There were two things left on my "Death" To-Do list that I decided to take care of last week and OH BOY did I wander into TWO clusterfucks. The first was getting the name on the DirecTV account changed and the second was getting the autopsy report and the items the police took almost SIX months ago; so sit back and enjoy the saga. The .5 CF is detailed at the very end.
CF#1
On Tuesday I called DirecTV to get the name on "our" account changed to my name because every time I logged into the account to change the profile it said "You are being redirected to AT&T" and when the AT&T website would load I was immediately redirected to DirecTV and then I was in an infinite loop. Way back when, we did have an AT&T account for my mobile phone and so when AT&T bought DirecTV, the accounts where tied together so we only got one bill. Last year I cancelled my AT&T service and moved over to Mint to save beaucoup bucks which I think was the root of the problem as we (I) no longer had an AT&T account despite the fact that the bill for DirecTV still came from them. I called DirecTV and spoke to customer service (person #1) and they transferred me to billing (person #2) who proceeded to tell me about the flag which tied the two systems together and that it was tech support who would have to change that and I was transferred again and was put on hold and then the call was dropped. I called back and recounted the entire process to the person (#3) on the other end and was transferred, again, to AT&T billing and they said since I could not get into the account they (#4) would help me reset my account user name and password (of which I did not have) so once again I explained that I need to only get a DirecTV bill as I no longer had an AT&T account FOR A MOBILE PHONE; so they was transferred back to DirecTV and dropped AGAIN <GRRRRR>. I went to get another cuppa joe and call again though I thought hitting myself on the head with a hammer might be less painful. I tried a different tactic when I called back this time; after getting a customer representative on the phone (person #5 and call #3 and an hour later) I said I was going to explain the issue and what happened and that I needed them to repeat it back to me so I knew they understood the problem which I did and they repeated back and seem to understand. I then said that IF I had to be transferred again, I expected her to stay on the line so she could feel the pain I was going through too and could she do that; the response was "Yes". She asked me to hold while she contacted billing to see it the mystery flag could be removed and 10+ minutes later DirecTV said it was an AT&T issue. She then put me on hold again while she spoke to AT&T billing and another 15 minutes later it turns out they couldn't but it would be their tech group to talk to as this might be an actual into the database change. So I was put on hold a third time while she spoke to someone else and another 15+ minutes later (45 min so far) my person returns and says Nope, can't be done and that the solution was to create me a new DirecTV account, move all my existing equipment info and my username/password and account details to it and delete the current account. At that point I agreed and it was done with no interruption of service - CF total: 3 calls, 5 people I spoke to, 2 call drops, 3+ times put on hold and TWO HOURS of time!!
CF#2
The other task I did was to call the Detective who was handling the details of Erich's case. I had been told that I could get his effects back after the autopsy was completed. I called in February and Detective F. told me that the autopsy was being done by the Hays County Medical Examiner office because they were contracted to do so by Comal County and that I could take a month or more since it was not a criminal case. I called again in March, April and May - usually in the first week of the month. Since it was the end of May I decided to call again to follow up as I was getting rather annoyed that it was almost SIX months! Well, Detective F. did not answer the phone but Detective B did and he informed me that Detective F. had left. I asked who was handling my case and he looked it up and it had not been assigned to anyone but he would try to assist. I recanted what I had done with my calls and asked when would the autopsy report be completed and could he call Hays and find out. He said that they don't call and that when they know then I will be called. At that point I asked for the Hays County Medical Examiner office telephone number so I could call them directly. Which I did. The person on the phone said that 1) the report had been completed on April 28th (WTF!! since I spoke to Detective F after that) and that 2) the reports are NOT sent to the Sheriffs office but to the Judge for my area to have an inquest sign off, 3) the Hays County computer system does not talk to Comal County, it is email to the Judge's office and 4) she gave me the Judge District office to call; which I did. Upon calling the District office, I spoke to Shirley who said yes, she had it and could come by and get a free copy and no, they don't send it to the Sherriff's office they call for it and no, the computer systems don't talk to each other such that a Sheriff would be automatically notified it had be entered and completed. I asked Shirley if should be so kind as to email it to Detective B. so everything could be closed and I could put this all to rest (yes that is a pun) which she agreed to do. I received a call from Detective B later in the day that I could go to the Sheriff's office and talk to the Evidence department to get Erich's things. And thus I found a major gap in the Comal county system - my case was not reassigned (Issue #1) and the sheriff is the one to make called and find that the autopsy report has been completed by the Judge's court. Why don't the systems talk to each other (Issue #2) so so many people don't have to make so many calls??
