Now I’ve gotten my pictures out to the world at large. It is similar to what the Iranians are having to do since the election. Thanks Pete Hoekstra!

Update: We figured out how to make it work with the help of our DBA and Jonathan Kehayias (see comments). We increased SQL Server’s MEM_TO_LEAVE property, by adjusting the –g command line switch for the service, to 448MB. This increase of the shared memory pool gave SQL Server enough breathing room for its worker threads, and now we are able to return 1536 records in 1 minute 21 seconds, including the Bitmap conversion.

Furthermore, we found a workaround using our reporting engine, which we will implement when we have some breathing room ourselves in our rollout timeline. This will “get it working” for now, which is the requirement handed down from above. Soon though, we will have this working in our application tier, where it belongs.

SQL Server’s CLR abilities are really cool. I have done some benchmarking, performing the same computations in both T-SQL and CLR and I have found CLR to outperform T-SQL by factors of greater than 10 to 1. It’s fantastic for this use.

Unfortunately, it has won a battle against me today. I’ll provide a bit of background first. I am currently working on the Point of Sale component of my company’s pharmacy system, and in particular, I am writing all of the code associated with interacting with the signature pad. I’ve abstracted everything nicely, such that we can support multiple pad’s, and I just have to write a .Net class that implements the ISignaturePad interface.

Obviously, other than the navigational aspects of buttons and listboxes and sale line items being displayed on the pad, capturing signatures themselves is paramount. Because each signature pad can spew out the signature data in a different way, and we want to store the “perfect” vector information, I’ve abstracted the signature data into two classes. The Signature and SignaturePoint classes’ definitions look like this:

    [Serializable]
    public partial class Signature
    {
        public virtual SignaturePoint[] Points { get; protected set; }
        public virtual SignaturePoint TopLeft { get; set; }
        public virtual SignaturePoint BottomRight { get; set; }
        public int Width
        {
            get
            {
                return BottomRight.X - TopLeft.X;
            }
        }
        public int Height
        {
            get
            {
                return BottomRight.Y - TopLeft.Y;
            }
        }
        public int XDpi { get; set; }
        public int YDpi { get; set; }

        private Signature()
        {
        }

        public static Signature CreateFromTT8500String(string signaturePoints)
        {
            var sig = new Signature();
            sig.Points = sig.CreateFromTT8500PointsData(signaturePoints);
            return sig;
        }

        public virtual byte[] Serialize()
        {
            using (var ms = new MemoryStream())
            {
                var bf = new BinaryFormatter();
                bf.Serialize(ms, this);
                return ms.ToArray();
            }
        }

        public static Signature Deserialize(byte[] serializedSignatureBytes)
        {
            using (var ms = new MemoryStream(serializedSignatureBytes))
            {
                var bf = new BinaryFormatter();
                return (Signature)bf.Deserialize(ms);
            }
        }

        protected virtual SignaturePoint[] CreateFromTT8500PointsData(string signaturePoints)
        {
            List list = new List();

            // Do a lot of work here to change the strange format that we get
            // as a string into bytes and transform them into an array of my custom class

            return list.ToArray();
        }

        protected void CropPoints(List list)
        {
            foreach (var point in list)
            {
                point.X -= TopLeft.X;
                point.Y -= TopLeft.Y;
            }

            BottomRight.X -= TopLeft.X;
            BottomRight.Y -= TopLeft.Y;
            TopLeft.X = 0;
            TopLeft.Y = 0;
        }
    }

    [Serializable]
    public class SignaturePoint
    {
        public int X { get; set; }
        public int Y { get; set; }
        public bool PenUp { get; set; }

        public SignaturePoint()
        {
        }

        public SignaturePoint(int x, int y)
            : this(x, y, false)
        {
        }

        public SignaturePoint(int x, int y, bool penUp)
            : this()
        {
            X = x;
            Y = y;
            PenUp = penUp;
        }

        public Point ToPoint()
        {
            return new Point(X, Y);
        }

        public override string ToString()
        {
            return ToPoint().ToString();
        }
    }

As you might have noticed, Signature is marked as Serializable, and that’s exactly what we’re doing to store the “perfect” information in the database. We call the Serialize() method on my Signature class, and store the resulting byte array in the database as VARBINARY(MAX). It works fine when we pull that back with ADO.NET and re-hydrate a Signature object with my static Deserialize() method.

