Christmas Cooking and Bundling Services

While on the surface many of the bundling plans seem too good to be true, they are in fact a major pain in the behind. A couple of years ago when AT&T was still SWB in the area they had a bundling plan that would bundle your phone along with a DSL internet connection. In the beginning, this saved me a fair amount each month but it did not last long. Soon I started noticing little added charges here and there, and while it still saved me a little money each month (no second phone line for dial up), I now have to pay a long distance carrier charge when I don’t make long distance calls.
This time around, they were offering to bundle a high-speed DSL with phone and a new fiber optic cable service. We absolutely hate Time Warner and on paper, this will save a good bit each month. While I fear the savings won’t last I was hoping the cable service with far exceed that of Time Warner. So we signed up.
There were so many people signing up for this bundle package up we had to wait two weeks for installation. We reluctantly agreed and counted down the days until we’d have DVR and a faster internet service. Finally, the day arrived for hook up. The installer arrived only about an hour late, not too bad, considering. He fiddled around for about an hour, then came in and reported that the order hadn’t been placed for some thing I’ve never quite understood what is and that he couldn’t do the install that day, but promised to come back the next day (Sunday) if he could get the order pushed though. Sure enough, he showed up bright and midday Sunday, but this time it seems the order wasn’t put in properly. He left with a promise that someone would call us first thing Monday morning with a new install date. Come Tuesday afternoon we were calling to find out what was going on. Of course, no one knew what the problem was nor did they have any answers for us. They said that they could come out for the next morning between 9 and 11. At noon we called to find out what the problem was. We were told we’d been pushed back and they would be out between 6 and 7 pm. I hate when people can’t call and tell you these things, leaving you hanging.
The problem is the install takes about 4-5 hours and if they didn’t come out until 6 or 7pm they were going to be in and out of the house and attic until rather late. Cindy has to be at work at 5 am these days, which means she has to get up at 3am. Having someone stomp around in the attic until 1am wasn’t going to be very conducive for sleep. So, I asked to speak to a supervisor, which they refused to do, nor would they give me a number. What they would do is transfer me to dispatch. Frustrated I agreed no knowing what dispatch could do to help me. Nevertheless, the man that answered in dispatch was kind enough to transfer me to his supervisor. I calmly explained out problems so far and asked if there was anyway he could help me clear all this up. He was very apologetic and asked me to hold while he checked to see what the problem was. A few minutes later, he came back on the line and said he’d have someone out within the hour to do the install and he was very sorry for the inconvenience.
The installer arrived, set to work only to inform us that the order still hadn’t gone through and he couldn’t do the install, but that someone would call us the following morning. However, they did disconnect our internet service, that part they could do without any hassle. Fast forward until today (Friday) I called again and this installation manager promised someone would be out first thing tomorrow morning and that there would be no more problems. I guess we’ll see how long it takes to get back on line. But if this isn’t published until after Christmas you’ll know we didn’t have any luck.
As far as Christmas cooking goes, I’ve made a lot more progress. I’ve made my nut clusters, caramel and peanut butter filled chocolate cups, my lower carb version of “Trash” or party mix as most call it. I made my sister cheese popcorn. I made my niece her yearly batch of peanut brittle. I made a batch of cranberry walnut biscotti that I still need to dip one end in sugar free white chocolate. I made a low carb version of snickerdoodles, which while very yummy taste nothing like a snickerdoodle, so I’m hoping to tweak it a little.
I will be posting recipes for all my low carb treats and if anyone would like my recipes for cheese popcorn or peanut brittle let me know. Neither are low carb and with the exception of a little nibble here or there I’ve stayed OUT. The brittle wasn’t a big problem for me, I did eat one little piece to make sure it turned out ok since it is a gift. But I had to get my sister to take the popcorn somewhere else, popcorn is a big weakness for me and cheese popcorn is about the worst!
Now if I can just get internet service so I can post everything!
Until then, I hope you’re all enjoying the countdown until Christmas and that you’re eagerly awaiting or already enjoying family and friends.
Like Paula Dean would say Merry Christmas from My kitchen to yours!