CF#0.5
After the events earlier in the day, I went to the library for a knit and sit meetup. While there I was working on my big chunky sideways knit sweater which I had not touched in over a month because I had be working on a baby sweater. I had already knit the right sleeve and shoulder and done the split for the front and back plus I had knit the front half. I was working on the back when I put the project down. To resume, I laid the project out on a table and verified where I was on the back with the instruction and realized that even though I though i was ready to start the increases to then rejoin the front on back the number of rows on the back was wrong. I then looked at what was going on with front - between the actual knit and the pattern and it was wrong so I figured I would rip out rows on the front to the mid-point there and get the front and back even. As I was putting the stitches back on the needles, I realized the stitch count on the front half was wrong; then I counted the stitches on the back and it was wrong too PLUS when added together the total count was also WRONG. I was not having a good day and since the 3 hours of the meeting was over and everyone else was ready to leave I decided to go home and sort this out on the kitchen table. When I got time I took some time to calm down with Boots as petting and scratching her always helps along with a glass of wine. I cleared the table and laid out the sweater and looked for where I had messed up and could not find it so my assumption was that I did the split and decreases wrong; it was time to rip out both the front and back to that split point; it was time for a second glass of wine. Some time later I was done and had the correct number of stitches on the needle along with the stitch markers; I was one row back/before where the split was to occur. I had a large pile of yarn on the table so I left it and then made dinner as it was now 6:30 pm and I went upstairs to relax and watch TV. This was Tuesday, I spent the weekend re-knitting the front and now I am half way done with it (again). The pulled out yarn is on the swift to allow the yarn to relax and the kinks to disappear. I also re-wrote the instructions for the front and back with the increases and decreases so I can easily track where I am and not make the same mistake again.
CF#1
On Tuesday I called DirecTV to get the name on "our" account changed to my name because every time I logged into the account to change the profile it said "You are being redirected to AT&T" and when the AT&T website would load I was immediately redirected to DirecTV and then I was in an infinite loop. Way back when, we did have an AT&T account for my mobile phone and so when AT&T bought DirecTV, the accounts where tied together so we only got one bill. Last year I cancelled my AT&T service and moved over to Mint to save beaucoup bucks which I think was the root of the problem as we (I) no longer had an AT&T account despite the fact that the bill for DirecTV still came from them. I called DirecTV and spoke to customer service (person #1) and they transferred me to billing (person #2) who proceeded to tell me about the flag which tied the two systems together and that it was tech support who would have to change that and I was transferred again and was put on hold and then the call was dropped. I called back and recounted the entire process to the person (#3) on the other end and was transferred, again, to AT&T billing and they said since I could not get into the account they (#4) would help me reset my account user name and password (of which I did not have) so once again I explained that I need to only get a DirecTV bill as I no longer had an AT&T account FOR A MOBILE PHONE; so they was transferred back to DirecTV and dropped AGAIN <GRRRRR>. I went to get another cuppa joe and call again though I thought hitting myself on the head with a hammer might be less painful. I tried a different tactic when I called back this time; after getting a customer representative on the phone (person #5 and call #3 and an hour later) I said I was going to explain the issue and what happened and that I needed them to repeat it back to me so I knew they understood the problem which I did and they repeated back and seem to understand. I then said that IF I had to be transferred again, I expected her to stay on the line so she could feel the pain I was going through too and could she do that; the response was "Yes". She asked me to hold while she contacted billing to see it the mystery flag could be removed and 10+ minutes later DirecTV said it was an AT&T issue. She then put me on hold again while she spoke to AT&T billing and another 15 minutes later it turns out they couldn't but it would be their tech group to talk to as this might be an actual into the database change. So I was put on hold a third time while she spoke to someone else and another 15+ minutes later (45 min so far) my person returns and says Nope, can't be done and that the solution was to create me a new DirecTV account, move all my existing equipment info and my username/password and account details to it and delete the current account. At that point I agreed and it was done with no interruption of service - CF total: 3 calls, 5 people I spoke to, 2 call drops, 3+ times put on hold and TWO HOURS of time!!