To actually draw a signature on a picture box on a Windows form for example, we call my ToBitmap() method, that is in another file (partial class), and it generates a bitmap of the requested width, height, and pen width, suitable for display on a receipt, screen, report, etc.

However, as a limitation of our ridiculous reporting engine (and we are currently trying to work around it’s oddities), for an upcoming beta, we are trying to get SQL server to create the bitmaps for passing back up to our reporting engine. Yes, I do know that is application tier logic and shouldn’t be performed at the database level. We are still trying to work around it using custom controls with the reporting engine.

So, I create a SQL CLR scalar function in my Signature class (SqlBytes CreateBitmap(SqlBytes serializedSignatureBytes, SqlInt32 width, SqlInt32 height)), moved Signature and SignaturePoint to a CompanyName.SignaturePad.Common assembly, added a reference to System.Drawing. I added the assembly to SQL Serverand fought it a bit (setting TRUSTWORTHY to ON for the database). I had to manually add System.Drawing as well, because the version on my computer didn’t match exactly on the server, yet another pain and indication I shouldn’t be doing this. And another indication was SQL server warning me that System.Drawing hadn’t been tested and that the universe will indeed explode if they change something in it. I accept the risks, at the moment.

Everything worked great… for 3 signatures. As soon as the 4th signature is added, I get this:

Msg 6532, Level 16, State 49, Line 1
.NET Framework execution was aborted by escalation policy because of out of memory.
System.Threading.ThreadAbortException: Thread was being aborted.
System.Threading.ThreadAbortException:
   at System.Drawing.Graphics.CheckErrorStatus(Int32 status)
   at System.Drawing.Graphics.DrawImage(Image image, Int32 x, Int32 y, Int32 width, Int32 height)
   at CompanyName.SignaturePad.Common.Signature.ToBitmap(Int32 width, Int32 height, Int32 penWidth, Color foregroundColor, Color backgroundColor)
   at CompanyName.SignaturePad.Common.Signature.ToBitmap(Int32 width, Int32 height)
   at CompanyName.SignaturePad.Common.Signature.CreateBitmap(SqlBytes serializedSignatureBytes, SqlInt32 width, SqlInt32 height)

Looking at that code, I’m doing everything that I know to do. I’m making sure to Dispose() all Bitmaps, Graphics, Streams, etc. I even tried explicitly setting this to null. SQL Server just runs out of memory after about 3 signatures. I’m not sure if this is a side effect of its execution plan (perhaps forking to multiple workers?).

So… now I’m stuck, and I’m not really sure what to do, until we get a workaround in the reporting engine, which someone else is currently working on. I’ll update this post if we get a working solution.

Chris Leon and I go often for ICEE time, and at different times of the work day, but we’ve always run into this, and we came up with The Law of Circle K Registers:

1. Let n = number of Circle K employees on the clock
2. Let r = number of Circle K registers open
3. n >= 2r + 1

It’s really annoying, and I wish there was a Valero near my work.

The email had no details in it whatsoever, and the FAQ said (emphasis mine):

[The technique] will identify which customer accounts are using the greatest amounts of bandwidth and their Internet traffic will be temporarily managed until the period of congestion passes.

The "managed" bit scared me a little bit. Saying you’re going to "manage" me for downloading too much sounds a bit like you’re going to send a hit man to my house to take me out. I decided to dig further and noticed they had a link to documents the filed with the FCC at the top right of the Comcast network management page. I had to read through 20 pages of boring crap, which is probably actually necessary to explain simple concepts to the FCC, in order to figure out exactly what this technique employs as its counter-congestion tactics.

I plan to explain, in simple terms, how the new management technique works. Please ask any questions in the comments section.

