asoldier.net

I’m going to be unavailable except via cell… but I will not disclose that number publicly due to the massive influx of telemarketers and scam/spam artists. So, if you need to reach me, you can do so by emailing me via mdavid(at)asoldier.net (mobile email). I will have my cell phone with me and on for about half of the duration of my absence.

Please email me with any issues you have.

David.

Testing out some new apps

Paid another visit to the Dentist today. He took care of a few tiny issues that have been causing some literal headaches of late. Unfortunately one of the side effects of the anesthesia is the serious pain in my cheek now. Feels like I got hit in the face by a broomstick.

First off I’d like to to say that it is of no fault to Strayer University the institution that I will not be enrolling. It is however the fault of at least one individual directly involved in the supervision of Dustin L. (Senior Admissions Officer: previously) Let me clarify…

When I called Strayer Univ. up and asked a plethora of questions concerning enrolling, plans, classes, finances, situations, etc, Dustin had the answers. If he didn’t know it directly, he could get the information I needed. He guided me through every step through enrollment. The only thing I had left was to apply for a Pell grant to cover my books. Dustin even provided the forms and steps necessary to complete that project. So what happened?

Why did Dustin get fired? If it weren’t for him, I probably wouldn’t have enrolled in the first place. My guess is there must have been some inner-circle disagreement. Jealousy usually plays a part in these situations; and power-trips usually follow. I will have no part of that, and therefore I am retracting my enrollment into Strayer Univ and I will take my military benefits and educational endeavors elsewhere. Good Day Strayer University. Good Luck Dustin.

Due to some rather vexing issues with Charter Broadband, I decided to make the switch to the alternative. CDE (Clarksville Department of Electricity) offers what appeared to be quite a deal, at the time I decide to switch. Unfortunately there’s a few setbacks.

Every good ISP needs a call center. Technical support is required with every form of internet provision. Unfortunately, CDE does not offer such support on weekends. When I called the customer service line, the nervous young lady on the other end kindly explained that she didn’t know what the problem was, but she used her walkie talkie and politely offered to set up an appointment for the following Monday.

Since there isn’t a proper technical support channel, and the customer service representative available is untrained and therefore unable to walk me through basic troubleshooting steps, it makes CDE very unappealing to a customer willing to trade ease-of-use for power. By power, I mean the insanely fast connection I’m getting.

If you’re looking for an easy-to-troubleshoot service… you might want to think twice about CDE. Also take care to consider that “lightband” is a form of fiber-optic. Meaning it “should” be the most reliable and easy-to-use connection available. Unfortunately unscheduled maintenance, uninformed customers, unprepared staff, and untrained support representatives are proving detrimental to the good of the company, and may prove a deterrent for future CDE customers.

Come on guys, you can do better.

Here’s a few things you can fix:

• Get a call center set up
• Train a weekend crew on basic connection troubleshooting
• Set up group-training sessions with staff
  • Confidence
  • Leadership
  • Initiative
• Notify customers of upcoming maintenance (Channel Guide Notifications)

Just a suggestion.

Quest

So, I’ve been contemplating going to college, and I’ve even started filling out the paperwork. At one point I had even picked which college I wanted to attend, and what type of degree I was going for.

Eventually I had made up my mind. I’ve been in the military long enough to realize it’s time to get a move on with my life.

After spending hours on the phone calling an assorted list of colleges I almost gave up. I called most of the big ones like:

Discovery

So in the process of trying to find the “right” college, I stumbled upon Strayer University. They have a promising curriculum and offer several degrees in-which I am extremely interested in. One caught my eye, a Bachelor’s in Science- Computer Information Systems with Networking. Wow, sounds complicated? Not really.

Commitment

For one, it helps that I’m military. Since the ARMY offers a massive Tuition Assistance plan, combined with Strayer’s financial support for military, the tuition is completely free to me! So, I won’t even need a scholarship at this point.

Provision

Yes we still have books to worry about, but the books will be mostly paid off using a voucher that Strayer is also providing. These guys rock.
So that leaves little or no expense to me to get my education. The only thing is, I’ve got to stay on top of my game. If I fail a class (which is pretty hard to do) then I’ve got to pay for it out of pocket. That could be pretty hefty. Good news is, my wife already has an Associates so with her help, and the support of some pretty awesome people at Strayer University, I’m on my way to a bright and shiny future.

Support

Dustin Lamouruex

It helps to have some really smart and dedicated people helping you figure things out. I had no idea what I wanted to go for when I was considering enrollment. And it also helps having people who represent the college who actually know what they’re talking about.

So! If you’re looking to get your education, and you’re not sure where to get started, there’s plenty of people at Strayer University who can help, and there’s campuses all over the place. Pay a visit to Strayer.EDU and get on the road to success.

Thanks Dustin!

Don’t like being taken advantage of? You should read this.

So we just moved from Fort Polk, Louisiana where our housing was military managed, and our utilities weren’t our problem. We moved to Clarksville, TN where military housing is low-grade. We chose to live off-post in order to find a nicer place to stay, and avoid the hassle of living on a large post like Fort Campbell.

We lucked out. My wife (Stephanie) and I found a beautiful 1-story, 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home with a MASSIVE back yard, all for $615.00 per month. Too good to be true, that’s what it seemed like. Turns out, it is.

Around the same time that we moved, for various reasons, the price of electricity went up, a lot. So we took steps to drop our electricity bill to something reasonable. We were looking at bills in excess of $150.00 per month, which we’ve recently managed to drop to $120.00 using various insulators, energy-efficient bulbs, motion-sensitive light switches, etc. Then we got our first monthly water bill. It was $95.00, and the following month’s bill was an excess of $105.00. After getting haggled repetitively by Clarksville Water & Gas, Stephanie finally gave up and explained the whole scenario. So wearing ACUs and all, I marched up to the local branch and waited in line for an hour. When I was finally able to be seen, I explained that I was taking all available legal action against them since they refuse to reimburse us for the overcharge.

Here’s the thing. When the first bill came in, we had a plumber from our realty company come and check the house for leaks. He found nothing. The second high bill of over $105.00 we had him come out again, and again, he checked everything +, and found no leaks… or any reason why our bill should be that high.

Our bill states we chewed through 10,000 gallons. TEN THOUSAND gallons is hard for a family of 5 to go through. I don’t wash my car, rarely use the dishwasher. We don’t have an ice-maker or water dispenser. We don’t own a pool, and we don’t water our grass etc. There is absolutely NO reason for being overcharged like this.  So I am currently in contact with the BBB, and I will be in contact with the SEC and IRS momentarily. I will not be taken advantage of. You should feel the same.

Beauty of Autumn

Originally uploaded by asoldierdotnet

It didn’t last as long as it should have. One day it was a beautiful 82 degrees… the next, a sorry 38 degrees… which ruined most of the awesome colors, and turned everything into a dingy brown, or mucky grey.

Fortunately God invented magic, and scientists discovered it in time to clones these wonderful flowers.

Here’s a list of movies I’ve seen on DVD and in theaters lately, and my personal rating (opinion)

Crank 2 [dvd] (4/5)
9 [cinema] (3/5)
GAMER [cinema] (7/5) or on a scale of 1-10… 11