Showing posts with label OBX. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OBX. Show all posts
Boats Docked In A Nearby Canal
This morning I went for my usual walk. It was an overcast day so there not bright sunlight out. My walk usually takes me by a canal that runs adjacent to our neighborhood. Most times the crab fisherman have their boats docked in this canal and they have their crab pots piled high awaiting to be placed on the boats before heading out to set them. This canal leads to the Sound and open water, which is where the crab fishermen usually set their pots. On my walk today I noticed a larger boat docked with the smaller crab boats. This boat appeared to be some type of commercial fishing boat. I decided to make use of the diffused lighting out because of the overcast skies and the additional fishing boat docked in the canal to take some photographs. I took some black and white photos along with my usual color photos. Here are some of each:
Tonight's Sunset Photos
Tonight's sunset started off fairly usual until a kayaker showed up and then things just kind of fell into place:
Another Beautiful OBX Sunset
The day before yesterday we had one of the best, most vibrant sunsets that I have seen in a long time. Here is the one photo of that sunset:
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The Calm After The Storm
Veronica and I made it back home safe and sound.
Upon arriving on the Outer Banks, we really did not see much on the main drag that would indicate a hurricane came through.
Sure there was some pools of rain water here and there, a couple of branches down but nothing that really stood out and said "Earl Was Here".
Most businesses were still closed except for maybe some gas stations.
As soon as we arrived home, Veronica had to jump in her vehicle and go to the store so that she could get it ready for business.
I emptied the car and put everything away at home.
I also had to clean up some water that had made its way into our bedroom, through the sliding glass doors.
I ended up getting around a gallon of water up. The carpets is still pretty damp but I have a fan blowing on it so that it will dry out.
The only other damage was some rain getting into our storage shed, that is attached to the backside of our garage.
It got a few boxes wet but nothing major.
All in all, we fared pretty well.
No flooding, no broken windows and best of all....the electricity stayed on so we don't have to replace all of our refrigerated and frozen food items.
Now maybe we can start focusing on more pleasant things, like our upcoming vacation.
We leave her in a little over 3 days....finally!
Upon arriving on the Outer Banks, we really did not see much on the main drag that would indicate a hurricane came through.
Sure there was some pools of rain water here and there, a couple of branches down but nothing that really stood out and said "Earl Was Here".
Most businesses were still closed except for maybe some gas stations.
As soon as we arrived home, Veronica had to jump in her vehicle and go to the store so that she could get it ready for business.
I emptied the car and put everything away at home.
I also had to clean up some water that had made its way into our bedroom, through the sliding glass doors.
I ended up getting around a gallon of water up. The carpets is still pretty damp but I have a fan blowing on it so that it will dry out.
The only other damage was some rain getting into our storage shed, that is attached to the backside of our garage.
It got a few boxes wet but nothing major.
All in all, we fared pretty well.
No flooding, no broken windows and best of all....the electricity stayed on so we don't have to replace all of our refrigerated and frozen food items.
Now maybe we can start focusing on more pleasant things, like our upcoming vacation.
We leave her in a little over 3 days....finally!
Another Update
All hurricane watches for the OBX and North Carolina coastal borders have now been changed over to hurricane warnings.
Veronica just called me from her work and told me that all of the local emergency vehicles are now hitting the gas stations and getting filled up.
It appears that some of the local gas stations have already started to raise their prices higher than what they were set at this morning, when I took Veronica to work.
I find that behavior to be totally outrageous...they should be flogged in the public square.
Veronica just called me from her work and told me that all of the local emergency vehicles are now hitting the gas stations and getting filled up.
It appears that some of the local gas stations have already started to raise their prices higher than what they were set at this morning, when I took Veronica to work.
I find that behavior to be totally outrageous...they should be flogged in the public square.
Update And A Few Changes
Unfortunately Veronica and I received information that was not the most accurate.
There is not a mandatory evacuation for our immediate area yet.
What they seem to be doing is a systematic evacuation.
Residence of Ocracoke Island were told to evacuate earlier. You can only get on and off the island by ferry.
Just heard that visitors on Hatteras must evacuate.
They are still waiting to see how this hurricane will track.
Eventually they will probably have all visitors leave the area and sometime after that, locals will be told to leave.
Of course if you want to leave earlier you can.
I called the Hampton Inn, in Williamston, NC and cancelled our room for tonight only. We will probably stay here for tonight and then go elsewhere tomorrow.
Depends on the evacuation process and the storms progress and track.
Veronica is at work.
They are supposed to be boarding up the stores windows this afternoon.
I spent the morning so far dragging down bags and items to go in the car with us, should we be told to evacuate.
I also put shipping tape on the windows.
I mainly taped up the big sliding glass door set that we have on both the 2nd and 3rd floor.
I also taped up the ground floor windows.
You would never know that a storm is coming. The sun is shining and there are no clouds in the sky. Just a clear nice day here on the Outer Banks.
Give it 24-36 hours and we will see what it looks like at that time.
So now it is time to just sit around and wait.
Update to my update.