The important thing to realize about the new technique versus the old technique is that the new technique is protocol agnostic, meaning it doesn’t discriminate against certain kinds of traffic versus other types. For example, it doesn’t prioritize web surfing or VoIP calling above using BitTorrent to download the latest blockbuster movie *cough* Linux distribution release.

Users hated Comcast for the previous incarnation of their network management, and the FCC forced them to stop it and come up with another protocol agnostic scheme. What they ended up with, is in my opinion, a fair process that doesn’t penalize anyone unless the network is in serious danger of being degraded, and even then, doesn’t actually do anything until it actually is degraded. I am, in a word, satisfied.

All information and pictures that follow are from Comcast’s document and are probably copyrighted by Comcast, even though they were submitted to the FCC. I have a reasonable basis to believe I can reproduce this information for informative purposes.

First, you must understand how your home cable connection reaches the Internet. Your home coax (screw on cable that connects to your modem) connects to an optical node in your neighborhood area, which then connects to a CMTS (Cable Modem Termination System) at the headend (local office), which then connects to a series of routers and finally to Comcast’s Internet backbone connections.

Each of the CMTS boxes have a number of ports on them, with separate ports for downstream (stuff you download) and upstream (stuff you upload back to the Internet). Comcast says that there are about 275 cable modems, on average, sharing a downstream port, and about 100 sharing an upstream port. Your cable modem has what is called a "bootfile" which is assigned by the DOCSIS protocol on startup. The bootfile contains a lot of information about your cable service, perhaps most importly, how fast you can download/upload.

The traffic management occurs based on activity at the CMTS ports and is actually applied with a combination of flags set on your cable modem and those flags being processed on Comcast’s routers.

The process is really quite simple. Here’s how it works:

1. Each port (keeping in mind it is either upload or download) is monitored independently.
2. Each cable modem has a flag for its current state
   1. PBE – Priority Best Effort. The default state.
   2. BE – Best Effort. A lower priority state. PBE traffic is prioritized below BE.
3. If a port reaches "Near Congestion State", which means that it has average over a certain threshold of utilization over a 15 minute period, network management will commence.
   1. Downstream threshold: 80% utilization
   2. Upstream threshold: 70% utilization
4. The network searches for users on that CMTS port that are in an "Extended High Consumption State", which means they have averaged over a certain threshold of utilization over a 15 minute period.
   1. The user’s modem is set to BE.
   2. Downstream and upstream threshold: 70% utilization
5. The network keeps the user in "Extended High Consumption State" until the user’s average utilization has dropped below the threshold for 15 minutes
   1. User’s modem is set back to PBE.
   2. Downstream and upstream threshold: 50% utilization
6. When in the BE state, all PBE traffic will be processed by the Comcast Internet routers before the BE traffic, regardless of the type of traffic, however the likelihood of it reaching a congested status is very low, and even in that case, the probability of dropped traffic is even lower.

This means, while doing my large USENET downloads, if the network is in danger of being congested, I’ll likely be set to BE. However, Comcast has been using several trial markets with this new technique, and they have this to say:

For example, in Colorado Springs, CO, the largest test market, on any given day in August 2008, an average of 22 users out of 6,016 total subscribers in the trial had their traffic priority status changed to BE at some point during the day.

…

NetForecast, Inc. explored the potential risk of a worst-case scenario for users whose traffic is in a BE state:  the possibility of “bandwidth starvation” in the theoretical case where 100 percent of the CMTS bandwidth is taken up by PBE traffic for an extended period of time.  In theory, such a condition could mean that a given user whose traffic is designated BE would be unable to effectuate an upload or download (as noted above, both are managed separately) for some period of time.  However, when these management techniques were tested, first in company testbeds and then in our real-world trials conducted in the five markets, such a theoretical condition did not occur.

I think it’s a very sane system, and I hope they continue to add bandwidth so that the network doesn’t get congested in the first place. However, I think this system is very fair, and a lot better than the previous one.

Below, I reproduce the original email they sent me:

Dear Comcast High-Speed Internet Customer:

Comcast is committed to providing you with the best online experience possible.
One of the ways we do that is by managing the leading fiber optic network in the nation to ensure it is fast, safe and reliable. As part of our ongoing efforts to continuously improve the quality of our service, we are switching to a new network congestion management technique by the end of the year. It is focused on managing network congestion only when and where it may occur. It will also replace the current technique and will help ensure that all of our customers receive their fair share of network resources.

