one important thing i had to do today was sign up for a comcast xfinity contract using the second address at my sister's place in order to qualify for the cheaper new customer promotional deal. it's $40/month for 2 years with a 1 year obligation, provided you use your own cablemodem, otherwise it's an additional $15/month to rent an xfinity gateway. it was a nightmare dealing with comcast, they kept pushing me to use their online resources to solve my problem instead of actually chatting with a live agent. when i did get an agent on the line, it was obviously from an indian call center, and service wasn't that great. i did go onto the website and sign up for a plan and create an account. when i typed in my own phone number, it said that number was already used by another account, and asked if i wanted to combine the two accounts. i said yes before deciding no, afraid the new account would be flagged as an old account, and thereby losing all the new customer perks. however that wasn't the case, so i went ahead and completed the procession, signed up for online payment to receive the proper discount.
for some reason there was no option for self-install. i had to have a technician make a housecall, and that would set me back $50. comcast makes it sound like they're doing me a favor because a typical technician visit costs $100+, but i remember when they used to be free. it seemed like a waste of time and money, because i'm going to be essentially using the preexisting coaxial cable connection, and they're working fine. i read online that when an address has never had cable before, or it's been more than a year since last service, comcast must send out a technician to make sure the lines are working correctly.
so after i signed up, something still wasn't right. for one thing, comcast didn't send me any additional e-mails. and when i logged into my account, i couldn't see the new account. to make matters worse, i had no idea what the new account number was because they never told me.
that when i called up comcast. i spent the next 1-1/2 hours on phone trying to resolve the matter. the guy that i got was basically clueless, and kept putting me on hold while he asked for help. a few times i just wanted to hang up on him, but at least he was polite, and i am a patient person. they finally fixed it but creating another account with all the info from the limbo account. i then received the confirmation e-mails and agreed to the terms and when i logged into my account, i saw both accounts.
by that point it was almost 3pm. i had a few things to return, including the undersized adidas track jacket. i tried it on again and this time it fit pretty well. still slightly snug, but vey flattering, especially if i lost a few pounds. i realized what the problem was: the jacket fits well when i'm only wearing t-shirt, but anything more underneath and it's a bulky ill-fitting mess. i'm still going to exchange it regardless, if the larger size doesn't fit, i'm willing to give up on the matter and return it for a refund. i noticed the material is a little light, i doubt it can keep me warm.
so instead i got on my bike and pedaled to the heart of harvard square to return a pair of shoes at the allbirds store. a gang of turkeys was causing quite the commotion, seemingly fearless of both people and cars. what's next, deers and raccoons? 
i snapped a photo before heading to the store. i'd never been to the allbirds store before, it sort of reminded me of an apple store in its ascetic design. i printed out a receipt but that wasn't necessary, as the barcodes on the shoebox itself was enough info to process the return. when i left the store, turkeys were congregating around my parked bicycle. i ignored them as i unlocked my bike and headed home.
as an experiment, i wondered if i could activate my old arris surfboard SB6141 modem onto the new comcast account. one thing i always wondered is if the modems can detect where it is? like if i activated at my house, would it also work when i brought it over to my sister's place? so i tried it, retrieving the old modem from the basement. when i plugged it into one of the coaxial cables coming from the wall, it showed 4 steady lights, a good sign that it was speaking with comcast at least. but when i used the xfinity app to activate the modem, it wouldn't activate.
so i called comcast, figuring i might have to activate it manually by having an agent add the MAC address by hand. i managed to get an american agent, which was a relief. unfortunately he told me my old modem is an end-of-life product and no longer supported by comcast, being they won't even activate it. my options were either to buy a newer modem or rent a comcast gateway. he told me if i managed to activate the modem, it will turn on billing, and then i can then cancel the technician appointment (saving me $50). right now the new account exists in this sort of no-man's-land where i'm not getting charged for anything until a modem has been activated and billing begins.
even though it was getting late, i thought i could ride down to fresh pond and pick up a gateway from the comcast office, so it'll be ready for activation tomorrow when i'm done at the cafe. it was just after 4pm when i left the house. i made sure to bring my light since it'd be dark.
getting a new gateway at the comcast office was a cinch. the agent just made me confirm that i agreed to add the $15/month rental charge. my plan is to activate the gateway, make sure it works, cancel my sister's existing account, deactivate her modem, then reactivate the modem on the new account, so i could return the gateway. easy, right? most people probably wouldn't bother going through the hassle, but if it means paying $87/month for internet or $40/month, it's a small price to pay.
i went to the cafe to drop off the gateway. my 2nd aunt was there, she went to chinatown earlier to get her dental surgery. even after all these months she couldn't properly explain the problem, but apparently a piece of dental root was embedded in her jaw from an improper tooth extraction, and now needed to be removed. not sure why, maybe the broken root could lead to complications, but it was a problem my 2nd aunt knew nothing about until a recent dentist took an x-ray.
i got back my 4:45pm. my 2nd aunt had bought me a sponge cake from chinatown and that was my very late lunch. for dinner, i finished the 3 leftover barbecued drumsticks and a piece of scallion bread while rewatching the queen's gambit. later i made myself a small bowl of instant miso soup.