Speaking in Tongues, Its Worth a Broken Lip

OSU outplays and scores a convincing win over Texas.
I was thinking that Texas was going to pull it out, but I am happy with the result. I was surprised at how flat UT was. They are the defending national champs and for OSU to come into Austin and do what they did...I think it comes down to prep from the coaches. One thing you know from Tressel is that the team is always ready to go. Even in loses, the games are close and the kids are prepared. UT lacked that fire & intensity that we saw from them last year.

Elsewhere, Matt Trannon (if you didn't know, he plays basketball too!) caught 14 passes for 141 yards, scored 2 TDs, and threw a TD pass in MSU's rout of EMU. They head to Pitt next week and then take on the Fighting Irish in 2 weeks. There are two certainties when it comes to MSU football: 1) they are going to get your hopes up early only to be dashed in the 2nd half of the year and 2) they ALWAYS show up for the ND game. The Irish are currently #2 and (provided they beat UM next week) will be coming into the EL 3-0. For whatever reason (it boggles me), the Spartans always play well against ND and have actually beaten them consistenly over the past 5-10 years. I'm looking for an upset that will put the Irish (and their ardent followers) in their place. I even found a new shirt to buy for the occasion.

So I go to buy said shirt. Its 2006 and internet commerce has been going strong for the past 10 years. I've bought a fair share of items over the net and I've never had a problem. Put in your credit card and boom, you're on your way. Most portals allow you to ship items to addresses that do not match those on the credit card. This is great when you are send gifts. This also is convenient when you have recently moved. Such is the case with me. Not all the addresses on my various mailings have been changed, nor has my new ATM card come yet. Well I go to checkout at Spreadshirt, but I need matching addresses. Mensch! OK so then I go online to change my address for my VISA. Well my new address is a funny thing, as I live at a half-address, XX 1/2. Well, for whatever reason the code doesn't like the forward-slash and I can't put in the full address. I tried with a decimal point and I still get the message about how I can only use alpha-numerics. Maybe one of my computer saavy readers can fill me in on why this is the case. I was able to change Discover Card and Sports Illustrated addresses with no problem.

Frustrated, I decide to call customer service. This is always one of the things I look forward to least -- punching countless numbers and saying "yes" or "no" when prompted. Then being put on hold while listening to countless repeats of "Company X kisses your ass for being on hold for so long and cares about you." Usually if I'm on hold for longer then 5 minutes, I hang up. For whatever reason, I get taken care of quickly. OK, this is good. Until I hear the operator and realize my call has been outsourced to some unnamed foreign country (hint: it sounds a bit like the state west of where I'm from). And of course he speaks with a fairly-heavy accent. Heavy enough that I have to concentrate on what he is saying -- not a good thing when you are in "customer service." So I tell him I need to change my addy -- fairly simple, right? Well he asks me if I've filled out the proper paperwork.....paperwork? What are you talking about? I moved from point A to point B and I tried to change my address with your company but I couldn't. I told him no I hadn't and I had no idea what he was talking about. I then tell him my address with the infamous "half" in there. This sounded as it confused him and he asked "how do you write that?" Uhh...just like it sounds. Yes I know that a half address is not the most common thing, but its not the first time in my life I've encountered it. So then I tell him the rest of the address and we get to the state and I say "West Virginia" and he asks me how to spell "Virginia." Dude, you're in customer service for a US company, you should know how to spell things say like the 50 STATES! Even if he doesn't know how to spell it, shouldn't there be a drop-down menu to select "WV"? Ugh. There were a few times when I really had no idea what he was saying and asked him to repeat it. Then after we were done he tries to get me to enroll in some program sponsored by the credit card company. I say no and he issues the reply "Let me speak on experience..." and I say no again and like a horny male teenager he still doesn't get it and presses further when my third and final stern "No" takes care of him. Did I ever tell you I hate calling customer service peeps...