What does this mean for you? Probably nothing. We ran five market trials of this technique over the summer and found that less than one percent of customers were affected. So, the vast majority of customers will not notice any change to their Internet experience as a result of this new technique. During the times of busiest network use (which could occur at any hour, depending on your neighborhood), those very few extraordinarily heavy users – who are doing things like conducting multiple and continuous large file transfers – may experience slightly longer response times for some online activities until the period of network congestion ends.

As we transition to this new technique, we have amended our Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP") and posted it on the Comcast.net Web site. For links to the amended AUP, as well as answers to Frequently Asked Questions and more information about this new technique or our network management efforts in general, please visit our Network Management Policy page at: www.comcast.net/networkmanagement.

Thank you again for choosing Comcast as your high-speed Internet provider.

All I wanted to do was get the hours of the local office, but you can’t get that on their web site, because they have no "Store Locator" type function that every other business has. I thought I’d do the live chat option to find the information, but knowing the problems that my coworker Dave Anderson had trying to get the phone number for the local office before, I was very specific.

I ended up spending 32 minutes, more than half and hour, and ended up with nothing to show for it. They first gave me the address of a grocery store that hasn’t dealt with Comcast in over 5 years and then gave me the address of a shopping center in Shreve City that has no Comcast there. I’m not sure what business they intended me to contact.

Then, amazingly, they gave me the same information for Thrifty Liquor that they gave Dave before, except this time, I noticed they’re not giving the name of the business where they’re referring you anymore. Way to go on the changes Frank!

She then tried to get me to leave the chat by telling me to call the "local" number because she’s in Canada. She gave me the wrong number to the local office, giving me an "out of service" message! Ridiculous! I knew far more about the cable locations and numbers than she did, which isn’t saying much.

The reason I’m returning 3 cable boxes in the first place and canceling all of the digital cable is because of the absolutely horrible "SARA" software they put on the Comcast DVRs. The old "Passport" software wasn’t exactly TiVo, but it was completely usable, and actually intuitive. The new software "looks like an old Nintendo game" (actual quote), according to my girlfriend, and I completely agree.

My father hates SARA. My mother hates SARA. All of my coworkers hate SARA. Two of my coworkers are canceling cable for their household because of SARA. Everyone I know hates SARA, but according to Comcast Frank, it’s here to stay, because of some contractual agreement with TV Guide.

If you’d like to read the absolutely excruciating transcript with their support agent that took me over 32 minutes to make it through, please read on. She did end it with an amusing mistake: "I do apologize for the Chris."

Online Comcast Chat Transcript:

user Chris_ has entered room

Chris(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:05:13 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

number and hours of local office

analyst Kathleen.29516 has entered room

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:05:25 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Hello Chris_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Kathleen.29516. Please give me one moment to review your information.

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:05:31 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Hi Chris! 

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:05:32 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

I am happy to assist you with your concern today. How are you doing?

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:02:05 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

fine

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:05:49 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

It is very nice to know that you are doing great!

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:06:06 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

I gather that you want to know the telephone number and time of the local office. Is this correct?

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:02:39 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

yes

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:02:45 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

and the address

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:06:29 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Okay.

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:06:32 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

One moment, please.

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:07:31 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Thank you very much!

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:07:35 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Here are the details: 105 Southfield Road
Shreveport , LA 71105
Phone: 318-869-1646
Hours: 

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:07:36 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Is there anything else that I can help you with?

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:04:12 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

that's not the right address

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:04:26 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

that's why i asked you for the address because i know you guys like to give payment centers rather than the real office

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:04:34 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

please try again. also notice, you didn't paste me any hours

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:08:28 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Okay.

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:08:31 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

One moment, please.

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:06:46 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

that address you gave me is a grocery store, Albertson's, by the way

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:06:48 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

i just looked it up

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:10:46 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Yes, Chris. That is the local office near your area.