Just saw the Mayor of Kill Devil Hills on the Weather Channel being interviewed.
He just announced that there is now a mandatory evacuation of all tourist in the immediate area.
The Emergency Management people will be monitoring the hurricane system and make determinations of any further evacuations as time goes by.
There is not a mandatory evacuation for our immediate area yet.
What they seem to be doing is a systematic evacuation.
Residence of Ocracoke Island were told to evacuate earlier. You can only get on and off the island by ferry.
Just heard that visitors on Hatteras must evacuate.
They are still waiting to see how this hurricane will track.
Eventually they will probably have all visitors leave the area and sometime after that, locals will be told to leave.
Of course if you want to leave earlier you can.
I called the Hampton Inn, in Williamston, NC and cancelled our room for tonight only. We will probably stay here for tonight and then go elsewhere tomorrow.
Depends on the evacuation process and the storms progress and track.
Veronica is at work.
They are supposed to be boarding up the stores windows this afternoon.
I spent the morning so far dragging down bags and items to go in the car with us, should we be told to evacuate.
I also put shipping tape on the windows.
I mainly taped up the big sliding glass door set that we have on both the 2nd and 3rd floor.
I also taped up the ground floor windows.
You would never know that a storm is coming. The sun is shining and there are no clouds in the sky. Just a clear nice day here on the Outer Banks.
Give it 24-36 hours and we will see what it looks like at that time.
So now it is time to just sit around and wait.
Update to my update.
Just saw the Mayor of Kill Devil Hills on the Weather Channel being interviewed.
He just announced that there is now a mandatory evacuation of all tourist in the immediate area.
The Emergency Management people will be monitoring the hurricane system and make determinations of any further evacuations as time goes by.
Hurricane Earl Update- I Must Have A BullsEye Painted On My Back
Veronica and I spent a majority of the afternoon packing some essentials up and putting them in our car.
File boxes, emergency stash of clothes, soda pop, water, toilet paper, towels, soap, flashlights, non perishable food, medications etc.
All of these items are now in our very recently gassed up car.
Based on the most recent weather channel reports, Hurricane Earl, a strong category 4 hurricane is heading in our direction.
Based on what I am hearing now, the Outer Banks could get hit hard.
Once again it all depends on how far West it moves. The further West, the worse it will be for us.
It is kind of strange seeing a Weather Channel reporter making his live report from Kill Devil Hills, right up the road from where we live. What is even stranger is the fact that the sun is shining and the ocean is fairly calm with minimal waves in the background while this reported was making his live report.
And to think that all of that nastiness is just around the corner.
We are preparing for a very possible mandatory evacuation.
We even booked a hotel room in a town called Williamston, NC.
We got a room at a Hampton Inn. We had tried to get a room at a Comfort Inn through a web site called hotels.com.
Once the guy on the phone found out that we were in the path of a hurricane, he told Veronica that she would have to pre-pay for the room, which we wanted to book for 3 nights...just in case we can't get back because of the storms aftermath.
Veronica questioned this guy because she has never had to pre-pay for a room. This guy tried to use scare tactics on her as far as the hurricane was concerned.
Veronica did not go for it and she ended hanging up on the chump.
I really hate it when people try to take advantage of others when there disasters or major events lurking. Anything to make the almighty buck.
She ended getting us a room at Hampton Inn, in the same town, for a reasonable price and we did not have to pre-pay either.
Williamston is East of us....about 100 miles...almost a 2 hour drive.
That should take us far enough away that we will be safe and sound.
Just to be on the safe side, we will also be packing the car up with all of our luggage for our upcoming cruise.
We don't head to Norfolk until Monday afternoon but with a hurricane, you just never can tell what can happen or how much damage there could be around here. Once we have to evacuate, it might be a while until we can return. There is just no telling so we figured that we would error on the side of caution.
Well that is about the latest information that we have.
I am sure there will be more info to follow.
Needless to say, the last 2 days have been doozies!!!
File boxes, emergency stash of clothes, soda pop, water, toilet paper, towels, soap, flashlights, non perishable food, medications etc.
All of these items are now in our very recently gassed up car.
Based on the most recent weather channel reports, Hurricane Earl, a strong category 4 hurricane is heading in our direction.
Based on what I am hearing now, the Outer Banks could get hit hard.
Once again it all depends on how far West it moves. The further West, the worse it will be for us.
It is kind of strange seeing a Weather Channel reporter making his live report from Kill Devil Hills, right up the road from where we live. What is even stranger is the fact that the sun is shining and the ocean is fairly calm with minimal waves in the background while this reported was making his live report.
And to think that all of that nastiness is just around the corner.
We are preparing for a very possible mandatory evacuation.
We even booked a hotel room in a town called Williamston, NC.
We got a room at a Hampton Inn. We had tried to get a room at a Comfort Inn through a web site called hotels.com.
Once the guy on the phone found out that we were in the path of a hurricane, he told Veronica that she would have to pre-pay for the room, which we wanted to book for 3 nights...just in case we can't get back because of the storms aftermath.
