Followup: Yes AT&T is trying to piss me off

Small followup here: When I got my forced data plan removed on Friday they also removed my texting plan and my ability to text. I didn't find this out until this morning when I realized texts from last night didn't go through. I'm going to keep this short but I have a case number now since they don't have my texting plan available anymore. But for now I have the lowest plan at half the price (1000/month is normally $10, but I'm getting it for $5 which was the cost of my old plan) for now, and I am looking at other options. This is bullshit but I'm too tired to have seething text put on the screen like before.

How AT&T pissed me off this morning

So, I do have to say there are certain things I love about working currently in the IT department of my company (for the rest, read my endgame post). One of the benefits is when there's a massive roll out of any new devices the old ones get sent back. But if it's not done in time they become freebies we can take.

So imagine my delight when my coworker Todd yesterday flatly hands me over a free BlackBerry Curve. He and I had talked about smartphones (he's our aircard/phone admin) and features and such. Really and truthfully I just use my phone as a phone and for texting. His suggestion was to forgo a data plan that I would not need and just turn off data services on the BlackBerry itself. So I gleefully took the BB, turned off data, popped in my SIM Chip and went on my way.

That was yesterday afternoon. This morning, this bullshit was in my inbox:

When politics goes violent: The Shooting of Rep Giffords

Oh lord and lady: My heart goes out to AZ Rep Gabrielle Giffords and the others (at least 12 reported right now) whom were shot at today at an event in Tuscon, AZ. So far reports are that Giffords is out of surgery, fixing up the gunshot to her head. She's in critical condition. 6 others, including a federal judge, are dead.

General Mutton Chops, or How to Completely Own at Trivial Pursuit

Meant to put this blog post up but got lost in a shuffle. So anyways NYE was a fun time over at my sister Crystal's home with some of our friends. One friend brought a new, unwrapped Trivial Pursuit game. This one was odd, as the colors were not the category but each card had its own category.

So we had a "Kids vs Adults" game, two teams. Mid-game we came up for a wedge piece and pick "Facial Hair" card. The question was a picture one:

Who is this man and what facial hair style did he lend his name to?

We, the adults, were actually stumped for a while. We began asking "Those are mutton chops, right?" It was at this moment that my mind subconsciously started bringing the answer up. I asked "But I don't remember a General Mutton in the Civil War or anything, do you?"

I cannot explain how my mind works like this. I am, at heart, and archiver of knowledge. And when I get into a situation where trivial trivia works to my advantage it feels like a Chechov's Skill (Which is a sub-trope of Chechov's Gun. Warning, do not click either link as the TV Tropes vortex can suck up hours of time click-read-clicking-reading). 

Moving back to the story, slowly but surely the story of General Ambrose Burnside came up in my brain. And the credit for coining the term Sideburns to describe, well, sideburns. I mean look at him up there. That's like 4 inches of hair there. It's no wonder they named it after him. And yes, we got the question right, I danced around since we won a wedge (Adults ultimately won as well by the end of the night).

This event also brings me back to the memory of another holiday (this time Christmas) game of Trivia Pursuit (and again with same sister). The question was "What folk singer turned rocker bla bla bla"... I don't remember the rest of the question because that wasn't how I answered it. I just thought, what other person other than Bob Dylan is famous for switching musical styles from folk to rock?