 1.2 megathings). BIG WHOOP!

Oh yes, I miss the old days, hook up two wires and twist the rabbit ears. -

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

The soundbar went out on our main TV this week..........

Well, THAT sucks!

My rules in buying anything in a box is to NEVER pick one from the front of a shelf. ALWAYS inspect carefully to make sure it hasn't been re-packaged.

Shake the box and see if ANYTHING rattles.

[Wally86]

Originally Posted by humfrz

Speaking of bummers, last week the cable company (Comcast) sent me a "new" modem/router. Said it would boost my internet speed to 1.2 whatchamacallets.

So, I went to hook it up and the box was missing the instructions. So, how hard could this be? Cable in, powercord to a plug, phone line in, eithernet cable to my desktop.

After several failed attempts I called "tech" support. Got a barely English speaking dude from India. He said to download the "app" and follow the instructions. So, I hooked up the old modem and downloaded the app to my ancient phone.

That wasn't helpful, so I called tech support again and got a barely English speaking Asian girl. She was telling me to do certain things while still on my land line. I explained that my phone was hooked up to the modem, so that won't work. Nope, without wifi my mobile phone won't work here in the hole I live in.

So, I ask for a technician to come out and hook this mothea up. They gave me the ol app runaround. FINALLY, I TOLD them to send a technician out.

The next day a technician arrived. He said that the instructions I downloaded was for a different modem. OK, fine, so fix it.

After about 30 minutes of him fucking around with the system, he concluded that the modem they sent me was not any good. He went out to his truck and brought in a new modem and hooked it up. YAAAAAA.......it worked!

Now my internet speed went from .75 megawhaps to .95 megawhaps (not 1.2 megathings). BIG WHOOP!

Oh yes, I miss the old days, hook up two wires and twist the rabbit ears. -

If you work in IT and understand that the cable company is using the modem's mac address to keep track of the devices it allows on the network, the app is easy to use and makes sense. It works very quickly. If you don't work in IT... I'll pray for you.

[x808drifter]

Originally Posted by Wally86

If you work in IT and understand that the cable company is using the modem's mac address to keep track of the devices it allows on the network, the app is easy to use and makes sense. It works very quickly. If you don't work in IT... I'll pray for you.

Have you tried forcing an unexpected reboot?

[Wally86]

Originally Posted by x808drifter

Have you tried forcing an unexpected reboot?

Like most good times in life, you don't want to force it

[Teseo]

Originally Posted by Spuds

I may or may not do that with pizza...

Yes, they can fuck up your order. Maybe you ordered meat lover and you could get something with pineapple (yuck!). ALWAYS verify what you get.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by x808drifter

Have you tried forcing an unexpected reboot?

Doesn't the very act of forcing it make it an expected reboot?

[Sapphireho]

Best Superbowl commercial this year.

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by x808drifter

Well you did say truck not train.
I also may have misunderstood that and thought is was a Truck/Semi shipment(IE by truck) not a ship a truck shipment.

If you don't specify it is dealers choice and a lot of times the rates don't reflect that. You have to call and find out if it is "over the road" or "intermodal." Have found that out the hard way while the railway workers were on strike.

Edit: I guess to be fair I did move the goalpost on you. My defense is that I am still working my normal hours and have been very sick the past week. My brain is foggy.

[NoHaveMSG]

Yesterday I watched my dad try to find his car keys using Tile that was attached to them. After almost 10 minutes I asked him what is going on and he said,"sometimes it sounds like it is over here, and sometimes it sounds like it is over there." I told him it sounds like they are in your pocket. They were in his pocket

[Wally86]

Originally Posted by Sapphireho

Best Superbowl commercial this year.

I never watched breaking bad so the dynamics of whatever is happening are a lost on me.

Also, if this was the best of the commercials, I'm glad I was gaming instead of watching