Veronica questioned this guy because she has never had to pre-pay for a room. This guy tried to use scare tactics on her as far as the hurricane was concerned.
Veronica did not go for it and she ended hanging up on the chump.
I really hate it when people try to take advantage of others when there disasters or major events lurking. Anything to make the almighty buck.
She ended getting us a room at Hampton Inn, in the same town, for a reasonable price and we did not have to pre-pay either.
Williamston is East of us....about 100 miles...almost a 2 hour drive.
That should take us far enough away that we will be safe and sound.
Just to be on the safe side, we will also be packing the car up with all of our luggage for our upcoming cruise.
We don't head to Norfolk until Monday afternoon but with a hurricane, you just never can tell what can happen or how much damage there could be around here. Once we have to evacuate, it might be a while until we can return. There is just no telling so we figured that we would error on the side of caution.
Well that is about the latest information that we have.
I am sure there will be more info to follow.
Needless to say, the last 2 days have been doozies!!!
Lots Of Sticks In The Fire
Today we have been super busy.
I had a doctors appointment first this morning. It was official weigh in day.
The magic number for today's weigh in is....wait for it.............175 pounds.
This is the lowest I have been for at least 12 years, probably more. I would like to drop 3 more pounds but not sure if it will happen.
Hurricane Earl is still approaching and it is still too early to know if it will fully hit us, give us a glancing blow or mainly stay off the coast.
No matter what it does, I am sure we will feel some of its fury since it is not a category 4 hurricane.
Veronica and I had to pack up some items in case of a mandatory evacuation. If we have an evacuation, it will be a grab and go situation so we wanted to have some stuff prepared.
We will have both cars fully gassed up too.
This storm has been the talk of the town around here.
We should have a better idea on what to expect within the next 24 hours. We might not truly know until the last minute.
Veronica and I also had to repack our suitcases and whittle down a few things. We originally had 4 suitcases but they want an arm and leg for baggage fees nowadays.
So what we decided to do was to get everything into 3 suitcases.
In one of the suitcases we put a smaller suitcase and packed stuff it that one and around it.
That will save us some money on the fees at least on the 2 flights heading to London.
On the return trip, we will have 4 suitcases, using the one that was packed in the other.
We can use that suitcase for souvenirs and whatever else we decide to purchase.
I set up a couple of additional doctors appointments for after we return home. The big one will be on 9/30 with my Oncologist.
I had a great Oncologist when we lived in Virginia Beach but because the drive to see him would be problematic, I changed to one that is close by us here on the Outer Banks.
This Oncologist is part of the same Oncology group as my other one.
The only bad thing about him is that he is only in his Kitty Hawk office on Thursdays.
He will be my main man to guide me through whatever journey that might lay in front of me.
I am sure that with the upcoming storm, I will have some exciting things to write about but if for some reason you don't read any new entries in the next couple of days, it will be because we either lost electricity or internet access or both.
I had a doctors appointment first this morning. It was official weigh in day.
The magic number for today's weigh in is....wait for it.............175 pounds.
This is the lowest I have been for at least 12 years, probably more. I would like to drop 3 more pounds but not sure if it will happen.
Hurricane Earl is still approaching and it is still too early to know if it will fully hit us, give us a glancing blow or mainly stay off the coast.
No matter what it does, I am sure we will feel some of its fury since it is not a category 4 hurricane.
Veronica and I had to pack up some items in case of a mandatory evacuation. If we have an evacuation, it will be a grab and go situation so we wanted to have some stuff prepared.
We will have both cars fully gassed up too.
This storm has been the talk of the town around here.
We should have a better idea on what to expect within the next 24 hours. We might not truly know until the last minute.
Veronica and I also had to repack our suitcases and whittle down a few things. We originally had 4 suitcases but they want an arm and leg for baggage fees nowadays.
So what we decided to do was to get everything into 3 suitcases.
In one of the suitcases we put a smaller suitcase and packed stuff it that one and around it.
That will save us some money on the fees at least on the 2 flights heading to London.
On the return trip, we will have 4 suitcases, using the one that was packed in the other.
We can use that suitcase for souvenirs and whatever else we decide to purchase.
I set up a couple of additional doctors appointments for after we return home. The big one will be on 9/30 with my Oncologist.
I had a great Oncologist when we lived in Virginia Beach but because the drive to see him would be problematic, I changed to one that is close by us here on the Outer Banks.
This Oncologist is part of the same Oncology group as my other one.
The only bad thing about him is that he is only in his Kitty Hawk office on Thursdays.
He will be my main man to guide me through whatever journey that might lay in front of me.
I am sure that with the upcoming storm, I will have some exciting things to write about but if for some reason you don't read any new entries in the next couple of days, it will be because we either lost electricity or internet access or both.
Hoping To Dodge A Bullet Or Should I Say A Hurricane
Veronica and I leave home on Monday afternoon, at which time we will head into Norfolk, VA and stay at a hotel.
We fly out of Norfolk early on Tuesday morning heading to Newark, NJ.
