Work Isn't Working Today Open Thread

Submitted by RowoneEndzone on

Well I hope I am not the only stuck at work today.  I'm waiting patiently until 5:00pm when I can blast out of this place and head to Fair Haven State Park (NY) Link  for a weekend long stag party.

The board is brutal slow today so I figured we might as well open it up here for some nonsense.

justingoblue

July 6th, 2012 at 1:26 PM ^

and it is going to be brutal. TWC is saying it'll be about 102 by the time I get into work, and my station is about ten degrees warmer than outside. Needless to say, I'll be looking forward to jumping in the pool and having a few beers later on tonight.

sULLY

July 6th, 2012 at 1:33 PM ^

Counting down the time until I get out of work for the start of what will hopefully be a great weekend, including my bachelor party tomorrow.  However, golf and a tigers game sounded a lot better before I read the weather report.  High 90's with scattered thunderstorms.

Bombadil

July 6th, 2012 at 2:45 PM ^

I think a wheat beer may be my next batch depending on how this goes. I may have trouble keeping the wort at 65 deg with the current heat wave. Our place in not air conditioned so I'm planning to use the basement which is normally quite cool but can get to less than 65.

LSAClassOf2000

July 6th, 2012 at 1:44 PM ^

I am glad I found an open thread during a lull here...

We still have about 100,000 without power here right now, with the majority of the outages being in Oakland County and in Detroit at the moment. My weekend is pretty much spoken for at this point, but at least there is MGoBlog during the dull moments, right?

Depending on where you are and what the specific damage is, we're thinking that most everyone should be back by Saturday night, although if the heat causes failures or if we get more storms tomorrow as we've been told might happen, this could obviously change.

We finally got some outside help today, and most of the crews we had loaned to Ohio and Indiana came back yesterday afternoon, so we've started to make some decent progress in restoring some of the larger outages anyway.

In Ann Arbor specifically, there are numerous scattered outages (and a few whole circuit lockouts if you live in the SW part of the city), but virtually everything in Washtenaw County is dispatched and with a crew now, so fingers crossed out there.

If there is anyone looking for specific updates, I will try to accommodate requests as I have time - I do help dispatch evaluation teams, and we do coordinate with crews, so if you see any potential hazards, please let me know where and I am literally 20 feet from the people to tell.

 

BlueRaines

July 6th, 2012 at 1:45 PM ^

I've spent the entire day backing up data (read: watching progress bars) and online car shopping. I'm thinking of buying a new (used) car.  Pontiac G8 GT instead of my Dodge Caliber... sounds look a good idea to me.

CRex

July 6th, 2012 at 3:02 PM ^

I've owned four Pontiacs with V8s and consider the concept of Buick as a sport brand to be laughable.  The sub three hundred horse power Regal GS and its 6.3 0-60 is not sport in my mind.  Also I don't even get the sound of a big V8 thrumming away out of the deal.  If I'm buying a six banger with forced induction, I'll buy something from the Audi high performance line and blow the doors off any Buick on the road.  

I'm mostly just sad though.  All I want is a rebadged Buick with a LS series V8 and a heads up display in it.  As long as it looks somewhat different and has a different nameplate than all the Buicks my great aunts and uncles own I'm happy.  My grandfather used to have a LaCrosse Super and I had a Grand Prix GXP.  Same exact W body car, but plausible deniability since I had the tire stagger and some other "sport features" that made it not an "old person" car.  When my Regal GS is parked behind gramp's Regal GS, urgh.  

CRex

July 6th, 2012 at 2:47 PM ^

I have a G8 GXP and have nothing but nice things to say about it.  Well until the first snow flake hits the ground.  I switch it over to winter tires and its decent, not great, but decent for a RWD sedan.  Just keep in mind the car you're buying likely has summer or high performance tires on it and you'll need to swap them out come October.  

 

GetSumBlue

July 6th, 2012 at 5:16 PM ^

My GT is like that first love...kinda flakey sometimes, but makes you happy most of the time. You just can't dump her because in the end, you love her. Mine is a US traveler. Lived in Metro Detroit, SoCal and now Houston. Great car though if you can get over the qwerks.

gopoohgo

July 6th, 2012 at 2:02 PM ^

Everyday I'm doctoring.

Friday PM slog.  Awful in that this is only the 2nd day of work for me this week.  4 days in Vieques really decreases your motivation to work.

CRex

July 6th, 2012 at 2:43 PM ^

I called AT&T today about a service outage and found out they're running a year long promotion where you pay 34 dollars for 18 mpbs.  I was paying 43 dollars for 6 mbps.  So I'm happier.  Just be sure to set a reminder on your Google calendar to downgrade your service in another year.  I bet the non promo rate for 18 mbps is unpleasant.  

M-Wolverine

July 6th, 2012 at 2:49 PM ^

If you qualify as a "long term customer" or something, and see if they'll renew it.  I know Comcast bundles you can get money off if you actually take the time to check.

CRex

July 6th, 2012 at 2:58 PM ^

I took all my equipment back to the Comcast station on South Industrial and asked them "Okay, I'm terminating service, what do I owe you?".  

"Well sir we can't tell you here, well send you a bill though if you owe anything." 

I never get a bill.  Six months later I get a message Comcast is sending me to collections because I owe them $0.78.  It seems they don't send a bill for small amounts.  So then after X months I get sent to collections for failure to make payments.  Comcast will never see a dime of my money again. 

LSAClassOf2000

July 6th, 2012 at 3:03 PM ^

I have seriously thought about looking into my alternatives to Comcast in Romulus, but it would have to start with making sure that the franchise deal they had with the city is no longer in place.

Much of my frustration comes from the intermittent interruptions that I get due to outdated equipment which they flatly refuse to update, which they always claim they are updating, although the number of trucks I see in any given year at my node (their stuff is also on our maps, so I know where it is) is precisely one per year, and usually only to hook up the generator when that portion of the circuit goes down. They actually did try to bill me when I asked to have my service drop to the house resagged so I couldn't hang laundry on it, and four years later, I haven't paid because we don't charge for resagging services so I don't expect to be billed for it by anyone. Silly me.