CF#2
The other task I did was to call the Detective who was handling the details of Erich's case. I had been told that I could get his effects back after the autopsy was completed. I called in February and Detective F. told me that the autopsy was being done by the Hays County Medical Examiner office because they were contracted to do so by Comal County and that I could take a month or more since it was not a criminal case. I called again in March, April and May - usually in the first week of the month. Since it was the end of May I decided to call again to follow up as I was getting rather annoyed that it was almost SIX months! Well, Detective F. did not answer the phone but Detective B did and he informed me that Detective F. had left. I asked who was handling my case and he looked it up and it had not been assigned to anyone but he would try to assist. I recanted what I had done with my calls and asked when would the autopsy report be completed and could he call Hays and find out. He said that they don't call and that when they know then I will be called. At that point I asked for the Hays County Medical Examiner office telephone number so I could call them directly. Which I did. The person on the phone said that 1) the report had been completed on April 28th (WTF!! since I spoke to Detective F after that) and that 2) the reports are NOT sent to the Sheriffs office but to the Judge for my area to have an inquest sign off, 3) the Hays County computer system does not talk to Comal County, it is email to the Judge's office and 4) she gave me the Judge District office to call; which I did. Upon calling the District office, I spoke to Shirley who said yes, she had it and could come by and get a free copy and no, they don't send it to the Sherriff's office they call for it and no, the computer systems don't talk to each other such that a Sheriff would be automatically notified it had be entered and completed. I asked Shirley if should be so kind as to email it to Detective B. so everything could be closed and I could put this all to rest (yes that is a pun) which she agreed to do. I received a call from Detective B later in the day that I could go to the Sheriff's office and talk to the Evidence department to get Erich's things. And thus I found a major gap in the Comal county system - my case was not reassigned (Issue #1) and the sheriff is the one to make called and find that the autopsy report has been completed by the Judge's court. Why don't the systems talk to each other (Issue #2) so so many people don't have to make so many calls??
CF#0.5
After the events earlier in the day, I went to the library for a knit and sit meetup. While there I was working on my big chunky sideways knit sweater which I had not touched in over a month because I had be working on a baby sweater. I had already knit the right sleeve and shoulder and done the split for the front and back plus I had knit the front half. I was working on the back when I put the project down. To resume, I laid the project out on a table and verified where I was on the back with the instruction and realized that even though I though i was ready to start the increases to then rejoin the front on back the number of rows on the back was wrong. I then looked at what was going on with front - between the actual knit and the pattern and it was wrong so I figured I would rip out rows on the front to the mid-point there and get the front and back even. As I was putting the stitches back on the needles, I realized the stitch count on the front half was wrong; then I counted the stitches on the back and it was wrong too PLUS when added together the total count was also WRONG. I was not having a good day and since the 3 hours of the meeting was over and everyone else was ready to leave I decided to go home and sort this out on the kitchen table. When I got time I took some time to calm down with Boots as petting and scratching her always helps along with a glass of wine. I cleared the table and laid out the sweater and looked for where I had messed up and could not find it so my assumption was that I did the split and decreases wrong; it was time to rip out both the front and back to that split point; it was time for a second glass of wine. Some time later I was done and had the correct number of stitches on the needle along with the stitch markers; I was one row back/before where the split was to occur. I had a large pile of yarn on the table so I left it and then made dinner as it was now 6:30 pm and I went upstairs to relax and watch TV. This was Tuesday, I spent the weekend re-knitting the front and now I am half way done with it (again). The pulled out yarn is on the swift to allow the yarn to relax and the kinks to disappear. I also re-wrote the instructions for the front and back with the increases and decreases so I can easily track where I am and not make the same mistake again.
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