We will hang around at the airport in Newark until about 9PM Tuesday night. We will be boarding our Virgin Atlantic jet for our over night flight to London England.
Now this is how everything was and currently is planned out to occur.
There might be a slight problem with these plans.
It seems that mother nature might have some plans of her own.
It appears that what once was tropical storm Earl, is now Hurricane Earl...a category 1 hurricane.
Based on early projections, Earl should be in our general area around Thursday or Friday of this upcoming week.
The best case scenario is that this hurricane veers North and then Northeast thus taking it away from the Eastern coast.
No matter where it lands, hopefully it will be a minimal hurricane and that it will be a fast moving storm.
That way we can keep our plans intact. We should have a better idea about what is going to happen with this hurricane over the next couple of days.
Veronica and I will be keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that our vacation goes as planned.
We fly out of Norfolk early on Tuesday morning heading to Newark, NJ.
We will hang around at the airport in Newark until about 9PM Tuesday night. We will be boarding our Virgin Atlantic jet for our over night flight to London England.
Now this is how everything was and currently is planned out to occur.
There might be a slight problem with these plans.
It seems that mother nature might have some plans of her own.
It appears that what once was tropical storm Earl, is now Hurricane Earl...a category 1 hurricane.
Based on early projections, Earl should be in our general area around Thursday or Friday of this upcoming week.
The best case scenario is that this hurricane veers North and then Northeast thus taking it away from the Eastern coast.
No matter where it lands, hopefully it will be a minimal hurricane and that it will be a fast moving storm.
That way we can keep our plans intact. We should have a better idea about what is going to happen with this hurricane over the next couple of days.
Veronica and I will be keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that our vacation goes as planned.
A Little Of This And A Little Of That
With the Memorial Day weekend upon us, we are officially in the tourist season here on the OBX.
People and vehicles everywhere. I am sticking close to home for a couple of days until things settle down a bit.
I noticed that the price of gas was around the 2.65 mark a couple of days ago. Veronica told me that it was up to $3.05 as of last night. I really dislike it when people take advantage of others just to make a profit.
Jacking up the cost of gas just because the tourists are in town really rubs me the wrong way.
Speaking of gas...I am on strike against BP due to their oil rig disaster. Shame on you BP. You will never see another cent of mine!!!
On a happier note....been spending some time doing research on our upcoming Baltic Capitals cruise that is in September.
Ordered some Euros through Bank Of America. We got them at a great time. The Euro is at the lowest point than it has been for at least 16 months.
We stocked up on Euros. We figure that what we don't use, we can hang onto for a visit to Paris sometime in the future. Might as well get the Euros when they are down since we will be needing them anyways.
We still need to get some Krones for Denmark and some Swedish Krona. We won't be needing too much of those...just enough to get us through a day in each country.
The good thing is that what we don't use, we can take to the bank and get it exchanged back into US currency. We will do this with the Krones and Krona.
I ordered us some maps of Tallinn, Estonia and of Copenhagen. Got them in the mail this last week so now I can kind of get an idea on where we want to go and the best way to get there.
Been going on my walks on a daily basis..most times a couple of times a day.
With the help of some new medication that I am taking, the last time I checked, I had lost 7 pounds in about a week.
I still have a long ways to go but I am happy with the progress that I have made so far.
People and vehicles everywhere. I am sticking close to home for a couple of days until things settle down a bit.
I noticed that the price of gas was around the 2.65 mark a couple of days ago. Veronica told me that it was up to $3.05 as of last night. I really dislike it when people take advantage of others just to make a profit.
Jacking up the cost of gas just because the tourists are in town really rubs me the wrong way.
Speaking of gas...I am on strike against BP due to their oil rig disaster. Shame on you BP. You will never see another cent of mine!!!
On a happier note....been spending some time doing research on our upcoming Baltic Capitals cruise that is in September.
Ordered some Euros through Bank Of America. We got them at a great time. The Euro is at the lowest point than it has been for at least 16 months.
We stocked up on Euros. We figure that what we don't use, we can hang onto for a visit to Paris sometime in the future. Might as well get the Euros when they are down since we will be needing them anyways.
We still need to get some Krones for Denmark and some Swedish Krona. We won't be needing too much of those...just enough to get us through a day in each country.
The good thing is that what we don't use, we can take to the bank and get it exchanged back into US currency. We will do this with the Krones and Krona.
I ordered us some maps of Tallinn, Estonia and of Copenhagen. Got them in the mail this last week so now I can kind of get an idea on where we want to go and the best way to get there.
Been going on my walks on a daily basis..most times a couple of times a day.
With the help of some new medication that I am taking, the last time I checked, I had lost 7 pounds in about a week.
I still have a long ways to go but I am happy with the progress that I have made so far.
Not Again
In past blog entries, I have berated and bemoaned about the service that I have received at times from Verizon.
Now there appears to be a new leader of the pack when it comes to really poor service.
As part of my prep work for our upcoming move, I made contact with Charter Cable.
They are the main people that cover the Kill Devil Hills area for cable, telephone and internet.
Prior to calling them, I had seen a recent ratings report in Consumers Report on many telephone, cable and internet companies.