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:07:29 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

that's not an office. that's a grocery store.

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:07:34 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

you can buy food there, not return your cable box

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:11:14 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

This is open 8AM-6PM.

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:11:34 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

No Chris. Based on our system that is the local office.

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:08:14 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

kathleen, that is a grocery store. albertson's

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:08:18 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

i know exactly where that is

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:08:32 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

that's NOT the cable office. i've been to the cable office.

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:13:09 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

You may want to go here: 7545 Shreveport Barksdale Hwy
Shreveport, LA 71105
Phone: 318-861-3181

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:11:06 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

that's a shopping center that has no comcast anywhere near it

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:11:15 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

i just looked it up too, and i know where that is

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:11:22 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

i do NOT want a payment center!

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:11:26 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

i want the comcast office!

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:15:49 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Chris, you may want to call the national callcenter that can give you the address of the local office that you are looking for. 

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:15:53 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Here is the number: 1-800-266-2278

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:12:35 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

why would they be able to give me a number you cannot? i think you just want to get rid of me

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:16:27 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

No, Chris.

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:16:41 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

It is my pleasure to help you in any way I can.

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:13:12 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

do you have a location listed for quillen road?

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:13:16 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

that is the road where the office is

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:13:19 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

i shouldn't have to tell YOU that

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:17:57 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

I already gave you the address and phone number that was indicated on our system.

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:14:38 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

please escalate me to your supervisor

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:14:52 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

you gave me two addresses

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:14:55 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

so clearly, you have at least 2

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:15:12 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

do you have 3? please continue to look until you find the one on "quillen road" and give me their hours

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:19:36 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Okay.

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:19:54 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Chris, this is the 3rd address that is listed on our system: 3434 Youree Drive
Shreveport, LA 71105
Phone: 318-865-8408

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:16:57 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

that's a liquor store

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:17:02 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

let's go for #4

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:20:59 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Chris, I do apologize but we only have 3 local office listed that is near to your area.

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:17:49 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

you said you had 1, but now i have you up to 3

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:21:33 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

What I can suggest you is to call the number from the first address that I gave you and ask them if they are accepting returned boxes. 

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:21:47 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

The first address that I gave you is the one near your area.

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:18:15 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

it's a grocery store. i want to take my cable box back, not make a payment.

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:22:51 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Yes, I understand Chris. 

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:19:27 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

i just called

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:23:08 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Let me double check if there is more local office that is closest to you.

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:19:33 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

they said they haven't dealt with you guys in over 5 years

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:19:42 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

and they confirmed that you guys are absolutely ridiculous

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:19:50 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

and that they keep calling trying to get you guys to stop sending people to them

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:20:08 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

i'm going to be discussing this with corporate customer relations

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:20:15 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

is 29516 your employee id or something?

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:20:21 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

how can you be uniquely identified?

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:25:45 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Chris, can you please try to call this number: Shreveport: 318-321-4100, please? 

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:22:19 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

that sends me into the national 800 number system

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:22:23 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

not the local office

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:22:34 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

that USED to be the local office's phone number when time warner owned it

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:22:39 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

but now it sends me to the national system

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:23:09 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

and you even got THAT wrong

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:23:16 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

it's 213-4100, not 321-4100

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:23:26 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

if you call the number you just gave me, you get an "out of service" message

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:23:42 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

why do i know more about comcast phone numbers and locations than you, an employee

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:23:52 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

you didn't answer my question about your employee id/unique identifying number

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:29:32 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Chris, I do apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused you.

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:29:42 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

I have given all the addresses that is on our system

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:30:59 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Where you able to receive my last message?

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:27:30 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

will you please answer my question about how you can be identified?

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:27:37 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

yes i received it

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:32:32 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Chris, please tell the local office that we are from Comcast Canada base.

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:29:21 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

the people on the phone are also from canada. I can't call the local office!

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:29:29 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

it just redirects into the national system which is answered by canadians

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:29:45 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

why won't you tell me your employee id?

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:33:47 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Okay.

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:33:54 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

My employee number is 29516.