Unfortunately Charter ranked close to last place in all of the rankings. Going into this, I hoped that somehow the rankings and ratings were wrong.
I placed a call to Charter and set everything up. We got a bundle package for cable, telephone and internet.
The customer service rep was friendly and was even able to give me my new telephone number.
Once I had everything in place with Charter, including an appointment for our free installation, I then proceeded down my lengthy list of places to call, so that I could provide everyone with our new address and telephone number.
After a couple of days, I had made my way through that lengthy list and was able to take a breath before the next wave of things to do was upon me.
This initial contact with Charter occurred about 2 weeks.
About 2 days ago I got an automated call from Charter so that I could set up an installation appointment. That made no sense to me since I already had one set up. The automated caller requested that I use my touch tone dial on the phone and put in 2 numbers for the date and 2 numbers for the month that I would like to have my installation appointment on.
I plugged in the same numbers for the same date of installation that had already been made previously. Unfortunately the computer would not accept the numbers that I plugged in.
I then hung up and called Charters customer service number.
I spoke to a rep there and provided him with my customer number and service order numbers for the installation.
The rep looked everything up and said that we were all set for the date and time that was originally made 2 weeks ago.
I thought everything was all set again and I was able to take another breath of air.
Unfortunately that breath did not last long.
Yesterday afternoon I got a call from Charter stating that I had cancelled my installation and service and that we needed to start from scratch all over again.
Needless to say...I was neither happy nor pleasant.
As it turned out, Charter tried to up the cost on certain items that I had already locked in at a decent price..I say decent price because Charter prices are a lot more expensive than what we have been paying for our equal services through Verizon and Cox cable here.
I got passed onto another rep who started adding up the prices, which kept going up as the discussion continued.
Finally I had had enough and told this rep that this was obviously turning into a "bait and switch" scenario and that I was not happy at all with the way this whole thing was playing out...especially since I did not cancel anything out and that act was done on Charters side of things.
This rep must have heard enough and she hung up on me.
I then proceeded to call Charters customer service number.
I spoke with a very friendly person there that apologized profusely after hearing my long drawn out story that had occurred up to this point in time.
As it turns out, half of what I ordered was not in my original purchase and history file with Charter, so we had to go through everything that I wanted all over again. I also found out that I needed to provide the installation person $90 in cash...$30 for each service I was getting and that this amount would be directly applied to my first bill. Good thing he told me this because it was the first time I had heard of this charge. The installation person would have shown up and I would not have had a dime to give him....thus no installation at that time and another reschedule would have been in order.
After walking me through all of their offerings and deciding on what I had originally wanted, I ended up getting everything for about $5 less than the original total.
There was one minor problem....remember that telephone number that they had assigned to me...that number that I had gone down my lengthy list of places that I needed to contact and provide updated contact info...well that number was no longer found to be assigned to me.
The number was not registered to anyone else nor was it still assigned to me. It was somewhere out in there limbo land.
With the thought of additional work that I would need to do to re-contact everyone on that lengthy list, I begged the rep to attempt to locate that number so I would not have to repeat all that work again....my "to do" list is rather full as it is.
He promised me that he would try to locate that original number. He did actually call me late last night to let me know that the techs were still searching in limbo land to find my original telephone number.
He is supposed to call me back early this afternoon as soon as he gets to work and checks his email box to see if the techs were able to locate that number.
If not, I will need to get started on that list again....Aaaarrrggggg!!!!
I can now see why Charter rated so poorly in Consumer Reports rankings.
A rep from the moving company is supposed to be here shortly to determine what they will need to bring for our full packing, which will be next Wed.
Don't you just love moving?
Now there appears to be a new leader of the pack when it comes to really poor service.
As part of my prep work for our upcoming move, I made contact with Charter Cable.
They are the main people that cover the Kill Devil Hills area for cable, telephone and internet.
Prior to calling them, I had seen a recent ratings report in Consumers Report on many telephone, cable and internet companies.
Unfortunately Charter ranked close to last place in all of the rankings. Going into this, I hoped that somehow the rankings and ratings were wrong.
I placed a call to Charter and set everything up. We got a bundle package for cable, telephone and internet.
The customer service rep was friendly and was even able to give me my new telephone number.
Once I had everything in place with Charter, including an appointment for our free installation, I then proceeded down my lengthy list of places to call, so that I could provide everyone with our new address and telephone number.
After a couple of days, I had made my way through that lengthy list and was able to take a breath before the next wave of things to do was upon me.
This initial contact with Charter occurred about 2 weeks.
About 2 days ago I got an automated call from Charter so that I could set up an installation appointment. That made no sense to me since I already had one set up. The automated caller requested that I use my touch tone dial on the phone and put in 2 numbers for the date and 2 numbers for the month that I would like to have my installation appointment on.
I plugged in the same numbers for the same date of installation that had already been made previously. Unfortunately the computer would not accept the numbers that I plugged in.
I then hung up and called Charters customer service number.
I spoke to a rep there and provided him with my customer number and service order numbers for the installation.
The rep looked everything up and said that we were all set for the date and time that was originally made 2 weeks ago.
I thought everything was all set again and I was able to take another breath of air.
Unfortunately that breath did not last long.
Yesterday afternoon I got a call from Charter stating that I had cancelled my installation and service and that we needed to start from scratch all over again.
Needless to say...I was neither happy nor pleasant.
As it turned out, Charter tried to up the cost on certain items that I had already locked in at a decent price..I say decent price because Charter prices are a lot more expensive than what we have been paying for our equal services through Verizon and Cox cable here.
I got passed onto another rep who started adding up the prices, which kept going up as the discussion continued.
Finally I had had enough and told this rep that this was obviously turning into a "bait and switch" scenario and that I was not happy at all with the way this whole thing was playing out...especially since I did not cancel anything out and that act was done on Charters side of things.
This rep must have heard enough and she hung up on me.
I then proceeded to call Charters customer service number.
I spoke with a very friendly person there that apologized profusely after hearing my long drawn out story that had occurred up to this point in time.
As it turns out, half of what I ordered was not in my original purchase and history file with Charter, so we had to go through everything that I wanted all over again. I also found out that I needed to provide the installation person $90 in cash...$30 for each service I was getting and that this amount would be directly applied to my first bill. Good thing he told me this because it was the first time I had heard of this charge. The installation person would have shown up and I would not have had a dime to give him....thus no installation at that time and another reschedule would have been in order.
After walking me through all of their offerings and deciding on what I had originally wanted, I ended up getting everything for about $5 less than the original total.
There was one minor problem....remember that telephone number that they had assigned to me...that number that I had gone down my lengthy list of places that I needed to contact and provide updated contact info...well that number was no longer found to be assigned to me.
The number was not registered to anyone else nor was it still assigned to me. It was somewhere out in there limbo land.
With the thought of additional work that I would need to do to re-contact everyone on that lengthy list, I begged the rep to attempt to locate that number so I would not have to repeat all that work again....my "to do" list is rather full as it is.
He promised me that he would try to locate that original number. He did actually call me late last night to let me know that the techs were still searching in limbo land to find my original telephone number.
He is supposed to call me back early this afternoon as soon as he gets to work and checks his email box to see if the techs were able to locate that number.
If not, I will need to get started on that list again....Aaaarrrggggg!!!!
I can now see why Charter rated so poorly in Consumer Reports rankings.
A rep from the moving company is supposed to be here shortly to determine what they will need to bring for our full packing, which will be next Wed.
Don't you just love moving?
Latest Update On Our Move
We are edging closer to our move date.
Someone from the moving company should be coming in this week to estimate what they will need to box and pack everything up.
This upcoming Friday, I need to take in our digital HD cable box and get our cable service turned off.
On Monday the 1st, I have a very hectic day in store for me. I currently have the Toyota packed with all kinds of stuff...curtain rods, curtains, bath towels, shower curtains and many other things.
I will be heading down to the OBX early that Monday morning.
First stop with be to pick up our keys from the property management people.
Then I will go directly to our new place and start putting all the curtain rods up along with the curtains and shower curtains. I will also do some other work in the bathrooms.
On Tuesday the 2nd, I need to get some things ready for the movers, who will be coming the next day to pack up our stuff for the actual move. I need to turn off our fridge and clean it our really well.
On Wed the 3rd, the movers will come to pack everything up.
Then on Thursday, the 4th, the movers will return to pack up the truck with all of our belongings. After they leave, Veronica and I finally will be heading down to the OBX for good. We will stay at a local hotel down there and get up early the following morning.
The next day will be another busy one. We will meet the movers at our new place and begin the process of unloading the moving truck and start to unpack everything.
Hopefully all will go smoothly and within a week or two, we should be starting to actually have a chance to enjoy our new place.
Someone from the moving company should be coming in this week to estimate what they will need to box and pack everything up.
This upcoming Friday, I need to take in our digital HD cable box and get our cable service turned off.
On Monday the 1st, I have a very hectic day in store for me. I currently have the Toyota packed with all kinds of stuff...curtain rods, curtains, bath towels, shower curtains and many other things.
I will be heading down to the OBX early that Monday morning.
First stop with be to pick up our keys from the property management people.
Then I will go directly to our new place and start putting all the curtain rods up along with the curtains and shower curtains. I will also do some other work in the bathrooms.
On Tuesday the 2nd, I need to get some things ready for the movers, who will be coming the next day to pack up our stuff for the actual move. I need to turn off our fridge and clean it our really well.
On Wed the 3rd, the movers will come to pack everything up.
Then on Thursday, the 4th, the movers will return to pack up the truck with all of our belongings. After they leave, Veronica and I finally will be heading down to the OBX for good. We will stay at a local hotel down there and get up early the following morning.
The next day will be another busy one. We will meet the movers at our new place and begin the process of unloading the moving truck and start to unpack everything.
Hopefully all will go smoothly and within a week or two, we should be starting to actually have a chance to enjoy our new place.