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:31:16 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

thank you. i apologize if using your inadequate computer system is as frustrating for you as it is for me to receive no usable information from you

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:35:25 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

I do apologize for the Chris.

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:35:34 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

I mean for that.

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:35:51 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

I have used all my resources to provide the addresses and phone number of the local office.

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:35:52 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Is there anything else that I can help you with?

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:32:28 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

you didn't help me with that

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:32:37 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

but no, i suppose there is nothing with which you can help me

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:36:41 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Okay.

Chris_(Wed Oct 08 2008 10:33:37 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Bye

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:37:18 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Thank you very much!

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:37:20 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

After this chat, please feel free to answer a Customer Satisfaction Survey. I will really appreciate your feedback. 

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:37:22 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

I will appreciate your feedback about the service you experienced with me today. It is our priority to provide you the best customer service. Kindly answer the survey at the end of this chat so we will know how we can improve our service.

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:37:23 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

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Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:37:23 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

For further assistance please contact our Live Assist Chat or send an e-mail. We are open 24 hours, 7 days a week.

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:37:24 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Have a nice day.

Kathleen.29516(Wed Oct 08 2008 11:37:28 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>

Analyst has closed chat and left the room

I use Wesla Federal Credit Union as my credit union. I don’t actually use it as my primary checking anymore, although I used to. Today when I tried to login, I was greeted with what you see on the right:

"Could not retrieve your information… Please try again later."

All I wanted to do was check to see if they had applied my auto loan payment I mailed Saturday. Well, I thought perhaps their online system was down or having trouble connecting to their database, and I couldn’t remember my "Touch Tone Teller" PIN to check via phone, so I called and pressed the option to speak with a loan officer.

The conversation went something quite similar to this:

Me: Are you having an issue with your online banking? When I log in it says "Could not retrieve your information… Please try again later."

Lady: Yes, our network is down right now.

Me: Oh, ok. I just wanted to see if my auto loan payment that I mailed Saturday has been applied. Can you check for me?

Lady: I can’t check that. Our entire network is down so I can’t access anything on the computer.

Me: …

Me: …

Me: So if I wanted to come take my money out of the bank right now, could I?

Lady: You can withdraw $200. That’s the limit.

Me: Um, ok. Thanks. *click*

That doesn’t make me too confident in their ability to do business, but I just use them for a low interest auto loan right now, on which I’m making very successful, long strides in paying off early.

In other news, my boss is taking Chris Leon and me to lunch tomorrow at Red Lobster! Yay! I love their cheese biscuits!

Update 2: The local news covered it.  More gross!

Update: Kevin Messenger, my coworker, commented and said that they are Mayflies!  Gross!

What are all these ugly bugs in Shreveport? They were all over our stairs this morning, completely covering them at work.  Jenny’s girlfriend said that when she was crossing the bridge into Bossier City, the bridge was covered with them.

What are they? They’re ugly and they were acting like they were dying on the stairs, flapping their little wings.  I’m creeped out by them.  What is this fuzzy bug?  Everybody knows birds can’t talk.

Do you have a job??? Do you have $149??? Then you could be approved for a brand new Kia from Elkins Kia!

What occurred to me the other day was that a person that doesn’t have one or both of those might get upset at having the radio rub it in their face.  That cracked me up in the car on the way home, and I thought I’d share it here.  Imagine the following:

Radio: Do you have a job???
Person: No…
Radio: Do you have $149???
Person: No… I just said I don’t even have a job.
Radio: Then you could be approved!…
Person: Sigh.

I know that blog post was of little substance, but it still amused me, and as Chris and I always say, something is always better than nothing.

All of these things were bloggable events, and perhaps I will blog about them in the future.  I plan to write a few blog posts, at least, about some Web 2.0 services that I’ve been using.  I needed this post to at least break the ice for myself to be able to start blogging again.  161 days is a scary amount of time to go without writing anything.

Twitter has been stealing a lot of my writing outlet mindshare.  I blame it, even though I just recently started using it.  It’s just too damn easy to blurt out a quick thought on Twitter than it is to make a well reasoned post here.  I hope to be better, at least in the near future.