Our Latest Visit To The Outer Banks
Veronica and I just got back from the Outer Banks yesterday and here are some photos and videos of our most recent trip. Beow are some photos of the saltwater aquariums that were in the hotel lobby
We had just had a front move through and it was quite windy the day after it did. The waves were still a little choppy, which made for great photos and videos
Most of these ocean front houses are empty just waiting for all of the tourist to hit town
As you can see, there a very few cars on this ocean front road. I am sure that this is completely opposite of what it will be like in the Summer
Sand art at its best
Below are various videos that I took. The sound of the ocean sure can be soothing.Busy With Moving Preparations
I have been really busy the last several days preparing for our upcoming move. Even though the movers are doing a complete pack, there is still plenty to keep me busy.
I took all of our belongings out of the attic and put them in the garage.
Bought a bunch of extra large plastic bins with covers so that I can get a little more organized and have things all together, where I can actually find them when the time comes that I need them.
Been making lists of everyone that I need to call to notify them of our change of address.
Got our new phone number already and set up for the installation of our internet and cable services...the same company that has our telephone service. Been looking into changing our car insurance over to our new state.
This Monday I will be going with Veronica back down to OBX...she has some work related things to take care of and I will go back by our new residence to double check our window measurements just to make sure that we got the right size of drapes.
I need to measure our kitchen floor so that we can get a throw rug in there.
I will also be trying to get my NC drivers license while I am down there. Just a lot of things going on right now.
This moving stuff can sure be a little overwhelming at times...that's for sure.
At least my foot is starting to feel better. I keep working it and stretching everything...everyday it seems to get just a little better.
Hard to believe that in 4-5 weeks, we will be living on OBX. How cool is that!!!!
I took all of our belongings out of the attic and put them in the garage.
Bought a bunch of extra large plastic bins with covers so that I can get a little more organized and have things all together, where I can actually find them when the time comes that I need them.
Been making lists of everyone that I need to call to notify them of our change of address.
Got our new phone number already and set up for the installation of our internet and cable services...the same company that has our telephone service. Been looking into changing our car insurance over to our new state.
This Monday I will be going with Veronica back down to OBX...she has some work related things to take care of and I will go back by our new residence to double check our window measurements just to make sure that we got the right size of drapes.
I need to measure our kitchen floor so that we can get a throw rug in there.
I will also be trying to get my NC drivers license while I am down there. Just a lot of things going on right now.
This moving stuff can sure be a little overwhelming at times...that's for sure.
At least my foot is starting to feel better. I keep working it and stretching everything...everyday it seems to get just a little better.
Hard to believe that in 4-5 weeks, we will be living on OBX. How cool is that!!!!
It Is Now Official - We Are Moving And Why??
Last week Veronica and I went to the Outer Banks. It originally was for a couple of days just to get away, enjoy ourselves and to take in a few of the sights that the area had to offer.
Things ended up changing rather quickly right before we left on this little getaway. Veronica is currently a store manager for a large discount retail business and they offered her a new store that is being built on the Outer Banks. So as it turned out, we ended up looking for our future place to live. I did some quick research on the internet and Veronica made several telephone calls so that when we arrived, we would have several places to look at.
This trip ended up being very hectic and rather stressful at times. We had 2 full days in which to locate our new residence.
Besides the sticker shock, we were blown away by how few quality places that were actually available for long term leases and at a reasonable price point. Most places catered to the weekly summer rental crowds. So many of the places were really run down and that was sad to see. I guess that is what happenes when you have a lot of turn around with tourist coming in and out for a week or two at a time.
Because we were there during the off season, other than the locals, the place was rather quiet.
We noticed that many of the restaurants close up for the off season. We found a few that were open and they seemed to cater to the locals that live there year round.
After much looking and being very disheartened at our possibilities, we did find a place that we could make do with. It was not an ideal choice but we could and would have to make it work...we just could not find anything else in the time frame that we had..even though we had gone through about 5 -6 realtors and property management businesses.
Late Friday afternoon, we decided to stop at one last property management business just to see what we might stumble onto.
As it turned out, we got very lucky and stumbled upon a gem.
For just a little more money than we were going to have to spend on the original place, that we felt stuck with, we ended up getting a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath beauty. This was a condo that was made in 2007 or 2008 but had not been leased out until we showed up.
We walked into the place and it was brand spanking new....never lived in.
This condo has so much space and tons of storage too. It is away from the beach front area and the main hectic travel corridor. It is a very small development area with only a few condo buildings...2 Five unit buildings and a few newer homes.
There is a club house and pool.
The development sits close to the sound, so from the back condo windows, you have a sound/water view.
The garage/carport area can hold up to 3 cars...it is very deep and in the back of it, there is a enclosed 11 1/2' x 6' storage area.
This unit comes with a brand new washer and dryer too.
We will be moving into it around March 1st.
There is so much work to be done before that date that at times I feel very overwhelmed by it all.
This definitely will be a year of change and lots of travel.
Things ended up changing rather quickly right before we left on this little getaway. Veronica is currently a store manager for a large discount retail business and they offered her a new store that is being built on the Outer Banks. So as it turned out, we ended up looking for our future place to live. I did some quick research on the internet and Veronica made several telephone calls so that when we arrived, we would have several places to look at.
This trip ended up being very hectic and rather stressful at times. We had 2 full days in which to locate our new residence.
Besides the sticker shock, we were blown away by how few quality places that were actually available for long term leases and at a reasonable price point. Most places catered to the weekly summer rental crowds. So many of the places were really run down and that was sad to see. I guess that is what happenes when you have a lot of turn around with tourist coming in and out for a week or two at a time.
Because we were there during the off season, other than the locals, the place was rather quiet.
We noticed that many of the restaurants close up for the off season. We found a few that were open and they seemed to cater to the locals that live there year round.
After much looking and being very disheartened at our possibilities, we did find a place that we could make do with. It was not an ideal choice but we could and would have to make it work...we just could not find anything else in the time frame that we had..even though we had gone through about 5 -6 realtors and property management businesses.
Late Friday afternoon, we decided to stop at one last property management business just to see what we might stumble onto.
As it turned out, we got very lucky and stumbled upon a gem.
For just a little more money than we were going to have to spend on the original place, that we felt stuck with, we ended up getting a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath beauty. This was a condo that was made in 2007 or 2008 but had not been leased out until we showed up.
We walked into the place and it was brand spanking new....never lived in.
This condo has so much space and tons of storage too. It is away from the beach front area and the main hectic travel corridor. It is a very small development area with only a few condo buildings...2 Five unit buildings and a few newer homes.
There is a club house and pool.
The development sits close to the sound, so from the back condo windows, you have a sound/water view.
The garage/carport area can hold up to 3 cars...it is very deep and in the back of it, there is a enclosed 11 1/2' x 6' storage area.
This unit comes with a brand new washer and dryer too.
We will be moving into it around March 1st.
There is so much work to be done before that date that at times I feel very overwhelmed by it all.
This definitely will be a year of change and lots of travel.
Our Visit To the Outer Banks aka OBX
Veronica and I took a couple of days to go and visit the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was a mixture of business and pleasure. There will be future blog entries about the business portion of the trip but this blog entry will focus on the pleasurable aspects of the trip. Here are some photos that I took while we are on our way to Manteo. There were some expensive condos and it looked like everyone that lived there owned a rather large boat. Funny thing...all of the boats looked basically the same except for the owner of Piglet..the little boat that wanted to be a big boat.. It actually made for kind of a cool looking photo.
Here are some views from the Ramada Inn we stayed at. During the off season the rates are great...$49. As you can see, the seas were rather calm. I really wished that there was an off shore storm or something like that. The photography is more interesting when the seas are active.
Man and his best friend going for a stroll on the beach
This fine feathered friend is Sabrina, the hotels mascot.
Our trip to Cape Hatteras
There were sand dunes of all sizes along the road
Fishing boats that could be seen from a bridge that we were on
A lone bicycle rider along a desolate sand dune lined roadway
There were so many houses on and near the beach. Each one had its own identity and character. I say identity because most of the houses are given names to represent something or someone that is important to its owner.
If you are a movie buff, you might recognize the photos of the house below. It is the house from the film...Nights In Rodanthe. This film starred Diane Lane, Richard Gere and Christopher Meloni. The name of the house is Serendipty. Supported by pilings at the edge of the surf, the three-story house stands farther out in the ocean than any other on the beach. It has the authentic weathered look achieved by only the sturdiest Outer Banks cottages. It is situated on the southern border of Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, providing a vista of wild, undeveloped beach. When he built Serendipity in 1988, developer Roger Meekins sunk the pilings more than 14 feet deep and poured concrete around them. It was the first house constructed in Mirlo Beach, a subdivision on the northern end of Rodanthe. For more on the story of the house and of the filming of the movie, please click on this link..... Serendipity There is a really great video on the link of the storm that rolled up the coast and had an impact on the house and the filming of the movie. The house is in the process of being moved up the coast. By looking closely at the photos below, you can see the house on a special moving truck. As I am writing this blog entry, the moving of the house has stopped. The truck and house is stuck in the sand and an upcoming Nor'easter, over the next couple of days, will probably slow the move down further. I wish that our trip had been a couple of days later. I would have loved taking photos during the storm. For more info on the Serendipity, please check out these links... More Serendipity Info and Slideshow of the Actual Interior of Serendipity Last but not least...here is more information on the house and of the actual move.... The Moving of the Serendipity Below is an actual video of the moving of the house or at least their attempt to move the house.
Here are the photos that I took of the Serendipity. This house had so much character to it.
I found this van parked close by to where the Serendipity was located.
Other beach houses in the area
A lot of these houses were huge and almost all were on really high stilts/pilings
The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. This lighthouse was moved from its original location, which was located closer to the beach. It was amazing that they could move this structure in one piece to its current location.
There was another couple viewing the lighthouse. They were from Austin, TX but had previously lived on the Outer Banks. We took turns taking each others photo.
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